professional development - New Mexico Technology Council

Learn About the CNM New Mexico Information Technology Apprenticeship Program

In New Mexico and nationwide, Information Technology (IT) jobs are growing while workers continue to lack the skills needed to meet the demand. In New Mexico alone, the IT sector is expected to grow 20.7% between 2010 and 2020.
CNM Ingenuity Inc. has developed an Information Technology Apprenticeship Program (NMITAP) designed to bridge the gap between qualified applicants and employers. Learn about the program from John Mierzwa, Director of STEMulus Initiatives as he sits down with New Mexico Technology Council Executive Director Nyika Allen.
If you are an employer looking to hire or interested in becoming an apprenticeship, visit the NMITAP website for Frequently Asked Questions and more.
The New Mexico Technology Council will be hosting a free breakfast and informational session for employers on August 10th. Register here to attend.

Mia Petersen2016-07-20T15:11:03+00:00July 20th, 2016|

Talent Albuquerque Pre-Announcement / Launch Event 8 August

TALENT ALBUQUERQUE PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT / LAUNCH EVENT AUGUST 8TH

From Terri Nikole Baca, Innovate+Educate:

Innovate+Educate and the City of Albuquerque are officially launching our collaborative economic and workforce development project “Talent Albuquerque.” Talent Albuquerque will provide strategies and tools to advance the talent acquisition process of area employers while simultaneously building work-ready skills for job seekers. I am attaching a Talent Albuquerque one pager on the project that contains details on our specific deliverables, and I am happy to answer any questions you have.

As prominent community leaders, your input and participation in this project is welcome. I would like to invite you to our launch and press event on August 8, 2013. Details below:

Date: Thursday, August 8

Time: 2:00pm

Location: Albuquerque Convention Center, Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Westside

Reception to Follow

RSVP: rsvp@claimyourtalent.org

Terri Nikole Baca
Director, Policy & STEM Education
Innovate+Educate
505.459.5272

Download the Talent Albuquerque one pager.

Mia Petersen2013-07-30T15:03:06+00:00July 30th, 2013|

WordCamp ABQ Schedule Now Online!

Our good friends at WordCamp Albuquerque have announced the schedule for this year’s big event! The schedule (more at: “The Usual Suspects: Schedule is Complete!“) features an array of great local and national talent, so tough choices will have to be made.

WordCamp extends their thanks to “three-year WordCamp Organizer, spectacular Sponsor, and Albuquerque WordPress MeetUp Member, Ray Gulick for wrangling the amazing schedule”. More about him at Evolution Web Development and on Twitter!

Find the schedule HERE.

Mia Petersen2013-07-26T15:37:53+00:00July 26th, 2013|

Supercomputing Challenge Seeks Judges throughout New Mexico!

New Mexico is home to some remarkable organizations working in and around STEM education. One element that unites them all is the value of having real professionals in tech interact with our youth, providing the benefit of their experience and connections through judging, mentoring and visits. Please consider helping out!

(Not sure which organization might be a good fit? Try contacting us and we’ll try to help.)

SUPERCOMPUTING CHALLENGE SEEKS JUDGES

The Supercomputing Challenge, http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org, is looking for judges to help with Project Evaluations around the state on Saturdays during February. The Challenge teams, of one to five students, come and present their work thus far and judges evaluate their projects and presentations and offer suggestions for the teams to work on during the last two months of the Challenge. Judges fill out a copy of the rubric which can be seen at: http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org/evaluations/judging_form.html

The current schedule of events is posted at: http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org/evaluations

with details at: http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org/evaluations/schedule.shtml

If you are willing to help out at any site, please drop an email to consult@challenge.nm.org

Mia Petersen2013-01-08T13:40:28+00:00January 8th, 2013|

Starting Up Startup New Mexico

A team of entrepreneurs and others from the investment community as well as service providers and organizations (like the New Mexico Technology Council) has been working together to lay the groundwork for “Startup New Mexico” as a region of the Startup America Partnership.

