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May 2007

1. Mental and physical abilities help concrete canoe team sweep regional competition
2. NMSU student one of eight nationwide selected for social responsibility program
3. Chemical engineering professor selected for University Research Council awards
4. NMSU donates $50,000 in equipment to Las Cruces High School media program
5. New giving opportunity for 2007
6. Michelle Teresa Estrada-Lopez NMSU Valedictorian, Engineering Highest Honors
7. Kevin Konchalski Spring 2007 Outstanding Senior
8. ADC Foundation scholarship for engineering students
9. Researchers develop low-cost, low-energy desalination process
10. Eta Kappa Nu chapter receives Outstanding Chapter Award
11. NMSU student is a winner at statewide speech competition

Mental and physical abilities help concrete canoe team sweep regional competition

By Elizabeth Myers

The concrete canoe team at New Mexico State University swept the competition at this year’s Rocky Mountain Regional Competition, held in Boulder, Colo., thanks to their brains and a little upper-body strength. Students on the team, which is part of the NMSU student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, constructed a canoe out of concrete, wrote a report on the construction and prepared a presentation. Then the students raced the canoe in various events. Read More

NMSU student one of eight nationwide selected for social responsibility program

By Linda Fresques

As a sophomore at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, Tamra Overcast laughed when her drafting teacher suggested she join the school’s robotics team.

“I told her that robotics just wasn’t my thing, but I would try it out, no promises,” said Overcast, now an industrial engineering student at New Mexico State University who has proven that she’s no quitter. Read More

Chemical engineering professor selected for University Research Council awards

Shuguang Deng of chemical engineering was among four faculty members been selected to receive University Research Council Awards for Exceptional Achievement in Creative Scholarly Activity. Deng will receive an Early Career Award. Barbara Chamberlin of media productions will also receive the Early Career Award. Distinguished Career Awards will go to Desh Ranjan of computer science and William Eamon of history. Read More

NMSU donates $50,000 in equipment to Las Cruces High School media program

Officials of the New Mexico State University College of Engineering's Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE) paid a visit to Las Cruces High School May 3, 2007 to donate $50,000 worth of audio/video equipment to the school's Mass Media Program. Read More

If you are considering making a charitable gift before the end of the year, are 70 and a half or older and have an individual retirement account, you need to know about a new provision of the Internal Revenue Code;. This giving opportunity is only available for gifts made after Aug. 17, 2006 and before Dec. 31, 2007.

You can instruct the custodian of your IRA to distribute an amount up to $100,000 directly to a qualified charitable organization, such as the New Mexico State University Foundation for the College of Engineering, from your IRA and the distribution will be excluded from your gross income. This distribution may be counted toward your required minimum distribution for the calendar year. Until now, if you wanted to use IRA dollars to make a charitable gift, you had to withdraw the amount, include in your taxable gross income and then reduce your taxable income by the amount of an itemized charitable deduction. The net result was that you still paid some income tax on that withdrawal. The new law allows you to give a direct, dollar-for-dollar gift, without the distribution being counted at all in your gross taxable income.

At this time, the IRA rollover does not apply to 401Ks, 403b annuities, defined benefit and contribution plans, or profit-sharing plans. For more information, please contact Patricia Sullivan at (505) 646-2913, patsulli@nmsu.edu, or Debbie Widger at (505) 646-5731, dwidger@nmsu.edu. Read more about Charitable Gifts from Individual Retirement Accounts.

Michelle Teresa Estrada-Lopez NMSU Valedictorian, Engineering Highest Honors

Michelle Teresa Estrada-Lopez, a 2002 graduate of Las Cruces High School, received the 1919 Award as valedictorian of the New Mexico State University 2007 graduating class and was also acknowledged as graduating with highest honors from the NMSU College of Engineering. She received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, with minors in Spanish and math. She will remain at NMSU to pursue a master’s in Civil Engineering. Read More

Kevin Konchalski Spring 2007 Outstanding Senior

Kevin Joseph Konchalski is the recipient of the spring 2007 Outstanding Senior Award for the College of Engineering. Konchalski was nominated for this honor by the College of Engineering and was selected by the NMSU Alumni Association. He is a mechanical engineering student who is graduating with a grade-point average of 4.0. He graduated from Mesilla Valley Christian School in Las Cruces in 2003 as Salutatorian. Read More

ADC Foundation scholarship for engineering students

ADC Foundation, part of ADC Telecommunications, Inc., has made a $5,000 donation to a scholarship established last year for students in the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University. The scholarship will award $1,200 to an entering freshman for the student’s first semester and a $500 renewable book scholarship awarded for seven semesters after that. The foundation will also provide a sophomore, junior, and senior with $500 renewable book scholarships. Awards are made to New Mexico residents who are graduates from a New Mexico high school. Read More

Researchers develop low-cost, low-energy desalination process

By Karl Hill

A low-cost water desalination system developed by New Mexico State University engineers can convert saltwater to pure drinking water on a round-the-clock basis – and its energy needs are so low it could be powered by the waste heat of an air conditioning system. A prototype built on the NMSU campus in Las Cruces can produce enough pure water continuously to supply a four-person household, said Nirmala Khandan, an environmental engineering professor in NMSU’s Department of Civil Engineering. Read More

Eta Kappa Nu chapter receives Outstanding Chapter Award

By Elizabeth Myers

New Mexico State University’s Gamma Chi chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, a national electrical and computer engineering honor society, has been awarded the Outstanding Chapter Award for 2005-2006. Eta Kappa Nu is a nonprofit public-service organization with nearly 200 university chapters, a variety of committees, many active member volunteers, and thousands of student members. Read More

NMSU student is a winner at statewide speech competition

By Elizabeth Myers

Mohammad Ghassemi has won a scholarship for his recent second place win at a speech contest held by Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE). The speech, titled “Energy, Poverty, and the Future” netted him a $3,000 API Four Corners/Embrace scholarship. Ghassemi is a senior majoring in electrical engineering, applied mathematics and biochemistry. Read More

Note: Items submitted for possible inclusion in Aggie Ing. should be sent to lfresque@nmsu.edu by 5:00 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month.