The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is located in San Antonio, New Mexico. It is home to many wildlife species, including some protected species such as the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. However, little is known about the bat population that inhabits the refuge, including the potential presence of any protected species, or their ecosystem roles as pollinators. To rectify this, we investigate the potential bat species that utilize the refuge using Song Meter Mini Bat devices to record the ultrasonic vocalizations of bats in three different locations on the refuge. Three Song Meter Mini Bat devices were deployed in locations including the pollinator enhancement area, the boardwalk, and the refuge compound. It is hypothesized that Mexican Free-tailed bats (Tadarida Brasiliensis), Pallid bats (Antrozous Pallidus), and Little Brown Myotis bats (Myotis Lucifugus) will make up a majority of the bats on the refuge based on their roosting habits, diet, and preferred climate. Investigating the species that reside on the refuge during the early Spring season will aid in conserving the local bat populations, specifically because the refuge plans to do construction work near the compound area that may negatively affect these animals. Knowing when and where the bats roost and feed allows the refuge to consider this when creating construction plans. This also reveals if there are any endangered species on the compound, allowing conservation efforts to be applied. 

Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection that is endemic to the arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas including New Mexico. The disease is contracted by breathing in Coccidioides spores and can range from being asymptomatic to mild pulmonary infections and, in some cases, disseminated severe disease. Healthcare providers in New Mexico are only reporting an average of 86 coccidioidomycosis cases per year compared to other endemic states, such as Arizona, which exceeds 10,000 cases per year. The reason for the gap in the number of reported cases per year is unknown, but we hypothesize some of the discrepancy is due to misdiagnosis and/or underreporting. As a result, we have employed a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey to licensed healthcare providers in New Mexico to assess overall KAP for coccidioidomycosis testing, diagnosis, and treatment. We will analyze categorical and continuous data using appropriate statistics (e.g., t-tests and Fisher's exact test). Respondents will also receive a knowledge score derived from two general knowledge questions and four questions evaluating understanding of standardized treatment according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines. From this study, we will determine gaps in diagnosis and treatment of coccidioidomycosis and guide public health education campaigns across New Mexico. 

Ionospheric electron density can be measured as the propagation delay between electromagnetic signals of different frequencies passing through it. Such measurements can be used to study the dynamics of the ionosphere and the processes that control it. We are prototyping a beacon instrument for an upcoming CubeSat mission. Our instrument will nominally operate at 150 MHz, 400 MHz, and 1067 MHz, and is inspired by the Compact Environmental Radio Transmitter for Ionospheric Studies (CERTO) developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, with modifications motivated by CubeSat volume, power, and educational constraints. The current design uses a digital clock circuit to generate the target frequencies from a common reference via separate filtering and amplification paths for adjustment of power and spectral characteristics. At its current stage, the work primarily serves as a platform for architectural evaluation and hands-on student development, with future iterations required to assess performance, robustness, and suitability for flight missions. 

Modern metal detection systems predominantly rely on either Very Low Frequency (VLF) or Pulse Induction (PI) technologies. While VLF offers excellent shallow-target discrimination, it lacks penetration depth. Conversely, PI achieves greater depths but struggles to classify material types accurately. This research proposes a three-coil hybrid PI/VLF metal detector architecture designed to bridge this gap, augmented by a machine learning classification pipeline to identify precious metals. Ultimately, by capturing eddy current decay signatures from a high-current PI solenoid and processing them through an optimized ensemble learning model, this system provides a robust, real-time framework for deep-target material discrimination. 

This project examines the course registration system at New Mexico Tech and argues that it should be modernized to better support student planning and academic progress. The current system can be difficult to navigate, provides no support for tracking degree progress outside of using a secondary website, and makes long-term course planning unnecessarily stressful. Because registration is a process every student must complete each semester, these usability problems affect a large portion of the campus community, especially freshmen and transfer students. This issue matters because confusion during registration can contribute to scheduling mistakes, delays in taking required courses, and additional stress during already demanding academic periods. The proposed solution is a modernized registration system that integrates degree audit tools, supports multi-semester course planning, and combines degree progress tracking into a single platform. By examining the problem through secondary research on student information systems and registration usability, this project argues that improving the registration system would strengthen the student experience and make an important university process more effective, accessible, and supportive of student success. This project also references existing systems at other institutions as examples of what a modernized registration platform can look like in practice. 

