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Ranked #9 among Division III colleges —National Collegiate Rugby, 2025.
The men’s team won two national championships in 2022, capturing titles in both the 7s and 15s divisions. The program fields men’s and women’s teams, with scholarship opportunities available.

The NMT Lunabotics team won first place at the 2025 Collegiate Space Mining Competition.
This prototype wheel was engineered to dig and haul lunar soil as part of a rover designed for NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge.
Mechanical Engineering students can choose Lunabotics as their Capstone project through the Junior/Senior Design Clinic Series.

NMT’s Esports team is a back-to-back national champion in League of Legends, winning the NECC National Championships in 2023 and 2024.
The program fields competitive teams in five games and a casual division with 400+ members. Competitive players can earn scholarships and travel nationwide to represent Tech.

Ph.D. graduates receive a copper diploma explosively formed using a process called Detonography, invented at NMT’s EMRTC.
Detonography uses controlled explosions to etch and weld metal with precision, blending art, science, and engineering in a tradition that celebrates the highest level of academic achievement at New Mexico Tech.

The Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources is a research division of NMT and has one of the Nation’s premier collections of minerals, containing over 16,000 specimens.
Virgilluethite was discovered in NM and named after longtime NMT mineralogist, Dr. Virgil Lueth. This blue-green Smithsonite can be found in the world-famous Kelly Mine—just outside of Socorro.

This bio-inspired drone was used as part of a student’s master’s thesis in Mechanical Engineering. Inspired by the flight of a dandelion seed and designed for environmental monitoring and planetary exploration.
Its lightweight structure allows for passive, energy-efficient flight, making it ideal for spreading sensors in dangerous or hard-to-reach locations.

#2 Best Masters Program in Mechanical Engineering —Best Value Schools, 2025
This test was performed as part of a graduate-level MechE course. An example of real-world experiments graduate students experience.
In the experiment, a copper arrow detonated between layers of explosives inside a steel pipe, embedding its shape in the metal.

In Civil Engineering 101, first-year students are challenged to design a bridge entirely out of balsa wood. The bridges must be under 100g and free-standing.
This record-breaking bridge was designed by a group of students in 2014 and holds over 400lbs. Weighing in at just 85.8g, that’s 2,115 times its own weight!

MechE Mayhem is a robotics competition and program developed by students and faculty at NMT. Established in 2020, it now supports over 6,000 students and teachers in New Mexico each year.
Every spring, Tech hosts the robot combat tournament—drawing nearly 100 teams and 400 competitors from schools and universities across the region.

The NMT FabLab is free to all students, regardless of major and offers resin and PLA 3D printing, CO₂ lasers, VR headsets, soldering stations, sewing and embroidery machines and several open work benches. Training is provided.
The Machine Shop provides CNCs, lathes, mills, TIG/MIG welding, and heat treat furnaces. Students can take the PHYS 3001L - Laboratory and Shop Techniques.

At Tech, we go beyond “the sky is the limit.” Our research partners include NASA, the National Labs, and the NRAO. Here are two examples where NMT students are advancing space science & tech.
Students designed and launched a sub-orbital payload, performing the first ultrasonic test in space. Micrometeoroid impact testing was conducted by students to study how satellites detect and withstand debris strikes.

The nicotine patch was invented at NMT by psychology professor Dr. Frank Etscorn in 1979.
His invention, patented in 1986, has helped millions of people worldwide overcome nicotine addiction and was hailed by Time and Fortune magazines.
Today, NMT continues to champion innovation through its Office of Innovation Commercialization.

NMT’s Energetic Materials Research & Testing Center (EMRTC) is the largest university-owned explosives field laboratory in the world, spanning 40 square miles.
EMRTC trains over 17,000 First Responders each year and conducts a wide range of academic and industry research, from Background Oriented Schlieren imaging, modeled here, to 50,000-pound TNT shots.

The NMT Baja SAE team competes annually in a four-day off-road engineering challenge, racing a student-built vehicle through rugged terrain.
This wheel hub was created using generative design AI to reduce weight while maximizing strength. Mechanical Engineering students can choose Baja SAE as their Capstone project through the Junior/Senior Design Clinic Series.

NMT alum Ed Fries graduated in 1986 with a degree in Computer Science and co-founded the Xbox project, leading to the creation of the very first Xbox.
As Vice President of Game Publishing at Microsoft, he helped grow Microsoft Game Studios from 50 to over 1,200 team members and secured iconic titles such as Halo: Combat Evolved, changing the future of gaming.

NMT alum Hope Cahill graduated from the Master of Science for Teachers program in 2020 and went on to earn numerous awards for her excellence in teaching, including a presidential award and the Golden Apple (2025).
Her achievements highlight an exceptional ability to inspire students and a deep commitment to science education, placing her among the nation’s finest teachers.