Akin Akinola has been appointed as the new County Engineer for New Hanover County, with his tenure set to begin in February. He brings over eight years of engineering experience within North Carolina, most recently serving as Senior Engineering Manager for the City of Durham. In that capacity, he managed a team focused on stormwater development review and collaborated with internal teams and community partners to advance projects.
“Akin’s technical expertise and previous leadership experience make him a strong addition to our team as we continue delivering reliable infrastructure and responsive service for our growing community,” said County Manager Chris Coudriet.
Akinola holds a doctorate in Biological Systems Engineering with an emphasis on Water Resources Engineering from Virginia Tech, as well as a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in North Carolina. His professional background includes work in stormwater management, capital project delivery, and long-term infrastructure planning.
“I’m honored to join New Hanover County and excited to get to work. I look forward to partnering with our team and community partners to deliver safe, resilient infrastructure and responsive service for our county,” Akinola said.
In related educational statistics, recent data show that 30.1% of senior students and 27.2% of junior students in New Hanover County school districts were considered ready for college on the science portion of the ACT during the 2022-23 school year (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/). For reading, 43.8% of seniors and 41.3% of juniors met college readiness benchmarks (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/). On the math portion, 29.7% of seniors and 32% of juniors achieved scores indicating college readiness (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/).
