Category: SMART Grid

We are excited to announce the 2021 Infrastructure Seed Award program awardees and share a report from 2020 award recipient Dr. Caitano da Silva. The Infrastructure Seed Award program is designed to support transformative research and capacity building across New Mexico’s higher education institutions in emerging smart grid areas (e.g., STEM, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, cyberinfrastructure, and workforce development).
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Selena Connealy has been appointed to the position of Associate Director for the New Mexico Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR) after six months serving as Interim Associate Director following the departure of Anne Jakle in late 2020.
Presenter: George "Rusty" Nail, Graduate Research Assistant at NMSU
“The need for a robust and diverse STEM workforce has been reiterated for decades, and it is one of the current administration’s top priorities in order to maintain America’s historical preeminence in the STEM fields." - Dr. Panchanathan, NSF Director on Broadening Participation at NSF. 
Presenter: Dr. Claus Danielson, Assistant Professor, UNM Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hey, students! Don’t have time to go looking for summer internships? No problem, we’ve done it for you.   Undergraduates STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP) by NM SMART Grid Center Who: Undergraduates students from New Mexico regional universities, community colleges and tribal colleges.
Presenters: Olga Lavrova, New Mexico State University, Hamed Nademi, New Mexico State University, Fengyu Wang, New Mexico State University
It’s time for me to say farewell to the New Mexico EPSCoR community and embark on new adventures. It has been a pleasure to work with you all and get to know many of you over the last five years. I hope you’ll provide a warm reception to Dr. Selena Connealy, who is the newly appointed Interim Associate Director for NM EPSCoR.
Our second NM SMART Grid Center 2020 extern, Mara Yarbrough, just completed her 10-week externship with the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) researching practical policies state governments can implement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She shared her thoughts with us on the experience in this brief reflection. Enjoy!
On September 30th, the University of New Mexico announced a joint agreement with Siemens Industry to begin collaborations at the UNM-owned microgrid at Mesa del Sol. Located in Albuquerque, the Mesa del Sol microgrid is one of three NM SMART Grid Center project testbeds, the others being Southwest Technology Development Institute at NMSU and the greenhouse complex at Santa Fe Community College, where project team members can test research out on actual equipment.