Honeywell targets UNC Charlotte STEM students in $10M partnership deal
Honeywell will be the first company to open a learning hub on UNC Charlotte’s campus.
With a $10-million investment, the Charlotte-based global company will renovate the 1985 Burson Hall into the Honeywell Innovation Hub, Honeywell and UNC Charlotte announced Monday. The hub is expected to open in 2027.
“This is less about donating money and more about a deep partnership with UNC to build a strong pipeline for future people who are going to come into the job market,” Honeywell Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur recently told The Charlotte Observer.
The hub will directly impact thousands of students in engineering, data science and computer science, UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon Gaber said in an interview. “We have a responsibility to connect our students with real-world experiences and industry-leading partners,” Gaber said.
Honeywell’s investment includes student scholarships, research opportunities and endowed faculty positions to strengthen research and teaching at UNC Charlotte.
“Our goal as a company is (to) create more jobs as part of our broader social responsibility, and our key program has been to hire interns,” Kapur said. This year, Honeywell has hosted 1,700 interns, most in the U.S. Honeywell hires about 70% of its interns, he said.
The Honeywell investment builds on UNC Charlotte’s recent R1 research designation, one of the highest recognitions for universities, to advance research in areas such as AI safety and smart infrastructure.
“The nature of people we need to hire in the future is slowly changing,” Kapur said. “Part of it is pivoting toward the skills of the future and helping people shape those skills.”
Inside the Honeywell Innovation Hub
The 155,000-square-foot complex will change the landscape of the campus with glass exterior walls.
“You’ll be able to look into the building and see the work and the collaborative space that comes together,” Gaber said.
The Honeywell Innovation Hub will enhance the college’s STEM education with real-world work experience through engineering labs and classrooms, and collaboration, specialized research and simulation spaces.
More than $1 million of the company’s investment will be used for industry-grade technology.
“The campus itself will be automated using Honeywell building automation solution so that people can experience real app solutions,” Kapur said. “We will upgrade them all the time, because technology keeps changing.”
The goal is “ensuring a talented and prepared workforce for our region,” Gaber said.
What the Honeywell-UNC Charlotte partnership offers students and Charlotte
Honeywell will award 48 scholarships over the next 10 years to support high-achieving students in STEM fields. Annual projects will connect students with engineers to help solve challenges for Honeywell and its customers.
The inaugural class of Honeywell Scholars includes six undergraduate students across engineering and computer science programs. They will receive a total of $180,000 through the scholarship program.
Four faculty endowments — two in the William States Lee College of Engineering and two in the College of Computing and Informatics. Additional funds will support critical research projects.
As Charlotte continues to attract technology companies, this partnership could be a model, Kapur said, for other companies to follow to bridge academic training with industry needs.
“Charlotte is on a path to rapid progress,” Kapur said. “Every step in this partnership adds to the progression of Charlotte’s technological ecosystem.”
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The hub is an extension of Honeywell’s other local education programs, including FIRST Robotics in local high schools and Discovery Education, as well as U.S. Space and Rocket Center space camp in Alabama.
UNC Charlotte has more than 32,000 students. This fall’s enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students at theCollege of Computing and Informatics is 4,520 and The Lee College of Engineering is 4,168.
Honeywell employs 97,000 people worldwide, including 1,150 in Charlotte. Honeywell moved its global headquarters to Charlotte in 2018.
This year, Honeywell announced it would split into three companies. Honeywell’s automation business will remain headquartered in Charlotte. The aerospace business headquarters will be based in Phoenix, while the advanced materials business, Solstice Advanced Materials, will be based in Morris Plains, N.J.
This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
