New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (a.k.a. New Mexico Tech, and formerly known as the New Mexico School of Mines) is a public university in Socorro, New Mexico.
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Type | Public |
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Established | 1889 |
Endowment | $47.7 million (2018)[1] |
President | Dr. Stephen G. Wells |
Academic staff | 171 |
Undergraduates | 1,532 (Spring 2015) |
Postgraduates | 489 (Spring 2015) |
Location | , , 34.0668°N 106.9056°W |
Campus | Rural, 320 acres (130 ha) central, 40 mi² (100 km²) adjoining |
Focus | Science and engineering |
Website | www.nmt.edu |
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New Mexico Tech offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in technology, the sciences, engineering, management, and technical communication, as well as graduate degrees at the masters and doctoral levels.[2] According to Newsweek in 2010, New Mexico Tech was considered one of the best small science and engineering schools in North America.[2][3] A National Science Foundation study of Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients in the United States ranked New Mexico Tech as 15th in the nation, as well as the number-one ranked public institution.[4]
History
New Mexico Tech is a relatively small (1,412 students as of 2020) research- and teaching-oriented university focused on science and engineering.[5] The institution was founded by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature in the year 1889 as the New Mexico School of Mines to both boost the territorial economy and teach mining specialties on the college level. During the 1930s, petroleum engineering and technology also became an important field of study at the institute. In 1946, New Mexico Tech began offering graduate degrees. The institute adopted its current name in 1951, but the change was not legally effective until 1960, when its name was changed by an amendment of the New Mexico State Constitution, Art.XII, Section 11.[6]
Research and teaching
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New Mexico Tech's well-known areas of research and teaching include hydrology, astrophysics, atmospheric physics, geophysics, information technology, information security, Earth Science, energetic materials engineering, and petroleum recovery.
Federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security and other sources has fostered significant training and research programs in this area (even going so far as to allow the university to purchase Playas, New Mexico, a former company town, as a field site).
Because of its especially strong research programs, the school offers numerous scholarships and unique research opportunities for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, with a very high professor to student ratio of approximately one professor per twelve students. In addition to its strong focus on science and technology, New Mexico Tech has had significant growth in the humanities and social sciences. Minors are now available in history, Latin American studies, and philosophy, as well as in science and engineering fields.
Affiliated science and engineering centers
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
- Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center
- Institute for Complex Additive Systems Analysis
- Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology[7]
- Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research
- Magdalena Ridge Observatory
- National Cave and Karst Research Institute
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (an independent research organization operated by Associated Universities, Inc. located on the New Mexico Tech campus)
- Petroleum Recovery Research Center
In 2003 the university bought the town of Playas, New Mexico for use as a research and training facility for the university’s first responders and counter-terrorism programs.
National Center of Academic Excellence
The school is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. This brings several major scholarships and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
School culture and student life
NMT hosts an annual Performing Arts Series that is free to students, and, along with the broader Socorro community, city, and county, supports a great number of special events each year. New Mexico Tech is located approximately an hour south of Albuquerque in a region of high deserts to subalpine mountains that offers considerable outdoor recreation opportunities, including rock climbing, road and mountain biking, a triathlon, and hiking opportunities.[8][9] New Mexico Tech also hosts numerous active student clubs, a Part 15 AM radio station, and a biweekly student newspaper, Paydirt. The campus includes an 18-hole championship golf course.[10]
The campus population has historically been predominantly male, but it has moved increasingly towards a balance between the sexes.[11] The current gender distribution at New Mexico Tech (2020) is 70% male and 30% female.[5]
New Mexico Tech has nine different residence halls/apartments for students: West Hall (male only); Driscoll Hall (female only); Torres Hall (co-ed); Presidents Hall (co-ed); Baca Hall (co-ed); South Hall (co-ed); Ben D. Altamirano Student Apartments; Desert Willow Apartments; and Mountain Springs Apartments.
The campus has a 150,000-US-gallon (570,000 l; 120,000 imp gal) outdoor swimming pool, with a depth from 4 to 11 feet (1.2 to 3.4 m). During the winter months, it is covered to allow swimming to continue during cold weather.
Each summer, NMT hosts the Summer Science Program, which teaches astronomy to high school students.
New Mexico Tech on television
A number of television shows have focused on New Mexico Tech faculty, students, and research. TruTV's Man vs. Cartoon features attempts by Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center to re-create contraptions and situations found in Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons. MythBusters, National Geographic Explorer, BBC Horizon and Nova have also featured Tech in various episodes.[12] Another TV show featuring Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, Blow Up U, began filming in the spring of 2009.[13]
Notable alumni
- Conrad Hilton (born 1887), American hotelier and the founder of the Hilton Hotels chain
- Larry Soderblom (born 1944), American geophysicist with the Astrogeology Science center at the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona where he has served as Chief of the Branch of Astrogeology
- Don Tripp (born 1946), American politician and a Republican member of the New Mexico House of Representatives representing District 49 since January 1999.
- Fred Baker (born 1951), American engineer, specialized in developing computer network protocols for the Internet.
- Ibrahim Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum (born 1954), was the Iraqi Minister of Oil from May 2005 until December 2005, while he was a member of the Islamic Virtue Party.
- Terry Wallace (born 1954), Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Lukas Lundin (born 1958), Swedish-Canadian billionaire businessman[14]
- Jeffrey A. Lockwood (born 1960) is an award-winning author, entomologist, and University of Wyoming professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities.
- Axel Scherer, Professor, California Institute of Technology, inventor of the Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL)
- Jason Harper, is an American politician and a Republican member of the New Mexico House of Representatives representing District 57 since January 15, 2013.
- Pauline Irene Nguene, was the Service Head for Hydrocarbons Exploration in the Ministry of Mines, Water Resources and Energy.
References
- "New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology - 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). New Mexico Tech. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- Carey, John A. (Feb. 2003) "New Mexico Tech One of State's Best Assets" New Mexico Business Journal 27:2 pp48-49
- "The 25 Most Desirable Small Schools: 19. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology". Newsweek. September 12, 2010. Archived from the original on September 16, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- "Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients, National Science Foundation Report 8-311, July, 2008". Archived from the original on 2014-10-11.
- "USNews College Ranking". USNews. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- "A Brief History of NMT". Nmt.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- Aster, R., Beaudoin, B., Hole, J., Fouch, M., Fowler, J., James, D., and the PASSCAL Staff and Standing Committee, IRIS PASSCAL program marks 20 years of scientific discovery, EOS trans. AGU, 86, 26 April 2005.
- "''Recreation in Socorro'' Socorro Public Library". Adobelibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- "Outdoor Recreation in Socorro County" New Mexico Tech Earth and Environmental Science Department Archived December 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- "NMT Golf Course". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (2005) NM Tech 2004 Affirmative Action Report New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM;
- "Tech on TV". New Mexico Tech. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- "Tech's Magdalena Ridge Observatory Now Open for Business". New Mexico Tech. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- "Lukas Lundin - Lundin Petroleum Board of directors". Lundin-petroleum.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
External links
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