Julian Lucero

Julian Lucero, a UNM undergraduate in Computer Engineering, is spending his summer thinking about the recently discovered Comet ISON. He is one of three interns working with researchers in the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on three projects connected to the Balloon Rapid Response for ISON (BRRISON) mission. 

The projects involve a planned helium balloon launch by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to take images of the comet in fall 2013. This will be the first planetary balloon mission launched by NASA in 50 years. It is expected to last about one day and will carry up to 8,000 pounds of scientific equipment. The balloon will hoist a 0.8 meter telescope attached to a gondola to take photos of ISON. 

ISON, named for the acronym of the International Scientific Optical Network, was discovered last September by a network of Russian astronomers as it moved out of the Oort Cloud on a journey toward the sun. ISON is projected to travel to a point about 730,000 miles above the surface of the sun. It may swing around the sun and head back into space or it may break apart as it moves into proximity to the sun.

This fall ISON will travel through the inner solar system on the way toward the sun. Astronomers hope to get images of ISON taken as the balloon rises to about 120,000 feet. If all goes well the images may compare in quality to the Hubble Space Telescope, and offer watchers a unique show. The $10 million mission will launch from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Flight Facility at Fort Sumner, New Mexico sometime in the September-October time frame.

Comet ISON

In the meantime, Lucero is working on his first project which involves transmitting a high definition feed from the balloon as it rises, back to the base station. He is also involved with a project to help with C coding for the gondola that uses pictures taken of stars to track its location. Another project is to interface a PID Heater Controller with their current system.

Lucero grew up in Socorro and says he’s always been interested in computer software, but he never thought his interest would lead him to an internship working on a NASA project. He says he is learning how to work with hardware as well as software and his days are filled with learning new things.

Media contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277‑5627;kwent2@unm.edu

The instructions to persons on the UNM Campus during an actual activation are to seek immediate shelter and look for additional information. This additional information could come through UNM’s LoboAlerts System, email, the UNM web page and/or local media. UNM exercises this system once each semester. The last exercise of this system was during the Spring semester on Feb. 4. The next planned exercise after this one will be this Fall. Information about the test will be sent out in advance.

The test will include all parts of the University’s warning systems including sirens, e-mail, text messaging, social media page updates and UNM web page updates.

“UNM tests the system each semester to familiarize the campus community with our various systems, to remind people to update their emergency notification data and preferences, and to encourage everyone to review their individual and organizational preparedness measures,” said Byron Piatt, University Emergency manager. “It also gives our first responders an opportunity to activate the various systems as part of their routine training.”

To prepare for the test, all UNM and UNMH staff, faculty, affiliates and registered students are asked to log into the LoboAlerts site and update their emergency notification information and preferences. The LoboAlerts system can store and contact up to three cell phones and three e-mail addresses per person. Although one can choose to receive either text or e-mail messages, or both, one cannot completely opt out of the system. UNM will use this system only for important information related to the safety and well-being of the campus community, and wants to reach as broad of an audience as possible.

Piatt also suggests that individuals add the numbers 26787 and 67283 to their address books as LoboAlerts. The numbers are the common short codes used by the system to send the messages. It is helpful to see a text message coming from “LoboAlerts” rather than some unknown number.

“During the weather alerts last year, we received reports of people not receiving text messages,” said Piatt. “In many cases we have found that the individual never entered their telephone number, entered it incorrectly or failed to check the text messaging box. We encourage everyone to select both the text and e-mail options.”

On average, text messages are delivered 10 times faster than the e-mail messages. The timeliness of text message receipt can vary, however, based upon type of phone, carrier, location or battery strength.

“There is no single, guaranteed way to reach everyone all of the time, so we employ many different methods,” said Piatt. “It is in everyone’s best interest to try and receive all of those types of messages.”

Friends and family members and other non-UNM persons including those who work on campus, live in nearby communities or otherwise have an interest in receiving emergency notifications can receive LoboAlerts emergency notifications as well, either by following LoboAlerts at http://tinyurl.com/LoboAlerts and http://twitter.com/loboalerts pages or by creating an account on the http://www.getrave.com/login/unmcommunity site.

For more information and Frequently Asked Questions visit: LoboAlerts.

Media contact: Steve Carr (505) 277‑1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu

2013 UNM FSAE Racing Team

Students in the UNM “LoboMotorsports” program left Albuquerque today on their way to Lincoln, Nebraska to compete with their sleek formula-style racing car in the world’s largest automotive competition, the Formula SAE, organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The Formula SAE will test the students’ hands-on engineering skills as well as the teamwork, leadership, marketing and decision-making skills that they’ve developed through the “LoboMotorsports” program, a three-semester credited course designed by Mechanical Engineering Professor John Russell.

