Robert M. Kolbas

Robert M. Kolbas, of Raleigh went to his eternal home on June 7, 2020 following an illness. He was born November 13, 1953 in Syracuse, NY, the son of John and Frances (Woityra) Kolbas who both preceded him in death.

Robert graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Engineering in 1975 and completed his Ph.D. in Physics in 1979 at the University of Illinois.

From 1979 to 1985 Robert worked at the Honeywell Physical Sciences Center in Minneapolis, MN. In 1985, he joined the faculty of North Carolina State University where he served as a Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering until his retirement in 2020. He was a Fellow of IEEE and a member of the American Physical Society, Sigma Xi and Tau Beta Pi. He authored and co-authored more than 140 technical papers and addressed conferences throughout the U.S. and around the world. He consulted with many companies in various research projects. He also served as the Department Head for a number of years and served on numerous committees during his 35 years with the University.

Dr. Kolbas mentored students through their undergraduate, masters and doctorial programs. His students appreciated his patience and willingness to spend whatever time was necessary to assist them in their studies and in reaching their goals. In 2017, North Carolina State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering opened the ECE MakerSpace in Engineering Building II. The Robert M. Kolbas MakerSpace and the William F. Troxler MakerSpace in that building serve to provide the resources students need to address electronics and fabrication projects. Robert was thankful he was able to assist in providing the support necessary to help create this MakerSpace.

On September 16, 1995, Robert married Dahua Zhang who predeceased him on Sept. 25, 2005. On March 8, 2008, he married Yan Wang who survives. He is also survived by his children Michael, Daniel, Sarah Dill (Michael) and their mother Kim Kolbas, his daughter Mary, his grandchildren Atlas Dill and Noah Dill and his brother John (Lydia).

Robert was a loving husband and father, a great teacher, and dedicated scientist.

A graveside service will be held 3pm Monday, December 21, 2020 at Montlawn Memorial Park, 2911 S. Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Masks and social distancing are required. Please send the family a notification at [email protected] if you plan to attend.

A celebration of life event will be held on Friday, October 22, 2021 at NC State Park Alumni Center. The event starts at 5:30pm. The live streaming via Zoom starts at 6:00pm at https://go.ncsu.edu/robertkolbas

Memorial offerings in Robert’s memory can be made to NCSU Engineering Foundation ECE’s Kolbas MakerSpace at https://tinyurl.com/y9nubhqc

(copy and paste the above URL into your address bar to go to the page to donate or scroll down on this page under donations where there is a hyperlink you can click on to be redirected to that site)