Whether it’s the new 137,000-square-foot Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science facility in Albuquerque or the Career Technical Center in Taos, University of New Mexico campuses across the state are asking New Mexicans to vote on higher education to make a big impact on thousands of students.

General Obligation Bond C for Higher Education is about supporting the community by ensuring that students have the tools and facilities they need to be successful, all without raising taxes. A strong system for higher education has an effect on all New Mexicans because better education leads to meaningful careers and a stronger economy.

Bond C will create more than 1,300 new jobs in communities throughout the state while ensuring students have the tools they need to remain competitive in the local and global economies.

Colleges and universities also play a critical role in attracting new and innovative businesses to New Mexico and prepare students to enter high-paying careers right here in our state.

Along with the five UNM campuses slated to received funding from the bond package, Bond C will also provide much needed dollars for many other colleges and universities in New Mexico; including New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology.  

Absentee voting begins Oct. 11 with early voting starting on Oct. 22.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. For details on the closest polling location to you, click here.

Below, you’ll find story after story about amazing work and research being done at The University of New Mexico and how voting on Bond C will help students and scientists continue to achieve amazing things.

 

PAIS Rendering

New facility will help UNM researchers and students change the world
Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science center will lead to innovation and collaboration

It’s a simple idea that many say will revolutionize the way research is done at The University of New Mexico: Build a facility to house classrooms, offices and laboratory space for scientists from across campus, not just from a single department. The Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science (PAIS) center will be a state-of-the-art, 137,000 square foot facility, the purpose of which is to do just that. PAIS will not only change the face of the UNM campus and provide cutting edge facilities, it will also make a huge impact on the way students and faculty work to solve problems.

 

CQuIC Graduate Student

Center for Quantum Information and Control receives multi-million-dollar award
New PAIS facility will help Center stay on the cutting edge

Quantum information science is going to change the world. Being able to manipulate and control individual atoms and other microscopic systems to do jobs in communications, sensing and computation will have an impact on nearly every aspect of our daily lives. And, for the University of New Mexico’s Center for Quantum Information & Control (CQuIC), a new multi-million-dollar grant will allow UNM to continue at the forefront of this innovative field.  

 

Laser Testing

Optical physicists record lowest temperature ever in solids using laser cooling
Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science facility will help group continue to be worldwide leader

When most people think about lasers, they usually imagine them generating heat and even setting something on fire. But, for a group of scientists in The University of New Mexico’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, lasers are actually being used to reach temperatures colder than the arctic circle. Dr. Mansoor Sheik-Bahae, professor of physics and astronomy, along with his research group, are advancing a technique called optical refrigeration to reach cryogenic temperature. Essentially, the group is using laser light to chill a special type of crystal.

 

Light-Sheet Microscopy

Physics professor developing super-resolution microscopy techniques
PAIS facility will allow other researchers the chance to use unique equipment

For scientists developing life-saving medicines, knowing how cells interact and communicate with one another is an important part of the puzzle. The problem is, being able to see those interactions through a microscope hasn’t always been possible. But now, thanks to University of New Mexico Associate Professor Keith Lidke, a new technique has opened the door to allow researchers a better view of cellular interactions.

 

Dr. Jeremy Edwards

New DNA sequencing tech could revolutionize industry
Interdisciplinary Science component of PAIS facility would propel project forward

The advancement of the study of the human genome is considered by many to be one of the most significant scientific achievements in modern history. Now, a new technique developed at The University of New Mexico will change the way researchers sequence DNA, what they’re able to learn from it and how many lives they’re able to save. Dr. Jeremy Edwards, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology, specializes in genomics and bioinformatics. He and his research team at UNM’s Cancer Research Center have developed a technology that can give scientists a more complete picture of someone’s genetic makeup.

 

LWA1 Station

First of its kind research sheds light on mysterious fireballs
New Physics & Astronomy facility could help answer questions about origin of the solar system

When University of New Mexico Physics & Astronomy Professor Greg Taylor turned on the first Long Wavelength Array (LWA1) station in 2011, he wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to find. Fast forward five years, and now, Taylor and recent Ph.D. graduate Ken Obenberger have detected and studied a strange, meteoric phenomenon no one else had ever seen.

 

ATLAS Detector

UNM technology playing crucial role in Large Hadron Collider discoveries
PAIS facility would help researchers expand potential

Near Geneva, Switzerland, an experimental facility, 17-miles in diameter, shoots protons at almost the speed of light to see what happens when they crash into one another. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator on the planet.

 

Optics Setup

Chemistry professor uses optical methods to change data storage
Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science center could speed project’s growth

A chemistry professor at The University of New Mexico is building synthetic molecules that would revolutionize data storage capacity. Those molecules, along with a variety of other applications, could be used to develop three dimensional holographic information storage, a technology requiring expertise in not only chemistry to build the molecules, but optical physics to test them.

 

Contour Model

Geography professor developing imaging technology to save lives after fires strike
Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science facility will benefit research and students

When fires break out, it’s not always flames that do the only damage – sometimes the scorched earth can cause even more destruction in the form of landslides. That’s why Chris Lippitt, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at The University of New Mexico, is working on a project that would give emergency management crews state-of-the-art imaging technology to mitigate potential slides before they happen.

 

Transmission Electron Microscopy

TEM-XRD facilities helping researchers across the state answer big questions
Microscope facility will be part of new Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science center

Deep inside the basement of Northrop Hall, in The University of New Mexico’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science, sits a high-tech center attracting scientists to UNM from all across the state. The instruments housed there are helping researchers answer questions and gain knowledge about structures invisible to the naked eye. TEM-XRD is a facility that works primarily in nanoscience – a field that studies extremely small structures and materials usually less than 100 nanometers in size, down to the atomic scale. For reference, a human hair is between 60,000 and 80,000 nanometers wide. So, to be able to see things on this atomic scale, researchers need extremely sensitive equipment.

 

UNM-Gallup

Bond C to benefit UNM Branch Campuses
Among the decisions for voters this November is how to support higher education. Bond C is more than an opportunity for New Mexico’s students, it’s a way for local communities to benefit from more jobs and programs that support everyone from the elderly to first responders—all without raising taxes. The University of New Mexico has Branch Campuses that cover a large portion of the state. These campuses serve as pillars of their local communities—they support the geographic needs of the residents that include education, employment and local engagement.