Clean and sustainable energy was a hot topic at the 2019 New Mexico Legislative Session. At least four bills and two memorials that passed are relevant to the NM SMART Grid Center research and associated education and workforce development components.

Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity (OE), Bruce J. Walker, announced the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) “Electricity Industry Technology and Practices Innovation Challenge.” This contest is designed to tap into American ingenuity for ideas on how to modify or replace existing processes and procedures, the use of technology, and traditional energy industry practices to improve grid operations, with the goal of making the nation’s Bulk Power System stronger and more resilient.

Eshani Hettiarachchi, New Mexico Tech graduate student and Uranium component team member for the Energize New Mexico grant, recently published her research on uranium-contaminated dust and its health implications in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal, Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

Four research scientists, all of whom have been part of New Mexico EPSCoR projects in the past, penned an open letter to the next governor of New Mexico. Laura Crossey, Dan Cadol, Sam Fernald, and Cliff Dahm wrote about the importance of higher education research for the NM Political Report. The letter was published before the 2018 Midterm Elections on November 2nd.

Continuing a tradition of collaboration and research excellence, our 6th Annual Research Symposium was a success! Sponsored by the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS), NM EPSCoR, the American Chemical Society, UNM Center for Water and the Environment, and the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (NM AMP), the Symposium took place at the Sheraton Airport in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 28th. With over 110 attendees, 40 posters, and 25 presentations, the day was filled with networking and topics spanning several STEM fields.