Aerospace
Bioscience
Environment
Information Technology
Nanotechnology
Emerging Industries

New Mexico State University - Main Campus - Las Cruces

An Hispanic-serving, Land Grant university, New Mexico State University ranks in the top 110 institutions in the country in terms of federal research expenditures. NMSU’s mission is to serve all the citizens of New Mexico and to improve their lives through research and service activities that respond to their needs. NMSU research programs range from fundamental scientific discoveries in such fields as genomics and nanoscience to applications that have significant implications for changing the lives of New Mexicans as well as citizens of the world. 

For its modest size, NMSU has built an impressive record in attracting federal research support and is the top U.S. Department of Defense contractor among Hispanic-serving universities.

NMSU is one of the first universities in the country to adopt the concept of “research clusters” to enhance its value to the state and the nation.  Current research clusters focus on:

Biosciences
A revolution in the biosciences has dissolved disciplinary boundaries by defining a new research program that draws on the expertise not only of basic and applied biologists, biochemists, biomedical, and agricultural researchers and practitioners, but also physicists, information and cognitive scientists, engineers, and social scientists.  Faculty members working in such diverse areas as infectious disease, cancer, drug development, public health, environmental biology and ecosystems, genetics, crop and livestock breeding , bioinformatics, neuroscience, and comparative metabolomics and proteomics have organized themselves into several interdisciplinary sub-clusters under the umbrella of the Biosciences cluster.  A number of large projects funded by NSF, FDA, NIH, and DHS bring in approximately $20 million per year.

Information Sciences and Security Systems
NMSU’s strategic capabilities, its location only 40 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, and its partnerships with White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), have contributed to a focus on interdisciplinary responses to security and defense needs in the region and nationally. By creating an infrastructure for maximizing the impact of ongoing and new research, development, testing, and evaluation projects among these partners, NMSU is creating a security capability with commercial applications unequalled in the nation. Moreover, the development of new technologies and a trained workforce for security- and defense-related work will greatly contribute to the region’s economic development.  Over 100 members from at least 30 different departments across campus participate in the Information Sciences and Security Systems cluster.  Areas of focus include human use of information technology; digital media; decision, social and behavioral modeling; geospatial modeling; artificial environments; robotics, and networked environments.  Projects funded by the Governor’s Office, NSF, ARL, and DOD bring approximately $7 million to the campus each year.

Natural Resources Sustainability and Renewal
Finding ways to sustain and apply natural resources is an issue of deep concern for the arid Southwest and the U.S.-Mexico border region, which face critical problems regarding management of natural resources and development of sustainable alternative practices for use of water and energy.  An area of significant investment by the university, the Natural Resource Sustainability and Renewal cluster is the largest of the clusters with 175 members from 35 different departments and units.  The three sub-clusters include Water, Energy, and Land.  Research includes such areas of immediate application in the semi-arid southwest as recovery of brackish water, development of drought resistant plant strains, water treatment, rangeland recovery, economic cost/benefit analysis, alternative energies, microgrids and electric delivery systems, and fuel cells and is valued over $25 million per year.

Southwest Border Issues
NMSU works extensively along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Northern Mexico, particularly the state of Chihuahua, to understand and improve the lives of border residents.  In collaboration with Mexican colleagues, NMSU faculties are identifying best practices for improving teaching and learning among border residents; tracking and examining prevention of infectious diseases; and researching ways to promote economic development in poor, rural communities.  NMSU is a founding member of the Southwest Border Consortium, which includes nine institutions focused on developing and protecting the border area.  The Border cluster attracts approximately $3 million per year in external funding.

21st Century Space and Aerospace Cluster
NMSU has well-established programs in testing and evaluation of UAVs and launching of high altitude balloons that carry a wide variety of payloads.  The university is also involved in the effort to establish Spaceport America, which will be located near Las Cruces and the NMSU campus.  Additional areas of intense interest among scientists affiliated with this cluster include space weather, space environment, and solar studies.  NMSU manages Apache Point, site of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, an international effort that has created the most ambitious and oft-cited astronomical survey ever undertaken. Aerospace offers virtually unlimited opportunities for development of new business and employment opportunities for a workforce prepared through existing and emerging educational and training programs offered by NMSU and its partners.  The Space/Aerospace cluster brings $35 million to the university each year.

Physical Science Laboratory
The Physical Science Laboratory (PSL) has been an integral and important part of New Mexico State University since 1946.  PSL provides critical technologies, systems integration, and research to industry and U.S. Government agencies.  PSL manages NASA’s esteemed Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility and the Unmanned Aerial Technical Analysis and Applications Center.  In addition, the Laboratory provides ballistics and weapon control systems support to White Sands Missile Range, contributes to defense-related research operations, such as NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program, supplies countermeasures support to the Army Research Lab, and maintains an FDA-funded laboratory for food and drug safety.  PSL has employed over 16,000 students since its founding, thereby contributing significantly to workforce development in the state and region. 

Below is a listing of other resources and research organizations at NMSU:

Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies, and International Programs
National Cancer Institute
NSF ADVANCE and PAID Programs
NM Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP)
Consortium for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education
Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC)
WERC Research Group
Water Resources Research Institute
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium
RASEM2
NM INBRE
Institute for Energy and the Environment
NIH Bridges to American Indians Program

New Mexico State University
http://www.nmsu.edu

General Information: (505) 646-0111
Admissions: (505) 646-3121

NM State University
P.O. Box 30001
Las Cruces, NM 88003

Posted by Administrator at 01:39 PM