New Mexico State University
IN-4: Innovation 4

A $3.2 million grant awarded to four universities has New Mexico State University’s College of Engineering and College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences collaborating with three other institutions to promote sustainable energy for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The University of Texas at El Paso is the lead institution for the multi-university project entitled BGREEN (Building Regional Energy and Educational Alliances). Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Texas State University-San Marcos are also included in the grant. 

The goal of the project is to create a collaborative network of sustainable energy researchers, educators, USDA agencies, and non-profit organizations to coordinate efforts and increase educational and post-graduation opportunities for Hispanic students pursuing careers contributing to sustainable energy and agriculture research. 

NMSU has received $780,000 for its contribution to the project, focused on logistics, bio-energy and bio-materials, and economics in the areas of engineering and agriculture. The goal of the BGREEN Project is to increase the number of U.S. citizens or permanent residents from underrepresented minorities with graduate degrees in science and engineering fields linked to the USDA mission. Curriculum design and development, instruction delivery systems, student experiential learning, and student recruitment and retention are the four goals of the program. The main area of the study is sustainable energy and to train students to conduct research in that area and be able to work priority areas for the USDA and its agencies. Funding will also support four undergraduate students to participate on a research project at one USDA agency. In addition, two master’s students and four doctoral students will be supported each year to conduct research and have the opportunity to continue their research at USDA-Agricultural Research Service facilities.

The NMSU team will create a formal curriculum that incorporates agriculture and engineering, and a system to recruit students into the program. Students in the program will to take the courses and conduct research on biofuels and biohydrogen, biodiesel, microbial fuel cells, biomaterials, distribution and pre-processing.

Industrial engineering professor Delia J. Valles-Rosales, PhD, principal investigator for NMSU on the project, industrial engineering professor Hansuk Sohn, civil engineering professor Nirmala Khandan, and agricultural economics professor Ram Acharya are collaborating on the research.