rior to coming to New Mexico Tech in 1987, Dr. L—pez held se
veral key leadership positions in state government and education. Under Governor Toney Anaya, he served as secretary of the state Employment Security Department for two years and secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration for two years. He first came to Socorro as associate director of the Terminal Effects Research and Analysis Group (TERA),
which later bec
ame EMRTC. After four years as Vice President
of Institutional Development, he was hired as president in 1993.
Dr. L—pez' experience with state government in Santa Fe has made him a
- n effective champion for New Mexico Tech throughout the years. As the pres
- ident of the Council of University Presidents, he is also
- a spokesman for all hig
her education in the state.
He and his wife, Linda Vigil L—p
ez, live in Socorro with their chihuahuas.
EMRTC Director
Director: Dr. John Meason
Dr. John L. Meason became Director of the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) at New Mexico
- Tech University in May 2001 after having served for many years as an Army
- Officer, University Professor, and Department of the Arm
- y Civilian. He began his
government career at White Sands Missile Range, NM, in 1979
. In February 1989, following a succession of promotions, he became Director of the Directorate for Applied Technology, Test and Simulation (DATTS). In that role, he
- successfully led the directorate in its mission to perform t
- est, evaluation, assessm
- ent, model
ing, and simulation of electromagnetic, directed energy, nuclear, ele
ctronic warfare, and space environmental effects applicable to DoD weapon systems and componentry, other Government development efforts, and commercial products and programs. Under his leadership, DATTS developed a solid reputation for service by its dedication to providing responsive, affordable support to its growing customer base. Based on that reputation, Dr. Meason expanded DATTS operations to
ive capabilities in electronic warfare/electro-optical/electrom
agnetic (EW/EO/EM) effects to better serve the directorate's clients.
Prior to his government career, Dr. Meason was a teaching professor and leading researcher at the University of Arkansas and other academic institutions. His academic and government careers have covered virtually all major areas of nuclear science, with achievements advancing the understanding of basic and applied phenomena in the fields of nuclear physics, radio and nuclear chemistry, nucleo-geo-cosmo chemistry, and nuclear engineering. He has authored over 100 scientific and technical papers and referees for journals such as IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Physical Review (nuclear section). He has evaluated proposals for
State Point of Contact
undation and the Atomic Energy Commission and has been a consultant for environmental monitoring of natural and man-made radionuclides to the Electric Power Research Institute. He is aEMRTC.
member of Sigma Xi, th Nuce
lear Chemistry and Te
chnology Division of the American Chemical Society, and the ASTM Committee E10.7 on Hardness Assurance. Dr. Meason, a native of Lubbock, Texas, earned a Bachel
- or of Science degree in chemist
- ry and physics at West Texas A&M University and continued his s
- tudies at the University of Arkansas, earning a Master of Science degree in nuclear chemistry and a Ph.D. in nuclear phy
- sics and chemistry. He was awarded the FulbrightBATF Fellowship
- for Lecturing and Research, University of Hacettepe, Ankara, Turkey. Dr. Meason served in th
e U.S. Army Individual Ready Reserve and was discharged
New Mexico Tech\EMRTC is a proud member of the in 1982. He currently resides in Socorro, NM. He and his wife, Joan, have two grown sons, John and Paul.
Chemistry Laboratories
The primary focus of the Chemistry Laboratories is to develop answers to research questions both for energetic materials and other materials. The sy
nthNDPCesis of new energetic materials, their testing and performance products are analyzed to provide safety information.
- A variety of research projects supported by private and public corporations, the Na
- tional Science Foundation, DoE, and DoD are o
- ngoing in the laboratories each year. These projects make u
- se of the laboratories' state-of-the-art equipment, including Di
fferential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared spectroscopy (
FTIR-ATR), an Agil