In the “LoboMotorsports” program, students learn all aspects of being on an engineering business design team, including research, design, manufacturing, testing, developing, marketing, management, and fundraising.

“There are no problems at the end of the chapter and no answers in the back of the book,” says Kirby Anne Witte, project manager for the 2013 team. “We must supply our own questions to fuel the design of many subsystems that flow together to create a vehicle that must not only drive, but also perform and compete.”

These skills are as valuable for the competition as they are for careers. Many “LoboMotorsports” alums get job offers before graduating from companies such as Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, Sandia National Laboratories, Boeing, and more. A large number go on to the best graduate schools in the country.

Highlights of the 2013 “LoboMotorsports” Car

• The 2013 car runs a continuously variable transmission (CVT); no shifting is required by the driver. The team’s car features an infinite range of gear ratios because the CVT pulleys expand or contract to keep the engine at maximum power all the time.
• The team chose to use a snowmobile engine — a 499 cc, two cylinder Yamaha Genesis engine from the Phazer snow mobile because it’s compatible with the CVT.
• All of the aerodynamics are designed and manufactured by students. Star-CCM+ (The same software used by Formula 1 teams) is used to analyze different designs in order to create downforce without also creating too much drag. The carbon fiber components are made using vacuum bagging techniques.

More about the Program
Dozens of sponsors contribute to the program financially and with in-kind donations, including equipment, services, and technical support. Sandia National Labs has been a sponsor of the program for five years, has successfully placed FSAE program as interns and in all positions within the organization.

“LoboMotorsports” program was started in 1997. Russell and the team have participated in many of the competitions, both in Lincoln and on the West Coast. Russell says, “Each team builds on successes from previous student achievements over the past 15 years.”

For more information, visit the ““LoboMotorSports” program or email John J. Russell or call (505) 277‑1345 or (505) 363‑9435.

Zoe Chao

Zoe Chao, a faculty member with UNM Libraries, will participate in “Leading to the Future,” the American Library Association’s four-day immersive leadership development program for future library leaders.

The selection committee searched for a diverse participant mix based on type of library (public, academic, school, special), organizational responsibility, geography, gender and race/ethnicity, as well as demonstrated leadership potential, readiness for increased responsibility, professional achievement and community or campus involvement.

ALA President Maureen Sullivan and Association of College Research Libraries Content Strategist Kathryn Deiss will lead this inaugural ALA Leadership Institute.  It is designed to help participants develop and practice their leadership skills in critical areas and allow them to form a vibrant learning community and network.

Participants are expected to return to their institution with greater self-awareness and self-confidence, equipped with better skills for leading, coaching, collaborating and engaging within their organizations and in their communities, and prepared to identify, develop and implement solutions that will benefit all stakeholders.

Franz Joachim

“I am very excited about this new opportunity to serve New Mexico and our viewers, continuing the high standards that have been set by New Mexico PBS/ KNME-TV over the past 55 years of service,” Joachim said. “This position would not have been offered to me had the hard work and dedication of the staff of New Mexico PBS not continued over the past six months while I’ve been the interim co-general manager along with Karen Mann.

“The communities of northern and central New Mexico deserve the very best that public broadcasting has to offer, and I look forward to continuing that tradition and to further the mission of education, entertainment and inspiration that are central to the services offered by New Mexico PBS’ four channels, online and across multiple platforms.”

Joachim has worked in television production for 35 years, as a photographer, editor, director and manager in a variety of production environments, including industrial, news, studio and long form documentary production, beginning when he was in high school in Tucson, Ariz.

Joachim graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor of science in radio/television, with a minor in electrical engineering and mathematics, while working for KUAT-TV (PBS), first on their student production crew, and then as studio supervisor.

As production manager for KNME-TV since 1999, he supervised an extensive build-out of automated on-air operations and developed the digital file based production workflow for KNME production. In addition, Joachim has worked with the Sony Corporation and Avid Technology Incorporated to develop new work flows for file-based digital production and has participated in a number of panels at PBS and news industry conventions explaining the workflow.

Joachim was designated the National Association of Broadcasters’ DTV spokesman and traveled the region, giving talks on the transition to digital television, showing people how to hook up converter boxes and explaining the vagaries of the DTV transition.

