Students Explore Research Opportunities at New Mexico Tech
Feb. 20, 2023
Research@Tech Day offers high school students a preview of academic life
Senior civil engineering major Katie Neal, center, describes her experiences at New
Mexico Tech over the past four years for the audience of 250 high school students
and their 200 guests. At left are fellow students Anita Montoya, a junior studying
electrical engineering, and at right is Livia De Viterbo, a senior pursuing a mineral
engineering degree.
SOCORRO, N.M. – Prospective students hoping to turn college experience into a career in industry,
government, a lab, or continue their education in graduate school explored their abundant
options at a showcase of student research on the New Mexico Tech campus. More than
250 students and over 200 of their parents and guardians attended Research@Tech Day
Feb. 20, 2023, to learn more about the university’s hands-on research projects in
science, technology, engineering, math, and other fields.
Physics graduate student R. Stetson Reger, left, shows Brody Duggin, center, and Caleb
Smith, both freshmen at Rio Rancho High School, how lightning can be mapped in three
dimensions. The Physics Department tour at Workman Center was one of many academic
department tours students participated in during Research@Tech Day Feb. 20 at New
Mexico Tech.
Students and their guests began the day hearing from a panel of students who described
how they landed on-campus jobs, summer internships, and job offers from tech companies,
national labs, and research organizations with the assistance of New Mexico Tech faculty,
staff, and alumni.
Dr. Rene Arechiga, left, associate professor and Electrical Engineering Department
chair, chats with Wyatt Hickman, center, and his father, Chris Hickman, right, of
Albuquerque. The Hickmans joined other students and their families watching a presentation
about a national research project aimed at improving mine safety. New Mexico Tech
and a handful of other universities received a grant from the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health to design robotic systems, including drones and robots,
and temporary wireless underground communication systems to assist first responders
in mine cave-ins and fires.
Katie Neal, a senior pursuing a civil engineering degree, described her capstone assignment
– a research and design project building a concrete canoe her team will race against
other universities in April.
“There’s lots of opportunities for hands-on experience,” she said.
Gloria Serrano, left, a student at St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, is hoping
to study chemistry, biology, and chemical engineering at New Mexico Tech. Her mother,
Angelica Serrano, right, is a New Mexico Tech alum with a degree in electrical engineering.
"It's a great school," Angelica Serrano said of New Mexico Tech. "I'm interested in
finding out what she thinks of it."
Neal told the audience she landed an internship at PNM electric utility last summer
after attending NMT’s job fair, which featured practice interviews, resume advice,
and a clothes closet. She also advised future students to join a club to meet others
who share interests and can provide mentoring.
“Clubs were my really good way of meeting people outside classes,” she said.
Loren Chase, left, and his girlfriend, Tia Howard, both of Gallup, visited Socorro
for the first time Feb. 20 for Research@Tech Day. Chase is planning to transfer from
the University of New Mexico and study civil engineering like his father. Chase said
an engineer at his workplace recommended New Mexico Tech to him for its small class
sizes and interactions with faculty.
High school students toured NMT’s departments, learning about cutting-edge research
projects from both undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members. They watched
demonstrations, checked out lab equipment, and viewed research presentation posters.
Students and their guests also toured a drone room and on-campus housing, watched
a robotics demonstration, learned about clubs and organizations, and got their admissions
and financial aid questions answered.
More information about admissions is available on the New Mexico Tech website: nmt.edu/admission
