Posts Tagged ‘Arrowhead Research Park’

On Thursday, August 20, 2009, Dona Ana County’s first Early College High School will be unveiled. The project is the result of a partnership between New Mexico State University (NMSU), Dona Ana Community College (DACC), Las Cruces Public Schools, Gadsden Independent School District and Hatch Valley Public Schools. The announcement will be held at the NMSU College of Education, O’Donnell Hall Atrium, 1220 Stewart Street, and beginning at 10:00 a.m.  NMSU Interim President Dr. Manuel T. Pacheco, Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Stan Rounds, Governor Bill Richardson and NM Public Education Department Secretary Dr. Veronica C. Garcia will be among the speakers.

The facility will be built on land adjacent to the Arrowhead Research Park and will have a career-tech STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) focus along with introducing entrepreneurial skills.  The dual credit program established between higher education institutions and the public schools will allow a student to enroll for a class at Dona Ana Community College (DACC) or New Mexico State University (NMSU) and receive both high school and college credit. This program will allow a student to not only complete a high school curriculum, but also permit that student to graduate with over 30 college credits and in some cases even qualify for an Associates degree from DACC. The project has been a focus of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico since its inception.  The participating educational institutions are members of the Bridge.

Visitors may obtain an E-Permit for the event on-line: http://www.campusvisitor.com/.

On July 22, 2009, General Dynamics C4 Systems officially opened SpacePlex 2 at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park. Chris Marzilli, President of General Dynamics C4 Systems and Gene Milchak, Director of Satellite Ground Systems and Operations were on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Under an NMSU lease agreement, the General Dynamics C4 Systems SpacePlex 2 adds more than 15,000 square feet of office, laboratory and secure work areas to the company’s existing presence in the research park. SpacePlex 2 is within walking distance of the current SpacePlex facility, which was dedicated in 2001.

For three decades, General Dynamics has supported NASA projects from key New Mexico vantage points including NMSU and White Sands Missile Range. Beginning with a contract to provide ground support for NASA’s TDRSS program in 1978, the company’s space and satellite- related operations have outgrown a number of local facilities.

John Hummer, Past MVEDA Board Chairman and owner of Steinborn TCN Commercial Real Estate, was quoted in an on-line article in the Commercial Property News regarding the future growth that will be associated with the construction of Spaceport America.

According to Hummer,  “The spaceport is a strong catalyst for growth, not only in rocketry and related technologies and the tourism associated with commercial space travel, but also the commercial payloads–science experiments and commercial satellite launches. The corridor including Las Cruces, the largest nearby town, and Truth or Consequences, the closest to the spaceport, are already benefiting from interest in the spaceport.”

In the article, Hummer also mentions New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace and Armadillo Aerospace, and the Las Cruces airport.

The entire on-line article, courtesy of the Commercial Property News,  is linked from MVEDA’s “News & Announcements” page.