In 2010, Joachim was promoted to director of content for KNME/KNMD, overseeing the scheduling, production, promotion and distribution of content on-air and online.

New Mexico PBS is co-licensed to the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools.

Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277‑5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu

One year after a record 11 programs achieved perfect 1,000 in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate, eight picked up perfect scores this year, including both men’s and women’s basketball programs. This is the eighth year that the NCAA has recorded APR for all Division I institutions, and the second with the new minimum threshold of 930 for a four-year rolling score.

“As always, we are extremely proud of our student-athletes at the University of New Mexico and what they have done in the classroom,” said Paul Krebs, vice president for athletics. “Our APR score speaks to their dedication to excel in the classroom as well on the field, and it showcases the commitment of our coaches and academic staff to put a focus on academics.”

“Our student success staff, headed by Henry Villegas should be commended for their dedication to our student-athletes, but it really is more than that,” said Krebs. “We have a university full of incredible professors and wonderful staff that should all feel a part of this success.”

The NCAA released the APR data and penalty reports for all Division I institutions today as part of the annual NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program. This year’s report is based on four-year calculations of data from 2008-089 through 2011-12.

According to the NCAA, “The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention — the two factors that research identifies as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team’s APR is the total points of a team’s roster at a given time divided by the total points possible. (Because) this results in a decimal number, the number is multiplied by 1,000 for ease of reference.”

In 2012, the NCAA increased the minimum acceptable four-year score from 925 to 930, or roughly a 50-percent graduation rate.

UNM’s eight sports that picked up perfect 1000s: men’s basketball (second straight year), men’s golf, men’s tennis (third straight year), women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s skiing, women’s soccer, and women’s tennis (second straight year).

“We have high expectations in the classroom as well as in the field, and we continue to get better,” Krebs added.

Of the 21 programs, 13 improved upon their scores from a year ago, and three maintained their scores from the 2012 report. The biggest four-year rolling score increases were in men’s basketball, which jumped 21 points, and men’s golf, which jumped 20 points. Women’s skiing had the biggest jump on the women’s side with a 16 point leap.

All sports had a single-year APR above 930 as well except for cross country, which previous to this year had three straight perfect scores and had been recognized by the NCAA for APR excellence. Cross country’s APR is still a robust 975.

“The high APR scores at UNM are a reflection of a strong commitment to the academic mission of the University on behalf of the athletics department,” said Assistant A.D. Henry Villegas. “Measuring both retention and eligibility, which is basically student progress towards degree, the scores reflects the commitment of our coaches and the academic advisors to student success and graduation.”

For a list of the APR score by individual team, visit: Lobos Pass APR

Media contact: Frank Mercogliano (505) 410‑4844; email: fmercog@unm.edu

Land in South Campus area that UNM
is seeking to acquire.

In order to implement its South Campus master development plan, the University of New Mexico is asking a district court judge to set a value for 23 lots in the area south of University Arena. Current landowners, the Gutierrez Family Revocable Trusts, are joining with UNM in requesting a judicial determination on the value of lots in the Sunshine Terrace subdivision.

Over the years UNM has made a number of attempts to acquire the lots, for amounts not acceptable to the property owners. State law limits the amount the university can offer to fair market value as determined by an appraisal of the land. The property owners have agreed to participate in an eminent domain proceeding in which the university obtains possession of the land and the court determines value based on valuation evidence presented by each party.

“We believe this is the fairest way to proceed,” said UNM President Robert Frank. “UNM wants to acquire the property to continue development of the south campus area in a way that will benefit both the university and the community, but we are sensitive to the interests of the landowners.” If UNM acquires the land, it will be used for athletic facilities, including the UNM baseball and softball stadiums, tennis courts, multi-purpose athletic playing fields and related parking.

The university is currently offering $1.1 million for the lots. In an eminent domain proceeding, the court determines just compensation based on its own assessment of the valuation evidence presented. UNM Regents have authorized the acquisition of the undeveloped lots.

“The regents believe this action is an important part of the long-range master plan for the UNM South Campus,” said Board of Regents President Jack Fortner. “We already have more than 800 students living on South Campus and this planned development would provide them an area for educational and recreational activities.”

The UNM Master Plan can be found on the Campus Planning website.

Media contacts: Dianne Anderson (505) 277.1807; email: danderson@unm.edu or Karen Wentworth (505) 277.5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu

“Part of the mission of the Center for Regional Studies is to promote collaboration between UNM and the wider community and what better way to do that than providing books of local and regional interest for New Mexico public libraries,” CRS Director Durán said.