Coccidiomycosis, more commonly known as Valley Fever, is caused by the fungus Coccidioides. Soil disturbances may result in Coccidioides arthroconidia being inhaled by people or animals. Although it is commonly asymptomatic, it can cause respiratory distress and potential pulmonary infection. Should the infection be left untreated or mistreated with antibiotics, severe cases can lead to systemic infection and death. Coccidiomycosis is endemic to regions with dry arid climates in the Americas, such as California, Arizona, and New Mexico in the U.S, as well as Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil, among others. Low-level Coccidioides infections in small mammal lungs may suggest the fungus lives commensally in wildlife. Genomic studies have found that Coccidioides has expanded enzymes to degrade animal tissues and may perhaps decay animal hosts after their death. Using One Health principles, the environment, animal, and human health are interconnected and affect disease outcomes, my work will perform a meta-analysis to identify gaps in fungal biology and ecology research. I will create a new depiction of the Coccidioides lifecycle utilizing contemporary and historical data. This project will use an environmental lens to identify at-risk conditions rather than relying on human case data, which suffers from biases. 

Studies have investigated how lightning interacts with temperature, precipitation, and the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) globally. This work narrows the scope to three locations in the Americas: the Mississippi, Amazon, and La Plata basins. Localizing this analysis provides insight into the behavior of severe storms as the climate varies seasonally and long-term. Using data collected from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, transitional periods between La Niña and El Niño were observed to determine if regional trends are consistent with global observations. A positive relationship between ONI and lightning was found in all basins, with the greatest correlations in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been indicated that lightning increases in the transitional phase to a ‘super’ Niño. This trend was observed in our dataset, with the Mississippi basin showing the increase before the Amazon and La Plata basins. Additionally, the Mississippi basin displayed a large spike in lightning during a later ONI neutral period while the Southern regions showed little anomaly. We then examined the interaction between temperature and lightning, adopting the same handling technique used for ONI to remove seasonality and erroneous data. While seasonal dependencies are strong, non-periodic trends show low correlations. Precipitation does not largely coincide with lightning activity, but the La Plata and Mississippi basins show low positive correlations, contrasting the negative correlation in the Amazon. During a Niña event in 2022, however, a large spike in Amazon precipitation corresponded to a lightning anomaly low. Finally, hourly lightning anomalies were explored to identify extreme activity across the regions. 

This project proposes a ROS 2 based manipulator system capable of detecting a tool, grasping it, and safely handing it to a person in a workbench environment. Unlike conventional pick and place robotic tasks, human tool handoff introduces a non stationary target, since the user’s hand position changes continuously and adds uncertainty to the manipulator’s motion planning problem. The system addresses this challenge by integrating perception, planning, control, and safety into one closed loop robotic workflow. Two cameras will be used: a workspace camera for tool and hand localization, and an end effector camera for close range visual feedback during grasping and delivery. A pre-trained machine learning model will classify tools, while hand tracking will support real time adjustment of the manipulator trajectory during the handoff. The proposed system will be developed and validated in Gazebo as a proof of concept, with the long term goal of transfer to a physical UFactory xArm manipulator. The project focuses on three main objectives: tool classification, stable grasping and lifting, and real time hand tracking for safe tool delivery. The expected result is a working simulated system that demonstrates full tool handoff behavior while addressing the added complexity of human robot interaction and software based safety requirements. 

The art form of stone lithography is typically performed with a type of limestone from the Solnhofen region in Bavaria, but the literature on the subject does not specify what about the stone makes it inherently well suited for this process. Through experimentation, other stones equally suitable for lithography, with similar features, can be identified. A replacement stone is needed in part because the Solnhofen quarry has been mined out. The stone needs to be both oil and water wettable, in order for the chemical process to occur. The stone should also develop a soapy, oleophilic film when put through the traditional etching process. This research is the result of testing a small variety of different stones from regions in the United States with similar properties to the Solnhofen stone. These were developed using the typical lithographic process, in the pursuit of finding a commercially viable replacement. Three of the stones show some potential, with one showing many similarities to the Solnhofen stone, including features like its hardness, receptibility to oil and water-based materials, and theoretically, similarly small pores.

