SOCORRO, N.M. - Eager to learn about the research and academic opportunities awaiting them next fall, hundreds of prospective students and their parents attended Research @ Tech Day 2022, held Feb. 21 at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech). The annual spring recruiting event drew 333 high school students and their guests in person this year after taking a year off in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights of the day included campus and department tours and visits with current students and faculty; a drop-in resource fair featuring representatives of sports, clubs, and student organizations; overviews of residential life, financial aid, and admissions; and lunch in the Chartwells Dining Hall inside the Joseph A. Fidel Student Services Center. 

For the first 50 students on-site for the recruiting event, the day started off with a bang -- literally. The high school students were treated to an explosives demonstration at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center’s 40-square-mile field laboratory, located in the Socorro Mountains adjacent to the New Mexico Tech campus.

Drawing students and their parents and guests from across New Mexico and other states, the daylong event kicked off at the Macey Conference Center auditorium with videos and an overview of New Mexico Tech’s extensive research projects involving undergraduates, a major draw for prospective high school students. New Mexico Tech Vice President of Research Van Romero, also an NMT alum and unofficial campus historian, extolled the opportunities students would have to work alongside field-leading scientists in astrophysics, physics, engineering, biology, geology, and other disciplines. Students would benefit from New Mexico Tech’s affiliations with organizations such as Los Alamos National Labs, Sandia National Labs, and Spaceport America.

“From lab to launchpad to orbit,” Romero told the audience, NMT students can be found working alongside graduate students, faculty, and staff on projects such as designing ignition systems for rockets carrying payloads that end up on the International Space Station, which are then tracked by NMT’s Magdalena Ridge Observatory.  

After introducing several videos featuring the exploits of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote of

Looney Tunes fame, Romero presented event attendees with follow-up videos. These features showcased how NMT students, staff, and faculty members have attempted to solve similar engineering challenges as those featured in the classic animated cartoons – using an engineering analysis to figure out what went wrong for the fictional character’s escapades so they could do better next time with the boulder drops, flyer plates, and mousetraps.

“Engineering saves the day,” Romero said. “Wile E. Coyote should become a student at New Mexico Tech.”

Admissions Director Gregory Stringer told attendees that if he became a student, Wile E. Coyote’s “tenacity and stick-to-it-ness” would help him succeed at NMT, where courses are rigorous and demanding. 

“New Mexico Tech produces graduates who go on to do great things,” he said.

Rio Rancho High School students Richard Gipple and Brekken Wilson said they planned to learn more about mechanical engineering, a possible major for Wilson, on the Research @ Tech Day 2022 campus and department tour. Gipple said he is currently considering a military career, but attended the NMT recruiting event to find out more about academic offerings at the university.

The prospect of becoming an environmental engineer who tackles pollution prevention, water and energy resources, and other challenges drew Mariana Madera and her mother, Ana to Research @ Tech Day 2022. Madera, a senior at Manzano High School in Albuquerque, listened and took careful notes on details of NMT’s financial aid processes, dormitory life, and on-campus employment. Her outstanding high school GPA of 3.8 or better has qualified Madera for NMT’s Gold Scholarship, a $5,000 per year grant, renewable for four years.

Madera said she was looking forward to tours of the environmental engineering and chemical engineering departments as well as the chance to ask questions of faculty members and current students.

“Meeting new people and being responsible as an adult” are two of the goals Madera said she has for her NMT career.

Other NMT advantages, according to Admissions Office representatives, are the science, technology, and engineering focus; the small class sizes; chances to work closely and really get to know faculty members in the classroom, lab, and out in the field; and encounters with students from a variety of backgrounds from rural regions, large metro areas, and international locations. 

“Research and education – it’s what we do here,” Stringer said in his welcome. At New Mexico Tech, undergraduates will discover not only a welcoming campus, a “home away from home,” and a safe and inclusive environment – students also will get “help with finding their path.”

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