The CRS supports research and teaching with a focus on New Mexico, the U.S. Southwest, Mexico, the Americas and Spain. Through its acquisition and preservation of manuscript, diary, document, photographic and oral history collections, the CRS encourages a learning community, as exemplified in its donation to State libraries.

With more than 1,000 books in print, UNM Press is the largest book publisher in the state and is an important voice in educating the public about the Southwest through general interest and scholarly books and history textbooks for elementary, middle school and high school students.

Libraries receiving books this year meet the state code requirements as a recognized public library, are located in counties with at least a twenty percent poverty rate, and meet the New Mexico State Library’s definition of “needy.”

Donated UNM Press books include recent releases in the subject areas of southwestern culture and history as well as fiction, poetry and children’s books that reflect the diversity of New Mexico’s American Indian, Chicano and Anglo cultures.

Libraries:
ABIQUIU PUBLIC LIBRARY
ACOMA LEARNING CENTER LIBRARY
ADOBE ACRES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
ALBERT W THOMPSON MEM LIBRARY
BALDWIN CABIN PUBLIC LIBRARY
BAYARD PUBLIC LIBRARY
BLOOMFIELD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
CAPITAN PUBLIC LIBRARY
COCHITI PUEBLO COMMUNITY LIBRARY
COLUMBUS VILLAGE LIBRARY
CUBA PUBLIC LIBRARY
DAVID CARGO PUBLIC LIBRARY
DEXTER PUBLIC LIBRARY
EAGLE NEST PUBLIC LIBRARY
EDGEWOOD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
EL RITO PUBLIC LIBRARY
ELEANOR DAGGETT MEM LIBRARY
EMBUDO VALLEY LIBRARY
ESTANCIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
FORT SUMNER PUBLIC LIBRARY
FRED MACARON LIBRARY
GILA VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY
GLENWOOD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
HATCH PUBLIC LIBRARY
HILLSBORO COMMUNITY LIBRARY
IRENE S SWEETKIND PUBLIC LIBRARY
ISLETA LIBRARY ADULT EDUCATION
JEMEZ PUEBLO COMMUNITY LIBRARY
JICARILLA PUBLIC LIBRARY
LAGUNA PUBLIC LIBRARY
LORDSBURG-HILDALGO LIBRARY
LOVINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
MAGDALENA PUBLIC LIBRARY
MESCALERO COMMUNITY LIBRARY
MICHAEL NIVISON LIBRARY
MORIARTY COMMUNITY LIBRARY
MOUNTAINAIR PUBLIC LIBRARY
PENITENTIARY OF NEW MEXICO
PLACITAS COMMUNITY LIBRARY
POE TSAWA COMMUNITY LIBRARY
POJOAQUE PUEBLO COMM LIBRARY
PUEBLO OF SAN FELIPE LEARNING RES CTR
PUEBLO OF SANDIA LEARNING RES CTR
QUESTA PUBLIC LIBRARY
RED RIVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
RESERVE PUBLIC LIBRARY
RIO ABAJO COMMUNITY LIBRARY
SANTA ANA PUEBLO COM LIBRARY
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO LIBRARY
SANTO DOMINGO PUEBLO LIBRARY
SHIPROCK BRANCH LIBRARY
SHUTER LIBRARY OF ANGEL FIRE
SOUTH VALLEY LIBRARY
SUNLAND PARK COMMUNITY LIBRARY
TALPA COMMUNITY LIBRARY
TATUM COMMUNITY LIBRARY
TO’HAJIILEE COMMUNITY SCHOOL
TRUCHAS COMMUNITY LIBRARY
TUCUMCARI PUBLIC LIBRARY
TULAROSA PUBLIC LIBRARY
VALLE DE ANTON CHICO LIBRARY
VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY
ZIA ENRICHMENT LIBRARY
ZUNI PUBLIC LIBRARY

Media Contact: Katherine MacGilvray, (505) 277‑3291; email: katm@unm.edu

MicroElectroMechanicalSytems (MEMS) are technologies embedded in automobiles, tablets and smart phones. The teachers are learning ways to teach their students about MEMS devices as part of units in physics or biology.

MEMS manufacturing technicians are in very high demand and instructors drive home that point by emphasizing that students who pursue MEMS manufacturing certification can make $100,000 a year as members of the technical staff at the national laboratories. But first the teachers must learn the technology and explore ways to incorporate it into a typical high school curriculum. The Southwest Center for Microsystems Education at UNM has come up with learning modules teachers can use to teach specific concepts such as building a pressure sensor.

