R&D Initiative Aims to Redefine Manufacturing in New Mexico
From aerospace and defense to food production and electronics, the advanced manufacturing sector in New Mexico is as diverse as the state’s landscape.
With a growing emphasis on advanced manufacturing and new technologies, the industry is also helping position the state as a hub for innovation and job creation. As more institutions invest in research, development and career training, the benefits ripple beyond the factory floor, strengthening communities and boosting household incomes.
A Perfect Partnership
Initiatives such as the Distributed Resilient and Emergent-Intelligence-Based Additive Manufacturing (DREAM) Research Center led by New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, are helping accelerate the industry’s growth. The National Science Foundation-funded DREAM Center is a collaborative research initiative involving four of the state’s major research institutions – NMSU, the University of New Mexico (UNM), Navajo Technical University (NTU) and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) – working in areas of distributed manufacturing, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
The idea for the DREAM Center came from a collaborative effort across research universities in the state to build capacity in areas identified in the state’s Science and Technology Plan, says Jay Misra, DREAM Center director and associate dean of research in NMSU’s College of Engineering.
“The center combines a broad range of skill sets and a truly interdisciplinary group of expert faculty and their students from these four universities working together to lay the foundation in the digital and cyber infrastructure necessary to bring Distributed Intelligent Additive Manufacturing to New Mexico,” Misra says.
Progress Through Collaboration
For example, UNM provides expertise in distributed network systems and learning, while NMT specializes in intrusion detection, network visualization and the development of a factory-floor supervision platform, says Mat Martins, program manager for the DREAM Center. “Then at Navajo Tech, the expertise really comes from advanced manufacturing credentialing, understanding the demand for the products and the creativity that’s sparked behind having different techniques of creating products and manufacturing,” Martins says.
At NMSU, researchers are looking at the integration of artificial intelligence in 3D printing manufacturing and creating the building blocks for secure and verifiable computing needed for distributed additive manufacturing.
“The goal is to build a secure, resilient, verifiable and emergent-intelligence-based foundation to support distributed additive manufacturing,” Misra says. “One of the immediate outputs of the center is the technology to use AI to monitor a 3D print. AI can also be used in the decision-making process involved in determining the need for internet bandwidth and connectivity.”
Priming the Talent Pipeline
Among the center’s many goals are creating platforms for new startups and small businesses and helping build a pipeline of talent ready to power the next generation of New Mexico manufacturing. The center is also creating workshops and a dissemination platform to promote manufacturing education for K-12 teachers.
“We’re organizing information and developing training programs for teachers to highlight the potential for advanced manufacturing. For example, we demonstrate the process of designing and printing a 3D object. The idea is that if we train the teachers and showcase the exciting future of advanced manufacturing, they will be the ones that inspire the next generation workforce and innovators,” says David Jauregui, interim dean of NMSU’s College of Engineering.
Leaders at the center, which launched in October 2024 with support from an NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) RII E-RISE grant, are also working to establish partnerships with local businesses to come up with real-world applications for their research. Martins says they are working with Roadrunner 3D in Albuquerque and Cruces Creatives in Las Cruces and developing an industrial advisory board.
The center’s research has the potential to decentralize manufacturing and localize supply chains, enable rural communities to access specialized manufacturing, and create the infrastructure that will allow designers and manufacturers to connect.
“The technology developed in the DREAM Center will help germinate microeconomies in rural communities in New Mexico based on manufacturing. This will not only increase accessibility but also lay the groundwork for building a network of micro-factories connecting the rural microeconomies to major manufacturing establishments in the state,” Misra says. “This will support the state’s effort to build the critical mass to onshore manufacturing industries to New Mexico, aiding the nationwide effort to manufacturing sustainability.”
Get to Know New Mexico
Want to learn more about living and working in New Mexico? Check out the latest edition of Livability New Mexico Economic Development.