New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
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New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Also called New Mexico Tech, sometimes just called Tech, and previously known as the New Mexico School of Mines), is a research university located in Socorro, New Mexico.
World renowned for its undergraduate education, Tech now offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in mathematics, the sciences, engineering, management, and technical communication. As a reflection of its purpose, each student vying for a bachelor's degree must pass two semesters each of chemistry, physics, and calculus. It is considered the best school in the state for engineering and computer science degrees by numerous sources.
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History
Tech is a small college focused on engineering and technology. Founded in 1889 as the New Mexico School of Mines, the Territorial Legislature laid as its mission to boost the state economy, and "train young mining engineers." The institute was renamed in 1951 to its current epithet.
Research
The university's areas of research include hydrology, astrophysics, atmospheric physics, geophysics, information technology, information security, geosciences, energetic materials engineering, and petroleum recovery. With the help of US Senator Pete Domenici, the growth in federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security has turned the university into a major research center for homeland security as well. Because of this, the school has many scholarships for students at the school, in addition to numerous jobs available on campus for students.
Despite its focus on science and technology, Tech has seen much growth in the humanities, social science. Minors are now available in history, Latin American studies, philosophy and others. The university's last NCA reaccreditation was in October of 2004.
Affiliated Scientific Agencies
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory
- IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center
- Petroleum Recovery Research Center
- Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center
- Institute for Complex Additive Systems Analysis
- National Cave and Karst Research Institute
- Magdalena Ridge Observatory
The university bought the town of Playas, New Mexico for use as a research and training facility for the university’s first responders and counter-terrorism programs.
Honors
Princeton Review
- 2005 Ranked #2 Best value in education
- 2005 Ranked among top western colleges
- 2004 Ranked among top western colleges
- 2004 Ranked #4 worst cafeteria food
- 2005 Ranked #10 worst cafeteria food
NSA
The school is a [National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE)]. This brings several major scholarships and research opportunities for undergrad and graduate students.
School Culture
Primarily an engineering school, New Mexico Tech is considered to be a nerd or geek college. Given this steretype it is important to remember that this is a defining characteristic for the student population. While not every student fits in this blanket characterization, most do. Socorro is a small town, with very little traditional entertainment available.
The school had a long tradition of hosting one way rivalries. Many years during the 49ers Homecoming weekend, groups of students would travel to the University of New Mexico to affix cottonballs on the lobo statue on campus. A group of students tried to create a fake rivalry with the Colorado School of Mines.
The demographics vary quite wildly, especially in the early parts of the Fall semesters. The campus population has traditionally been predominantly male. While this has changed in recent years, it still remains the case. There are so many males on campus that several unofficial mottos have been created by the female population:
- The odds are good but the goods are odd.
- New Mexico Tech: Where the men are men, the women are men, and the sheep are scared.
The viability of Socorro, New Mexico as an economic force has increased in recent years. This has caused students to stay in the vicinity of the town. As a result, much of the population is composed of tech graduates.
External links
- New Mexico Tech
- Stealth Force Beta A prank/constructive vandalism society which operated at New Mexico Tech for a few years.