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.

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
TypePublic
Established1889
Endowment$47.7 million (2018)[1]
PresidentDr. Stephen G. Wells
Academic staff
171
Undergraduates1,532 (Spring 2015)
Postgraduates489 (Spring 2015)
Location
Socorro
,
New Mexico
,
U.S.

34.0668°N 106.9056°W / 34.0668; -106.9056
CampusRural, 320 acres (130 ha) central, 40 mi² (100 km²) adjoining
FocusScience and engineering
Websitewww.nmt.edu

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
Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO), managed by New Mexico Tech's Office of Research and Economic Development, is located 20 miles (32 km) west of campus at an elevation of 10,500 feet (3,200 m) in the Cibola National Forest.
The Very Large Array (VLA): a 27-dish interferometer 60 miles (97 km) west of Socorro, with headquarters on the New Mexico Tech campus.
The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Program for Array Studies of the Continental Lithosphere (IRIS PASSCAL) Instrument Center, located on the New Mexico Tech campus.

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

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
A view of Weir Hall (left) and the Library/Media Center (right) in the heart of campus.

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
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References
  1. "New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology - 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). New Mexico Tech. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  2. Carey, John A. (Feb. 2003) "New Mexico Tech One of State's Best Assets" New Mexico Business Journal 27:2 pp48-49
  3. "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.
  4. "Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients, National Science Foundation Report 8-311, July, 2008". Archived from the original on 2014-10-11.
  5. "USNews College Ranking". USNews. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  6. "A Brief History of NMT". Nmt.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  7. 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.
  8. "''Recreation in Socorro'' Socorro Public Library". Adobelibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  9. "Outdoor Recreation in Socorro County" New Mexico Tech Earth and Environmental Science Department Archived December 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "NMT Golf Course". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  11. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (2005) NM Tech 2004 Affirmative Action Report New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM;
  12. "Tech on TV". New Mexico Tech. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  13. "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.
  14. "Lukas Lundin - Lundin Petroleum Board of directors". Lundin-petroleum.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
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