Other NM universities announcements

The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship at New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center is now accepting applications for its online GenAI Product Development Sprint accelerator, designed for tech startups based in New Mexico and the Borderplex region.

The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship is committed to strengthening the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem by empowering diverse communities to engage in entrepreneurship, improving access to early-stage investment opportunities, and inspiring students to develop innovative products and services for the commercial market.

New Mexico State University is making the next moves to bring the Aggie Alumni Pond back to life and also sharpen up the Aquatics Center with a projected start date in July. 

On June 6, the NMSU Board of Regents approved the two major project budgets during a special meeting. This funding includes $1.3 million for the Alumni Pond reconstruction and $2.32 million for critical renovations to the Aquatics Center. 

Berta Zubiate, the university architect, presented the projects to the board and stated that these budgets reflect the base scope of work required to restore both facilities. "Both projects will go to the Higher Education Department on July 9, followed by the State Board of Finance. Those are the final steps needed to move forward," Zubiate said. 

The School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership at New Mexico State University has taken strong steps in recent years to elevate its preparation for future teachers in the area of reading instruction and to align programming more directly with techniques associated with the science of reading and structured literacy approaches. These efforts are now paying major dividends for students, teachers and schools across the state.

NMSU has raised its national ranking to a B grade in Reading Foundations on the most recent report released by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The NCTQ Teacher Prep Review evaluates elementary teacher preparation programs against seven research-backed standards proven to have the greatest impact on teacher quality and student learning outcomes. With this increased score, which is one of New Mexico's highest among the state's four-year universities, NCTQ has recognized NMSU's success in ensuring all teacher preparation programs implement scientifically based reading instruction.

Researchers and staff at New Mexico State University's Agricultural Science Center at Farmington are promising another exciting field day to showcase the center July 24.

This year's field day takes place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center, 300 County Road 4063 in Farmington, New Mexico. The center is situated on 254 acres leased from the Navajo Nation, and is the only science center in New Mexico west of the Continental Divide. It is also one of the only 1862 land-grant science center to work directly on sovereign First Nations land, at the invite of the Navajo Nation.

A group of local high school students are gearing up this summer to participate in New Mexico State University's College of Business inaugural Accounting Career Awareness and Accelerated Career Awareness summer programs.

The College of Business is partnering with NABA Inc., a nonprofit membership organization that is dedicated to advancing business leaders in accounting, finance, business and entrepreneurship. This year, 30 local high school students will be attending ACAP's summer camp with week-long activities from June 16-20.

Two solar eclipses swept across the United States in October 2023 and April 2024, inspiring millions to look skyward and think about astronomy, perhaps for the first time. For assistant professor Juie Shetye and her research team, the eclipses presented a unique opportunity to study a phenomenon called atmospheric gravity waves, or AGWs, and to engage with local communities about the science behind their research.

"Atmospheric gravity waves are essentially disturbances in Earth's atmosphere, and you see them all the time in Las Cruces as ripples in clouds," said Oana Vesa, postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and a member of Shetye's team. "They're a really large component in our global climate activity and weather models."

A cohort of students from New Mexico State University and the University of Texas at El Paso, along with participants from the broader Borderplex region, have successfully completed the latest FIRE Venture Fellows program, which consists of an immersive semester in venture capital education and hands-on investment experience.

The program is an example of the commitment the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, housed at NMSU’s Arrowhead Center, has for fostering a thriving entrepreneurial environment by empowering diverse communities to engage in entrepreneurship, improving access to early-stage investment opportunities, and inspiring students to develop innovative products and services for the commercial market.

Imagine measuring the distance from Earth to an object on the moon within a space equal to the thickness of a single penny.

That's what a team from Apache Point Observatory (APO) and New Mexico State University's Department of Astronomy accomplished as part of a NASA project for the Lunar Laser Ranging Operations program using the 3.5-meter telescope at APO in Sunspot, New Mexico.

"It's just mind boggling to me that we can measure the distance to an object on the moon to within 1 millimeter," said Nancy Chanover, NMSU astronomy professor.

"I hope that people understand what a technological achievement that is."