Capstone Showcase

NMSU · College of Engineering

Aerial view of NMSU campus with the Organ Mountains in the background

Interdisciplinary Capstone · 2026

Industry.
Innovation.
Impact.

Thirty-eight senior engineering teams. One ballroom. A year of industry, national lab, and entrepreneurial projects — distilled into a single afternoon of posters and an evening of recognition.

Date

May 1, 2026

Friday

Showcase

1:30 – 4:00 PM

Poster exhibition

Banquet

4:30 – 9:00 PM

Awards & dinner

Venue

Las Cruces Convention Center

Southwest Ballrooms

Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Photos and award winners coming soon.

NMSU campus in December

— A year of work

From AFRL turbojets to Lockheed Martin satellites, Honeywell pressure vessels to student-founded startups — every project begins with a real-world problem.

Program

The day, in order

The day begins with an open poster showcase, continues into a reception, and closes with a banquet and awards ceremony presented by distinguished speakers from across New Mexico.

Note

Banquet seating is prepared for RSVPs but open to walk-ups as capacity allows. The showcase portion is open to the public.

✦ Afternoon · Poster Showcase

1:00

Doors Open

Check-In, Name Tags, Judge Code Cards

1:30

Poster Showcase Begins

37 Teams Present Across the Southwest Ballrooms

4:00

Judging Closes

Score Tabulation and Award Finalization

✦ Evening · Banquet & Awards

4:30

Reception & Poster Viewing

Until 5:30 — Guests Arrive, Mingle, View Final Posters

5:30

Buffet Service

Dinner Runs Through 6:00

6:00

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Brooke Montgomery, Capstone Program Lead · Dr. Gabe Garcia, Provost Fellow & Interim Assoc Dean

6:10

Provost's Welcome

Dr. Lakshmi Reddi, Interim Provost, NMSU

6:25

Title Sponsor Remarks

Cheryl Mele, VP & CTO, El Paso Electric · EPE Competition Winner Announcement

6:35

Remarks

John Munoz, Las Cruces Mayor Pro Tem

6:45

Remarks

Ikani Taumoepeau, Las Cruces City Manager

6:55

Remarks

Bill Soules, NM State Senator

7:05

Remarks

Nathan Small, NM State Representative

7:15

Lockheed Martin Competition

Winner Announcement

7:20

Remarks & Faculty Favorite Awards

Dénise Rodriguez-Strawn · 3rd, 2nd, 1st Place

7:35

Remarks & Student Judge Favorite Awards

Tori Crichton, Virgin Galactic · 3rd, 2nd, 1st Place

7:50

Closing Remarks

Brooke Montgomery & Lisa Higdon

8:00

Celebration & Networking

Group Photos and Conversation Until 9:00 PM

The work

Thirty-seven projects, a year of labor

№ 01 — 37

Each team was paired with a real sponsor — a federal lab, a defense contractor, an industry partner, or a student-led startup — and spent the academic year building something that works.

Filter by project type

Filter by major

Showing 37 of 37 projects

01

MEAE

Aerospace Propulsion Outreach Program Competition

Sponsored by

Air Force Research Laboratory

DoD

02

MEEPEEAE

AURUM ASTRA — Autothermal System for Transformation of Residuals into Amendments

Sponsored by

Aurum Tech

Entrepreneurial

03

AEEEME

AURUM SHIELD — Self-Healing Composite Panels for Spacecraft Protection

Sponsored by

Aurum Tech

Entrepreneurial

04

MEIEAEPHYS

AI-Assisted Satellite Health Monitoring System Using OpenC3

Sponsored by

BAE Systems

Aerospace & Defense

05

AEMET

Engine Setup & Training System

Sponsored by

Cummins

Industry

06

AEGENG

WaveWise Wave Energy Technologies

Sponsored by

NREL Tech Transfer / DOE Boost

National Labs

07

EEECETAEECON

Smart Peak Shaving and Virtual Grid Load Management System for Residential Demand Response — Team 1

Sponsored by

El Paso Electric

Industry

08

AEEEME

Smart Peak Shaving and Virtual Grid Load Management System for Residential Demand Response — Team 2

Sponsored by

El Paso Electric

Industry

09

MEAEEE

Modernization of Sled Track

Sponsored by

USAF 846th Test Squadron (Holloman AFB)

DoD

10

MEAE

3D Printed Polymer Welding for Pressure Vessels

Sponsored by

Honeywell / KCNSC

National Labs

11

MEAE

Impact Attenuation of 3D Printed Structures

Sponsored by

Honeywell / KCNSC

National Labs

12

AEMEEE

Solder Dispensing Device

Sponsored by

Honeywell / KCNSC

National Labs

13

AEEEME

Structure Stabilization for Tall Electronics Enclosures

Sponsored by

Honeywell / KCNSC

National Labs

14

AE

Ion Propulsion Drone — Hybrid Aerial Surveillance Platform

Sponsored by

John Noel

Entrepreneurial

15

AEME

Blast-Resistant Smart Container for Hazardous Waste Transport

Sponsored by

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Labs

16

MEAEMET

Bolt Release Mechanism

Sponsored by

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Labs

17

AEEEMEMET

Instrumentation for Grab Sampling in a 100K Tank

Sponsored by

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Labs

18

EEEPME

High-Performance Robotic Boxing — Speedbag Perception with Neuromorphic Sensors and Fovea-Based Reinforcement Learning