A precise evaluation of peak stresses in fillet regions traditionally requires high-resolution finite element meshes, which substantially increases computational cost. This work introduces a new stress-prediction approach that integrates singular-field analysis with machine learning (ML). Rather than explicitly modeling the fillet, the method uses linearized stress components obtained from simplified models in the vicinity of the geometric singularity as input features for a regression model. A study performed on 2D plane-strain models demonstrated that linearized components yield the highest prediction accuracy, achieving a coefficient of determination R2=0.98 and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 6.1%. The key advantage of the proposed approach is its ability to rapidly assess structural strength using simplified geometric representations without the need for detailed submodeling. 

This research investigates the design and development of a novel fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of mid-air separation using an electromagnetic mechanism. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a tandem-configured UAV system can improve mission flexibility, redundancy, and operational efficiency by transitioning from a single aircraft into two independent units during flight. It is hypothesized that a controlled electromagnetic coupling and release system, combined with appropriate flight control algorithms, can enable stable separation without compromising flight performance. The experimental approach involves the design of a lightweight flying wing platform equipped with embedded microcontrollers, inertial measurement sensors, and GPS modules. The system operates in two modes: a tandem mode, where both aircraft function as a single unit, and a solo mode, where each aircraft independently stabilizes and navigates after separation. Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control strategies are implemented to maintain stability during both modes and throughout the transition process. Preliminary findings indicate that stable tandem flight can be achieved using shared control inputs, and that separation can be executed with minimal disturbance when synchronization between control systems is maintained. These results suggest that electromagnetic separation is a feasible approach for modular UAV systems with potential applications in defense, surveillance, and distributed aerial operations. 

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) resulting from head impacts are common, yet remain poorly understood at the cellular and tissue level. This is because directly measuring in vivo brain deformation during live impacts is difficult due to limited access to the brain, impeding characterization of subsequent injury mechanisms. To visualize and quantify tissue deformation during impacts, an in vitro model is being developed. This model uses a bulk polyacrylamide (PAA) substrate, which mechanically mimics brain tissue, with a cerebral organoid embedded in the hydrogel. While this model is capable of imaging tissue deformation, there can be variance in the degree of deformation because of inconsistencies in attachment at the hydrogel-organoid interface due to the bioinert surface of PAA hydrogels. Chitosan (CS) and polydopamine (PDA) are known to promote cell adhesion and were introduced to the hydrogel surface. CS was incorporated through copolymer grafting via surface treatment and swelling methods, while PDA was deposited through auto-oxidative polymerization under basic conditions. U87 Glioblastoma and NIH-3T3 fibroblasts were seeded onto treated substrates to monitor cell growth, quantified by calculating percent surface area coverage from microscopy images. Comparison of cell growth on treated and untreated substrates guides the fabrication of the cerebral organoid-on-a-chip, allowing for more robust and consistent data acquisition correlated with established damage biomarkers. Ultimately, the improved model may contribute to the understanding of injury thresholds that inform patient diagnostics, design of protective headgear, and sports and military training policies where TBIs are a concern. 

Deployable solar panels are critical for meeting the power demands of small satellite missions. However, the deployment process, especially the deceleration when the panels reach their final latched position can introduce structural flexing that affects spacecraft stability and dynamics. To address this, we are modeling a solar panel deployment system for an upcoming CubeSat mission. The system consists of a 0.330 kg, 0.359 m panel supported by three hinges and designed to deploy to a 90° position. The current design uses a two-phase dynamic simulation approach to optimize performance. The first phase models spring-driven deployment, with torque sized using a factor of safety of 1.6. The second phase applies an iterative search using semi-implicit Euler integration to determine optimal torsional stiffness and damping values. This ensures the panels settle within 1% of their final position in under three minutes. At this stage, the simulation primarily supports system-level evaluation, with future experimental testing planned to validate spring and rotary damper performance under realistic conditions. In addition to deployment mechanics, manufacturing the solar panels presents its own challenges. Bare solar cells are fragile and can crack under rapid thermal changes, requiring a mounting method that is both structurally secure and electrically reliable. Several approaches are being explored, with the most promising involving the use of a hot plate to reflow solder paste applied to the cell pads, combined with a low-outgassing adhesive to ensure durability and compatibility with the LEO environment. 

The purpose of this project is to determine the temperature distribution of cryogenically cooled instrumentation used in radio astronomy RF receivers, which are housed in high-vacuum cryostats and operated between 4 K and 80 K due to their temperature sensitivity. This study focuses on modeling heat transfer between the receiver body and cooled instrumentation, where radiation is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. Analytical methods based on the modified Lockheed equation and fundamental heat transfer relations were used alongside ANSYS Mechanical to develop a preliminary model. The model quantifies the effects of multi-layer insulation (MLI) and radiation shields on radiative heat transfer. Results show that a single radiation shield reduces radiative heat transfer by ~71%, while five MLI layers achieve an 86% reduction. Numerical and analytical results agree reasonably well, with errors ranging from 0.4% to 16%. A prototype receiver is under construction and will be tested against the analytical and numerical models once completed. 

