Notes from the April 15, 2008 Regents Meeting

SOCORRO, N.M., April 16, 2008 – New Mexico Tech is entering new oil and gas partnerships with Chinese companies, university president Dr. Daniel H. López announced at the Tuesday, April 15, meeting of the Board of Regents.

As the result of a recent trip to China with school and other state officials and industry representatives, Dr. López inked two deals with Beijing Rocket Energy Technology Co. of China to bring new technologies developed at New Mexico Tech to the marketplace.

One agreement will help develop a process patented by New Mexico Tech researchers that will suppress produced water in oilfields. Using current technology, oil wells pump both oil and water to the surface. The water is then re-injected into the oil field. The new technology will streamline the process and drastically reduce the amount of water that is pumped and re-injected.

The university agreed to work with the company, which is a primary supplier to PetroChina, the state oil and gas company.

The second agreement will help develop a new device that, when inserted into a secondary borehole, forces oil toward a gathering point, Dr. López said.

Beijing Rocket Energy Technology Co. has a patent on the steam-generating device. New Mexico Tech scientists at the Petroleum Research and Recovery Center will help develop the device for implementation in the Daqing Oil Field in China. Eventually, the company expects to open a manufacturing operation at the New Mexico Tech Technology Park to supply the device throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Dr. López also announced that New Mexico Tech has reached an agreement with a new Egyptian school, Sinai University, to help launch a new school of engineering.

“In this country, our universities typically lack international ties,” Dr. López said. “In an increasing global community, we need these cross-cultural ties to give our students increasing opportunities for success.”

The two schools will offer exchange programs for both faculty and students.

In action items, the Regents approved a tuition increase of 7 percent for the 2008-2009 school year, while mandatory student fees will not increase. In total, the cost for a student to attend New Mexico Tech will increase by 6.25 percent, Dr. López said.

Much of the increase is to fund a 3 percent salary increase for faculty and staff, along with providing a 4 percent salary increase for employees earning $10 per hour or less, Dr. López said.

Board of Regent president Jerry Armijo pointed out that New Mexico Tech still is the most affordable research university in the state.

Student Regent Dennise Trujillo said students understand that the cost of tuition is rising as the cost of everything in life is rising. She also said students also realize that Tech still is the most affordable university both for in-state and out-of-state students.

“Students are gritting their teeth,” she said. “But they understand.”

Preliminary enrollment figures for the 2008-2009 school year are stable. The number of paid applicants is down from April 1, 2007, but is about the same as 2005 and 2006.

Dr. López also said he foresees diminishing funding from the state legislature and that the university will need to tighten its belt.

“We really need to be careful on expenses,” he said. “During the next legislative session, we will have difficult fiscal conditions. We’ll just have to be diligent.”

The university awarded a contract to ESA Construction of Albuquerque to finish the third floor of the Fidel Student Services Center. The company bid $982,181, which was the lowest of five bidders.

The university also awarded a contract to PDG Planning and Design of Des Moines, Iowa, an architectural firm, to design a new Wellness Center. Dr. López said that the university selected the most responsive and experienced bidder because of the detailed nature of the new Wellness Center. The company will partner with Albuquerque-based Hewitt-Zollars Inc. to begin design work for the Wellness Center.

In other action items, the Board of Regents:

• Awarded promotions to full professor to the following instructors:
  • Mark P. Cal of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
  • Bhasker Majumdar of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Department
  • Hamdy Soliman of the Computer Science Department
• Announced the following department chairs:
  • Richard Aster in Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • Mark P. Cal of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
  • Her Yuan Chen in Petroleum Engineering and Chemical Engineering
  • John McCoy in the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Department
  • David Westpfahl in the Physics Department; and
  • Mary Dezember in the Humanities Department
• Heard that the recent audit had no findings and that the university is on solid financial ground.
• Approved Dr. López’s request to pay $100,000 of his discretionary funding for vice president retention.
• Approved an amended faculty compensation policy.
• Approved the sale of excess property.
• Received a package of information from local resident Loretta Lowman pertaining to the proposed Air Force drop zone on New Mexico Tech property. Lowman addressed the board and thanked them for their transparency and willingness to listen.

-NMT-