Sponsored by

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Labs

19

EEMEEPAE

Neuromorphic Pong and Air Hockey at Super-Human Speeds

Sponsored by

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Labs

20

EEAEME

LM CommNET Satellite Competition — Aggie Team 1

Sponsored by

Lockheed Martin

Aerospace & Defense

21

AEEE

LM CommNET Satellite Competition — Crimson Team 2

Sponsored by

Lockheed Martin

Aerospace & Defense

22

EEAEME

BattleBots Miner — MechE Mayhem Competition

Sponsored by

MechE Mayhem Competition

Competition

23

METAEEE

Hybrid Small-Scale Wind Turbine (Darrieus & Savonius)

Sponsored by

NMSU Research

Research

24

METME

Effect of Raster Angle on the Mechanical Properties of Honeycomb-Infilled 3D Prints

Sponsored by

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

National Labs

25

EEMAEAE

Reducing Emissions from Gas Turbine Power Systems — Ultra-Low NOx Retrofit Design & Validation

Sponsored by

Oracle

Industry

26

AEME

Wireless Electromagnetic EV & AMR Charging System

Sponsored by

QKOIL

Entrepreneurial

27

AEEEMET

Smart Portion-Sensing Plate System

Sponsored by

PortionWise

Entrepreneurial

28

EEMEECETAE

Sandia National Labs RoboSub Competition

Sponsored by

Sandia National Laboratories

Competition

29

AEIEEE

Automated Brewery Cleaning Station with Integrated CIP & Water Reclamation

Sponsored by

SaniBrau Labs

Entrepreneurial

30

AEME

Design and Performance Analysis of a Small-Scale Chilled Water Loop

Sponsored by

Southland Industries

Industry

31

AE

Spaceport America Unified Rocket Ground Support System

Sponsored by

Spaceport America

Aerospace & Defense

32

MEAE

Alloy Solidification in Microgravity for Spacecraft Reliability and In-Space Manufacturing

Sponsored by

Space-Cryo

Entrepreneurial

33

EEME

Modernizing a Low-Cost Rotary Encoder for NEMA17 Stepper Motors

Sponsored by

URSA Science

Entrepreneurial

34

EEEPMEAE

Joint Special Operations Command / PSL — Advanced Systems Design for Extreme Environments

Sponsored by

US SOCOM

DoD

35

ECETEEMEIE

3D Printing Solutions for Semiconductor Burn-in Test Sockets

Sponsored by

White Sands Missile Range

DoD

36

EEAEME

Adapt-A-Drone Radar Signature Weaver

Sponsored by

White Sands Missile Range

DoD

37

IEMET

Survive the Night — The Lunar Logistics Challenge

Sponsored by

WERC Environmental Design Contest

Competition

NMSU Engineering Complex with A-Mountain at golden hour

NMSU College of Engineering  ·  Las Cruces, New Mexico

Engineered with Aggie grit.

Recognition

Eighteen awards, fifteen moments

Each award is backed by a sponsor who chose to invest in a specific kind of excellence. The full slate is committed for May 1 — our thanks to every partner below for putting their name on the recognition these students will carry off the stage.

$3,000

Best Overall Design in Engineering

Confirmed

$2,500

Most Sustainable Solution

Confirmed

$2,000

Most Outstanding Project

Confirmed

$2,000

Best Modeling & Simulation

Confirmed

$1,000

Best Poster Presentation

Confirmed

$1,000

Best Use of Emerging Technology

Confirmed

$1,000

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Confirmed

$1,000

Fish Out of Water

Confirmed

$500

Most Unintuitive Design

Confirmed

$500

Out-of-the-Box Thinking

Confirmed

$500

Hidden Gem

Confirmed

$500

Empowerment Award

Confirmed

Every award is fully sponsored. Each name above will appear on the large presentation check, in the printed program, and on stage with each winning team. Thank you to the partners who made the inaugural slate possible.

With gratitude

Made possible by

This evening happens because two kinds of partners decided it was worth supporting: event sponsors who fund the showcase and awards, and project sponsors who mentored teams through a year of real engineering work.

✦ 2026 Title Sponsor

✦ 2026 Event Sponsors

Gold

Reliable Controls Corporation

Silver

Edward Jones — Amy L. Daniels, CEPA®, RLP®

Bronze

Friend of Capstone

Pioneer Bank

State Farm

✦ 2026 Capstone Project Sponsors

These organizations provided technical mentorship, project guidance, and financial support directly to student teams across the academic year — from federal labs and defense contractors to industry partners and student-founded startups.

Aerospace & Defense Industry  ·  3

BAE Systems

Lockheed Martin

National Laboratories  ·  5

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Sandia National Laboratories

KCNSC by Honeywell

Department of Defense  ·  5

Air Force Research Laboratory

846th Test Squadron

White Sands Missile Range

US SOCOM

CREW

Industry Partners  ·  5

El Paso Electric

Southland Industries

WaveWise Technologies

Entrepreneurial Innovation  ·  7

QKOIL

PortionWise

URSA Science

Space-Cryo

Ion Propulsion Drone

Competition Pathways  ·  4

BattleBots

AFRL APOP

Research  ·  3

AI Robotic Arm

SMART Wind Energy

✦Looking ahead✦

Next year's teams are
already choosing their projects.

This inaugural banquet launches what we hope will be an annual tradition. If you have a problem worth exploring with next year's seniors — or you'd like to support the program through a gift to the College of Engineering — we'd love to hear from you.

Submit an interest form Make a gift to the college