Soil decomposition dynamics are critical for understanding plant production and ecosystem response to climate change. Central New Mexico offers multiple ecosystems to evaluate the impact of individual plant species decomposition properties. With our research, we aim to identify microbial functions and define their effects on nutrient cycles in these systems by measuring gas flux resulting from the decomposition of dead organic matter. It is important to study the decomposition of dead organisms to understand the effects different species, native or invasive, have on nutrient cycling, gas exchange and soil health. We studied 3 different environments found in Socorro County including Montane, Riparian and Chihuahuan Desert ecosystems which all receive roughly the same amount of precipitation annually due to their close geography. The low precipitation rate in this desert system is what makes our circumstances unique given that water availability is a primary control on decomposition rates, however soil chemistry is both influenced by plant species and a control on microbial activity. We evaluated 15 plant species and their surrounding soil chemistry. Experimental data recorded included soil properties such as measures of organic carbon, as well as pH and electroconductivity. A gas flux analyzer was used to record concentrations of respired gases after sitting in a closed container (jar) for 24 hours as an indicator of bioactivity. We plan on presenting the differences observed in gas flux of New Mexico's numerous ecosystems, the plants that inhabit these ecosystems and finally the differences between our native species compared to those considered invasive. 

This work explores a compact, rollable multiband dipole antenna for satellite communication without the use of lumped components. The concept is based on a tape-spring dipole structure, enabling mechanical deployability while maintaining electrical performance. Multiband operation is investigated using geometric resonance techniques as an alternative to conventional trap-based approaches, with a crossed dipole configuration considered to support multiple operating bands and target three resonances within the VHF–UHF range at integer-multiple frequencies. The design emphasizes structural simplicity, robustness, and compatibility with deployable space systems by avoiding discrete reactive elements. Performance is evaluated through reflection coefficient, radiation characteristics, and gain across the target bands. This study assesses the feasibility of achieving multiband behavior through distributed structural modifications, offering an alternative approach for deployable space-based antennas. 

Lightning with continuing current (CC) involves a current that flows continuously to ground, maintaining the return-stroke channel active for an extended period, typically tens to hundreds of milliseconds. The long-duration current causes thermal damage, leading to the destruction of energy generation and transmission infrastructure (e.g., transmission lines, wind turbines) and the ignition of wildfires. The destructive potential of long-CC lightning is determined not only by the CC duration, but also by the average current value. These two quantities combine to give the total charge transferred to the ground during CC, which is a much better proxy of its potential impacts. In this study, we present a methodology for estimating the total charge transferred to ground during long CC events using de-drooped slow- and fast-lightning electric field records. A de-drooped signal is the compensated signal for our sensor's frequency response, obtained via digital filtering. This new approach bypasses standard antenna calibration techniques, which are subject to numerous sources of uncertainty. Instead, charge transfer is calibrated directly against measured channel-base current from rocket-triggered lightning collected at Langmuir Lab. The height of the source dipole is inferred from Lightning Mapping Array data. The horizontal distance from the lightning channel to the E-field sensor was estimated using ENTLN data. Both positive and negative cloud-to-ground CC flashes are analyzed with this methodology. 

As antibiotic use becomes more prevalent, more bacteria become resistant to these drugs, leading to infections that are extremely difficult to treat. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be suppressed and eliminated using bacteriophages. A bacteriophage is a virus that infects only bacteria, making it a specialized tool for fighting infection while remaining inert to human cells and the gut microbiome. The Science Education Alliance - Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program is an international organization with the primary objective of advancing understanding of phages, their roles in ecosystems, and their potential applications in biotechnology and medicine. As a part of the SEA-PHAGES program, we collected soil samples from around the NMT campus and isolated 6 unique bacteriophages. The DNA of these phages was then extracted, and two phages were selected for sequencing and annotation. Notably, the two phages that were sequenced were extracted from the same soil sample. Despite their shared collection site, these two phages were found to be drastically different. Some of their most notable differences include the character of the ends of their genomes and the method of replication. This demonstrates the high biodiversity of phages even within a limited sample size, and it highlights genetic diversity within the phage population overall. 

