Master of Science:  Industrial Engineering

Why did you choose NMSU Graduate School?

I chose NMSU Grad School for many reasons, the main one being that I had such a great experience with NMSU while pursuing my bachelors degree in mechanical engineering. Through that experience, I felt that NMSU was a top tier program for engineering. The curriculum as well as the faculty were excellent. I specifically chose to pursue an MS in Industrial Engineering after speaking with many personal mentors as well as faculty who gave the Industrial Engineering Master's program high regard.

What is your current position?

I'm a mission communication engineer for NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center. LSP is responsible for launching NASA's science and robotic missions. As a mission communication engineer, I handle the payload's communication and telemetry requirements for launch.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

In 2018, during my reign as Miss New Mexico USA, NMSU College of Engineering and myself partnered to create the Jo Leyva Memorial Scholarship in honor of my late mother who was also an NMSU College of Engineering alum. The scholarship financially aided students in their pursuit to obtain their engineering degrees. A few months into raising money for the scholarship we received an anonymous letter from a recipient of the scholarship who described her goals of working at NASA one day and the impact the scholarship had on her. The positive impact the scholarship has created in lives has been my proudest accomplishment.

How did NMSU prepare you for your field?

One of the many great things about NMSU's curriculum is it's very application oriented and relevant to today's workforce. I also felt that the skills I've gained through completing the program have aided me in every job I've encountered regardless of the specific engineering discipline. IE is a very process oriented field where the main objective is optimizing a process. That skill set has translated within various realms of project management, personal management and even optimizing processes and routines within the workplace.

What did you enjoy most about NMSU?

Definitely not the all nighters, but Blake's green chile breakfast burritos on campus and the incredible staff are dearly missed.