Category: Workforce Development

Presenters: Jeewon Choi, PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico (Research Goal 1), Jacob Marks, Masters Student, Computer Science, New Mexico Tech (Research Goal 2), Adnan Bashir, PhD Candidate, Computer Science, University of New Mexico (Research Goal 3), Shubhasmita Pati, PhD Candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering, New Mexico State University (Research Goal 4)

New Mexico EPSCoR is committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion. We strive to establish an environment that exemplifies and promotes diversity of all types (individual, institutional, geographic, and disciplinary). At last year's annual All Hands Meeting for the NM SMART Grid Center, we charged our team members to come up with ideas of what they could do personally to engage a wide diversity of students at their institutions. Here are a few more ideas that continue the overarching themes of “Involve. Encourage. Engage.”

Who has been a part of NM EPSCoR the longest? The answer may surprise you.

The NM SMART Grid Center is pleased to announce the most recent faculty hire for the project: Frank Currie, who is leading development of the Smart- and Micro-grid Training Center at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). Within this role, Frank will spearhead development of the Distributed Energy Systems Program, an AAS and AS degree program specializing in smart grid and microgrid systems technician training. “I am excited to build the program I wish had existed when I started school,” Frank said.

In 2012, I was working as Education Coordinator for the Valles Caldera Trust, a small experimental federal agency charged with managing the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) in the Jemez Mountains. New in my position, I had taken it upon myself to overhaul VCNP education efforts and establish a tiered education program offering place-based STEM field trips to local k-12 students.

What do you get when you combine 19 education institutions, nearly 50 posters, and 150 attendees? The 2019 New Mexico Research Symposium hosted in collaboration with the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS)!

Presenters: Arthur Barnes, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Jay Johnson, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)

Modeling and simulation tools are essential for researchers as they seek ways to integrate variable renewable sources of energy, like wind, into the electricity grid. Recently, NM SMART Grid Center graduate student, P. Christopher Scott, spent time as an extern at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to learn about power system simulation. The INL Power Systems team, including Dr. Mayank Panwar, mentored Scott as he built computer models in Simulink, ran them on an Opal-RT real-time digital simulator, and modeled and simulated a power system in the IEEE 14-bus system.

We are pleased to announce the 2019 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award winners—Dr. David Mitchell and Dr. Satyajayant (Jay) Misra. Both were nominated by mentees and demonstrated characteristics of excellent mentors, including strong professional and interpersonal relationships; working to advance their mentees’ academic, research, and professional goals; and creating inclusive environments for diverse students.

In 2014, NM EPSCoR supported the hire of Assistant Professors Dr. José Cerrato and Dr. Ricardo González-Pinzón at the UNM Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering with funds from the $20 million Energize New Mexico National Science Foundation (NSF) EPSCoR grant.