The University of New Mexico has developed this list of its capabilities, along with examples of activities and expertise in each of these areas, to illustrate how UNM can be responsive to the priorities, initiatives and interests of New Mexico’s Congressional delegation. The list can also suggest targets of opportunity for UNM and New Mexico in terms of involvement in federally funded activities. This is not a compendium of all of UNM’s strengths, but rather is intended as a reference for delegation members in assessing possible opportunities for the University.

The University of New Mexico is one of only 59 public Carnegie Research I institutions of higher education (the highest level Carnegie designation based on a number of factors, including the level of research funding). Among these public Research I institutions, UNM is one of six that are also designated as minority-serving institutions and one of only two that are also Hispanic-serving institutions (the other being New Mexico State University.) UNM has the depth and breadth of teaching, research and public service programs associated with the major universities around the country.

UNM’s special capabilities emerge from and are responsive to its unique environment – physical, cultural, demographic, technological (including proximity to federal laboratories) – but the benefits extend far beyond the borders of the state. For example, UNM’s primary care curriculum in medicine was developed in response to the rural nature of much of New Mexico and it has become the model for medical education throughout the country. UNM capabilities derive additional strength because there is significant integration among them. As another example, a number of our recruitment and retention programs for students combine our capabilities in math, science and engineering and our strengths in the area of diversity. Few, if any, other universities have the combination and synergy of capabilities that characterize UNM.

Finally, UNM’s wide-ranging and synergistic areas of expertise are integral to the area’s economic development initiatives. Of the six industry clusters identified by the Next Generation Economy Initiative (a City of Albuquerque economic project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy), UNM has expertise in four of the areas – biomedical/biotechnology, optics/photonics, electronics and information technology.

Science and Engineering

• Proximity to and partnerships with federal laboratories (Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory); strategic partnerships with major high technology industries, (e.g., Intel, IBM, Lockheed-Martin, Hewlitt-Packard)
• Emerging threats initiatives (safety, reliability, use control; environmental/biological) non-proliferation, US/Russia connections (including social sciences)
• High technology materials (semiconductors, ceramics, biomaterials); management of technology programs
• High performance computing, visualization, image processing
• Recruitment and retention of minority students (predominantly Hispanic and American Indian) at all degree levels (undergraduate through Ph.D.), including ‘bridge" programs (prior to entering UNM), tutoring and other support services, research opportunities, internships, job placement
• Space science and engineering (electronics, controls, space power and satellites)
• Manufacturing technology and education (robotics, modeling, semiconductor processing)

• New Mexico’s only teaching hospital with the only NIH-funded Clinical Research Center linked to an industry funded Clinical Trials Center for Translational Research;
• Problem-based learning; national and world leaders in development of primary care curriculum for medical education
• Nationally-ranked programs in rural health, family medicine, primary care
• Education for students and health care professionals in clinical and rural settings
• Ethnically diverse student bodies in medicine, nursing and pharmacy
• Biotechnology research partnerships with NM’s federal labs, UNM School of Engineering and private industry
• Research related to special health and medical problems of certain ethnic groups (for example, diabetes among American Indians)
• Trauma, emergency and disaster medicine, emerging viruses (e.g., hantavirus and plague research), cancer treatment and research

• Designation as "minority serving" and "Hispanic serving" – main campus enrollment is 37.5% minority and 26.8% Hispanic
• Hispanics – the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S.
• New Mexico and UNM demographics – growing Hispanic population; large and varied American Indian populations – a sense of "community" at UNM and in NM
• Special recruitment, retention and job placement programs in math, science and engineering
• Special health and medical issues (for example, asthma among Hispanics)
• College of Education -- teacher recruitment, preparation, retention – rural areas, role models
• Top ranked Ph.D. program in intercultural communication in the country; nationally ranked clinical law program and Indian Law Certificate program

• Nationally ranked programs in history, archeology, anthropology, geology, visual and performing arts
• Environment – biology, ecology, arid lands, resource management, water law, human health; environmental technologies
• Hispanic and American Indian populations, cultures, languages
• Rural -- distance education, telehealth
• Border issues – immigration, health, resources law, environment

• Latin American and Iberian studies
• Spanish-speaking environment and community
• Partnerships with universities in Mexico, Central and South America in a wide range of academic programs; also technical assistance to government agencies, private business and educational organizations
• Special expertise and involvement – including the environment, sciences, water rights and water law, health care systems and management, educational systems, finance and business
• Capability to teach a wide range of academic courses in Spanish
• Border issues: immigration, health, resource law
• The first Ibero-American Science Technology Education Consortium university in North America (the second, MIT, joined in 1999); library linkages to all 110 ISTEC universities
• Latin American Database -- international resource

A review of the major science and technology initiatives outlined in the proposed FY 2001 federal budget illustrates how the University of New Mexico has made and will continue to make recognized achievements in several key areas. In many instances, this has been accomplished in close collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, as well as in targeted collaborations with other institutions and universities.

Information Technology:

Since its establishment in 1993, the Maui High Performance Computing Center, under UNM’s management, has become a recognized national DoD computing resource, providing more than 400 DoD scientists and engineers with access to the latest computing technology. Similar opportunities have been made available to the faculty, staff and students of UNM, as well as to new initiatives such as the National Foundation for Functional Brain Imaging. The UNM-supported Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center ranks among the top 20 U.S. educational institution supercomputing centers, bringing together 11 departments, more than 20 faculty, several interdisciplinary projects, and more than 25 graduate research students each year. Between UNM, LANL and SNL, New Mexico is home to possibly the largest resource of computing facilities and talent in the world.

National Nanotechnology Initiative:

Both materials-related centers at UNM – the Center for High Technology Materials and the Center for Microengineered Materials – have internationally recognized programs in aspects of nanotechnology. Important topics include quantum-dot semiconductor lasers, imaging interferometric nanolithography, nanoheteroepitaxy, self-assembly, and chemical routes to nanostructured materials. Nanostructures are being investigated for applications as diverse as nanoelectronics, novel devices for optoelectronics, advanced chemical/biological sensing and diagnostics, and heterogeneous catalysis. In each case, nanostructures are enabling advances and functions that are uniquely different from traditional macroscopic capabilities.

Biotechnology, Biomedical Research and Biothreats

UNM has tremendous strength in the following areas: infectious diseases (and related computational analysis and technology development) as evidenced by the research of multidisciplinary teams from pathology, biology, internal medicine and OMI; internationally recognized research in emerging infectious diseases (molecular biology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, pulmonary immunology, physiology); disaster medicine, with the nation’s most experienced Disaster Medical Assistance Team; and innovative studies of the ecology of zoonotic diseases. UNM’s telehealth initiative with the University of Hawaii has demonstrated the feasibility of integrating advanced computing with problem-based curricula in order provide medical education and service in remote areas with isolated populations. UNM has also made great strides in the area of genomics and computational biology and has entered into an alliance to build inter-institutional collaborations with NMSU, LANL and SNL.

Ecosystems and Ecological Biodiversity:

UNM manages the international Long-Term Ecological Research Network which is a collaborative effort involving more than 1100 scientists and students investigating ecological processes operating at long-time scales and over broad spatial scales. UNM also operates the Sevilleta LTER in Socorro County, a research site involved in the characterization of ecological responses to climate dynamics and related disturbances along environmental gradients at multiple scales.

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