Chemical and Materials Engineering Associate Professor Hongmei Luo has been selected as Luke Barry Shires Professor in Chemical and Materials Engineering. This professorship was endowed by the estate of Luke Barry Shires, the first chemical engineering professor on the NMSU campus.

Luo joined the CHME faculty in 2009, and has published 75 peer-reviewed papers since arriving. Her Ph.D. graduates have gone on to postdoctoral positions at Cornell University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and The University of California, Los Angeles. Ten of the undergraduates performing research under her direction have pursued graduate studies at locations that include Delaware University, Iowa State University, Tulane University, Florida University, University of Texas – Austin, and here at NMSU.  Her research has been funded with roughly 20 unique proposal applications at a cumulative of $3 million.

Luo’s CHME 467/567 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology course is a popular technical elective among engineering students at both the graduate and undergraduate level.