There is an opportunity for an accessible, open source implementation of a system to detect and identify utilities hidden behind walls. This project is an initial design for an electromagnetic wall scanner capable of detecting and differentiating objects in walls. By characterizing various antenna geometries and measuring the differences in phase and amplitude of reflected signals, this system leverages material’s specific electromagnetic properties to identify infrastructure. 

This work aims to modify the geometry of a multicell complimentary split ring resonator to investigate how the changes affect the sensor’s sensitivity to electrical conductivity. Adjusting the geometry of the complimentary split ring resonator will modify the sensitivity of the sensor to electrical conductivity, with certain geometries yielding stronger and more noticeable changes in resonance. The process begins with cutting a PCB board to size and then applying a thin coat of spray paint. After the paint has dried, a laser cutter is used to etch out three split ring resonators from the paint on the front of the board. Then, all but a solid straight line running long ways is etched out of the back of the board. A diluted sodium persulfate mixture is used to treat the exposed copper and reveal the prepreg material underneath. SMA connections are then attached to both sides of the prepared PCB to read its electrical conductivity using a network analyzer. The assembled PCB is placed into different environments, ranging from air to solutions containing NaCl or KCl and water, with conductivity being recorded for each test condition. Once the data has been collected from the first PCB test, the process is repeated using boards featuring different split ring resonator geometries. This allows us to identify the optimal ring size to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. 

The ionosphere is a charged layer of Earth’s upper atmosphere. It exhibits significant dynamics caused by solar radiation, precipitation of charged particles, and interactions with the atmosphere below. It is important to understand the ionosphere because it affects radio communications and other electromagnetic wave transmissions. The New Mexico Tech Space Weather Explorer (NMTSWE) is a four-year research and education project to study the propagation of Very Low Frequency (VLF) whistler waves in the ionosphere. The satellite includes a beacon instrument which, together with an array of ground receivers, makes it possible to tomographically map the ionosphere. This beacon instrument will be similar to other beacon instruments transmitting at 150, 400, and 1067MHz. The satellite also includes a VLF receiver for measuring whistler waves above the ionosphere. A separate ground array, spanning from Mexico to Canada, will measure VLF waves below the ionosphere. The project is currently in the prototyping phase and includes a class at the junior level. Some teams are focusing on the spacecraft instruments and corresponding ground instruments. Other teams are focusing on deployment systems, which present various engineering challenges. 

We analyze atmospheric data taken during a high-altitude balloon flight collected with an iMet4 Radiosonde to examine the interaction between various atmospheric parameters like temperature, relative humidity, ascent rate, and altitude. We first look at temperature as a function of altitude to determine the environmental lapse rate and compare it with the moist and dry adiabatic lapse rates, giving insight into the stability of the atmosphere. As the balloon rises, we observe the expected decrease in temperature through the troposphere. Around 13 km, the temperature profile begins to straighten to a near-vertical slope, as expected near the tropopause, but noticeable fluctuations in this region make it unclear whether this transition is purely the tropopause or partly driven by atmospheric gravity waves. Small oscillations in the temperature profile are found at 13–17 km. Although these features are consistent with gravity waves, the horizontal drift in the balloon flight may also contribute to the fluctuating structure of the temperature curve. We also examine relative humidity and ascent rate as functions of altitude to better understand layering and changes in atmospheric conditions throughout the flight. Relative humidity data are compared to data from El Paso and Albuquerque weather stations taken during the same timeframe, and similar curves are evident. This project shows how balloon-borne measurements can be used to identify key atmospheric layers and investigate atmospheric parameters to high precision in the upper atmosphere using relatively simple instruments. 

A modified background-oriented schlieren (BOS) technique utilizing a color gradient background is presented for flow visualization in high-speed, unsteady experiments. Traditional BOS methods rely on high-contrast random speckle patterns and image-correlation algorithms to quantify refractive disturbances, which can be limited by speckle size, correlation failure under large distortions, and computational cost. Here, the color gradient BOS approach encodes image distortion information directly into pixel intensity variations, enabling refractions to be quantified through simple image subtraction. Unlike speckle-based methods, the spatial resolution of the technique is governed by camera sensitivity rather than background speckle size. The method is applied to the visualization of supersonic projectiles, demonstrating its effectiveness in capturing strong shock structures. Key challenges addressed include signal-to-noise ratio, camera color sensitivity, and gradient design.