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New Mexico

NSF and New Mexico

In FY 2003, the NSF provided over 190 awards totaling approximately $37 million to 23 institutions in the State of New Mexico as well as $110,000 in fellowships.

Among the institutions in New Mexico that received NSF support in FY 2003 were Eastern New Mexico University, Mesofuel, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the New Mexico Health Science Center, the Santa Fe Institute, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, and Adherent Technologies, Inc.

Examples of Projects Currently Funded by NSF in the State of New Mexico:

Long Term Ecological Research in a Biome Transition Zone — The Sevilleta LTER research site is located on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, where a junction of four biomes (Great Plains Grassland, Great Basin Shrub-Steppe, Chihuahuan Desert, and Montane Coniferous Forest) provides a rich assortment of biome transition zones. Interactions among a highly variable climate, elevation range, complex topography, geology, and soils, provides a complex spatial and temporal template for this University of New Mexico sponsored project. Because the region is likely to experience a decade-long drought, directional changes in climate, and increases in atmospheric deposition, an understanding of the key processes driving patch and ecotone dynamics is critical to an ability to manage and preserve the biodiversity and natural resources of these systems.

Virtual Tutor for E-Learning Assessment and Feedback — This Advanced Technological Education project addresses the twin challenges facing distance education when used as a tool for educating the technicians of a high-tech work force. The first challenge is the need for a hands-on laboratory experience to adequately train technicians. The second is the fact that the teacher is remote in space and/or time. A new intelligent tutoring system software package will be adapted at San Juan College to automate the assessment and feedback component of the experiential exercises. The "smart help" of an intelligent tutor will enable the student to get help at any time of the day or night without having to wait for a response from the course instructor. The primary audience is the distance education student of a two-year terminal degree program.

Integrating IT into the Curriculum Through Computer Modeling Approaches — The Santa Fe Institute will train New Mexico science, mathematics, and technology teachers at the secondary level to integrate IT concepts and computer modeling into their curricula using simulation software, participatory simulations using hand held computers, and related computer technologies. Students and teachers will analyze and explore models of complex adaptive systems using a computer programming environment and accompanying curriculum specifically built for and tested in middle and secondary schools. Students will learn design and presentation of information, system design and analysis, data analysis tools and techniques, and computer modeling and simulation techniques.

Small Business Innovation Research — An NSF SBIR award to TPL, Inc. supports the development of integrated amplifier/splitters through laser direct writing of wet-chemically derived, erbium-doped coatings. Precursor solutions will be mixed on the molecular level to produce pure and homogeneous materials. Waveguide structures will be written into the erbium-doped fluoride coatings with a laser, which raises its index of refraction to confine light. This devise will expedite bringing fiber the last mile because it will replace the current serial arrangement of discrete splitters and amplifiers, which is bulky and expensive due to the number of components and interconnects. The proposed integration techniques will also enable optical integrated circuits and next-generation computing.

For more information on New Mexico and NSF, please contact the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at 703-292-8070.

Useful Links:

New Mexico Governor's Office
New Mexico State Government
New Mexico Office of Science and Technology