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High Technology

New Mexico's booming high technology sector includes optics/photonics and microsystems/MEMS. As we become known as a 'High Tech' state, many companies are attracted to our active industry clusters and ground-breaking industry incentives.

Technology Industry Clusters

Technology clusters thrive on synergy. They require a critical mass of intellectual resources, companies, suppliers, technical alliances, research parks, research programs, commercialization opportunities, high caliber training programs, venture capital, and industrial production. In 2006, the Information Technology industry recorded an 8.3% job growth rate. 

In addition to primary industry clusters in:

We have rapidly emerging clusters in:

Optics/Photonics

New Mexico's 80 optics (the science of light) and photonics (using light to convey information) companies, focus on:

  • lasers
  • sensor and sensor systems
  • precision measurement
  • positioning equipment
  • aviation controls
  • biophotonics/spectroscopy
  • optical storage materials
  • lightwave manipulation
  • component, instrument, and system manufacturing

Businesses have the extra advantage of accessibility to the some of the government's most advanced research facilities in Central New Mexico. The Compound Semiconductor Research Lab at Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Center for High Technology Materials at UNM and the Directed Energy Research Lab at Kirtland Air Force Base all offer resources to help businesses with technical challenges.

From high school to graduate studies, New Mexico is committed to training workers for the optics/photonics business. Albuquerque's West Mesa High School enrolls 100 students in its Photonics Academy, an innovative program funded by the Department of Energy to create a pipeline of workers to research and commercial facilities.

Community college students can enroll in the Photonics Technology Program at Central New Mexico Community College (CNMCC). The program offers both certificate and associate degrees. The Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis, has partnered with CNMCC to offer a unique biophotonics technician program.

University of New Mexico students can take undergraduate optics/photonics classes. As post grads they can join the Optical Science and Engineering program.

NM Optics Industry Association supports optics/photonics companies with news, information sharing, and conference organization.

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Microsystems/MEMS

Thanks to pioneering research at Sandia National Laboratories, Metro New Mexico is at the forefront of the 'small tech' revolution. With 25 local companies already in the field, this emerging cluster will leverage Sandia's technology with academic infrastructure, innovative training programs, venture capital, and local support networks.

MEMS, sometimes called micromachines, are Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems consisting of small sets of gears that can perform work.

Microsystems are tiny devices that integrate MEMS, microelectronics, optics, and sensors. Their seeming ability to 'think,' act, sense and communicate makes them invaluable in transportation, telecommunications, and medicine. Read about the microsystems revolution in Forbes ASAP's story, The Next Big Thing.

Considered the biggest invention since the semiconductor, microsystems are expected to develop into an industry worth $30B.

Metro Area resources in microsystems and MEMS:

  • A new $420M Microsystems Engineering and Sciences Applications (MESA) facility came online at Sandia in 2005.
  • UNM hosts the Institute of Advanced Microelectronics and the nation's first endowed chair in microsystems.
  • UNM's Manufacturing Training and Technology Center offers training and prototyping for microsystems
  • UNM's Center for High Technology Materials has a Crystal Growth Facility and clean room.
  • CNM Community College has launched a Microsystems Education and Training program with a NASA grant, one of the first two-year institutions in the nation to have this program.
  • Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories have partnered on a nano-science user facility, the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT).
  • Sandia, Los Alamos and UNM formed the Nanoscience Alliance in 2001.
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