Students at UNM and Central New Mexico Community College already have access to MEMS manufacturing courses. At UNM, students can design MEMS applications as well.

The teachers taking courses this summer will bring MEMS concepts into Albuquerque high schools this fall. The Southwest Center for Microsystems Education is supported by a grant from National Science Foundation with the goal of building a workforce to handle advanced materials manufacturing.

Media contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277.5626; email: kwent2@unm.edu

Sarah Feldstein Ewing

The collaboration, between UNM Honors College/Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) Assistant Professor Sarah Feldstein Ewing and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Associate Professor Tammy Chung, includes conceptual reviews and empirical studies that examine how brain-based mechanisms and behavioral factors interact to initiate and sustain positive behavioral change as a result of psychotherapy for addictive behaviors.

“The goal of special issue was to take a first step toward integrating brain science and addictions treatment research to begin to understand the processes by which ‘active ingredients’ of psychotherapy might have an impact at a more basic biological level—the level of brain structure and functioning,” Feldstein Ewing said.

The special issue contains a wide range of highly innovative studies on the topic of brain-based mechanisms underlying effective psychotherapy interventions for addictive behaviors in adolescence through adulthood. The articles cover alcohol, illicit drugs, gambling and smoking, and were peer-reviewed by at least two experts in the field. The issue also features empirical research on brain structure and functioning that may underlie risk for substance use among adolescents, and that may predict treatment outcome.

The introduction to the special issue by co-editors Feldstein Ewing and Chung, states the importance of innovative, integrative approaches to improve treatment for addictive behaviors.

“According to previous research, current gold-standard psychosocial interventions are only moderately successful in initiating and sustaining behavior change, leaving a substantial proportion of the treated population facing significant substance use problems within 12 months post-intervention,” Feldstein Ewing said.

“This modest success rate is due, in part, to our limited understanding of how and why psychotherapy works,” she added. “Specifically, while biology and behavior clearly interact in the progression of addictive behaviors and response to treatment, there is a divide between biological and behavioral fields of research.”

According to research from the National Institutes of Health, one potential avenue to improve outcomes is through the examination of mechanisms of change. Identifying the brain-based mechanisms underlying positive behavior change is a cutting-edge approach that shows great promise in informing how people might more effectively achieve better treatment outcomes (such as lower rates of drinking or marijuana use post-treatment). In the past, researchers have discussed the importance of considering both biology and behavior in therapeutic models and practice, but few true interdisciplinary interchanges and empirical integrative evaluations have been conducted.

Feldstein Ewing and Chung suggest that this special issue is particularly important because it provides a consolidated resource for clinicians, scientists-practitioners, and researchers in the addictions field. This resource not only “introduces” readers to current models and emerging research in the field of translational neuroscience (brain-behavioral intervention links) as applied to addiction, but also highlights emerging theory and research on proposed or empirically supported brain mechanisms (e.g., structure, functioning) that moderates and/or mediates treatment effects for addictive behaviors. This issue provides an important step to resolving the existing gap between basic biology and applied clinical efforts, by presenting information about how biology interacts with treatment outcome in an approachable and clinically relevant way for practitioners.

In the introduction, Feldstein Ewing and Chung point out that, “This is important because innovative translational studies are vital to elucidating how basic biological and behavioral factors interact to catalyze the initiation and maintenance of positive behavior change in psychosocial addictions treatment.”

The review articles in the special issue discuss hypothesized mechanisms of change for cognitive and behavioral therapies, motivational interviewing, mindfulness-based interventions, and neuroeconomic approaches. The conceptual reviews converge in referencing two overarching processing pathways relevant to addictive behavior: “top-down” (e.g., cognitive control over sensory processing) and “bottom-up” (e.g., the initial primacy of environmental cues relative to higher level cognition) processing.

Empirical articles represent a variety of imaging approaches including fMRI, magneto-encephalography, real time fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging. Additionally, a few empirical studies directly examined brain-based mechanisms of change, whereas others examined brain-based indicators as predictors of treatment outcome. Finally, two commentaries discuss craving as a core feature of addiction, and the importance of a developmental approach to examining mechanisms of change.

“Ultimately, integrative approaches — combining basic biology with psychotherapy — are critical to understanding how psychotherapy works, in order to improve addictions treatment,” Feldstein Ewing said.

The publication, produced by the American Psychological Association, can be obtained through the journal’s website at Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.