There’s much more information and a few events to come. Save the date/time of September 12th after 5PM in Albuquerque and October 4th after 5PM in Santa Fe — and we’ve also been planning an info session for our next Tech Thursday on 13 September (http://techthursday13sep.eventbrite.com/, but there are also a few things you can do now.

First, you can read a bit more on what the partnership’s about, its activities and services at the site above.

Second, whether you’re an entrepreneur with a high growth startup or providing services and/or support, you can also sign up with Startup America.

Third, make sure to like and follow Startup New Mexico at

Info on website, specifics on events and info on other activities coming soon!

Mia Petersen2012-09-05T22:04:09+00:00September 5th, 2012|

NMTC Seeks Nominations for NM WIT 2012 Scholarships

The 2012 NMTC Women in Tech Scholarship Program is seeking young women from throughout New Mexico who intend to pursue degrees in tech-related fields in programs at New Mexico’s universities and colleges. Each awardee will receive a cash award (scholarship amounts depend on sponsorships and donations) and have a mentor assigned from among the many great people, companies and organizations involved with NMTC.

These nominations are a team effort requiring both a nominator (often a teacher, school staff member, parent or friend of the family) and the student’s participation (she will need to submit an essay and answer questions about mentorship and challenges she may have faced). Please contact us at scholar@nmtechcouncil.org with any questions.

If you know a young woman who would benefit from a cash award and an ongoing relationship with a professional ‘woman in tech’ please consider completing the form below or submitting a nomination here

Mia Petersen2012-09-05T04:44:46+00:00September 5th, 2012|

Organizations Team Up for Technology Weekend!?

School’s back in session, the monsoonal rains have returned and we’re glad to be part of an upswing in larger events involving the technology community.

Among them are two we’d like to highlight, taking place the weekend of August 24th – 26th.

NM GAME JAM (8-24-26)
The 4th annual New Mexico Game Jam from the Rio Grande IGDA Chapter is one of two annual development sprints or ‘Jams’ for game designers and developers in New Mexico in partnership with the Rio Grande ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter (and some help from us at the NM Tech Council). Each year at this time, they gather in multiple locations (this year in Albuquerque at UNM’s Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media program offices in Mesa Del Sol and the Creative Media Institute at NMSU in Las Cruces) to receive the challenge, build teams and create a functioning game in 48 hours. Want to know how it works?

Visit http://nmgamejam.wordpress.com/rules/ for frequently asked questions and other information – and sign up at: http://nmgamejam2012.eventbrite.com/ And check with your local site about stopping by!

WORDCAMP ALBUQUERQUE 2012 (8/24-26)
We’re proud to be a returning sponsor for this year’s WordCamp Albuquerque and one of the partners in their WordCamp Hackathon! But more about that below.

The Albuquerque WordPress Meetup Group is one of our favorite meetup groups, growing nicely and serving both those new to WordPress and experienced designers/developers alike. Last year’s WordCamp was a wild success and this year promises to be even better (check out their fantastic line-up here). WordPress has been the Content Management System (CMS) of choice for a wide variety of developers, businesses and organizations for its mix of great capabilities, plugins and community as well as its relatively gentle learning curve. If you or your organization is launching a new site or changing what you already use, WordCamp is an excellent opportunity to learn more about many aspects and meet some key professionals – at an extremely reasonable cost. Visit http://2012.albuquerque.wordcamp.org/tickets/ to register!

But that’s not all… We’ve been working with our friends at the Meetup Group and ABQ Sprout to include a WordCamp Hackathon focused on helping a few local organizations in the Albuquerque community – it’s part of our shared commitment to connecting people, organizations and acting as a catalyst to cultivate a thriving creative ecosystem. While some hackathons are fairly open-ended, this week’s is intended to focused on creating or taking a handful of sites to the next level with a Friday evening sprint, check-ins and tweaks, and a wrap-up on Sunday. While we’ve had great interest and numbers of people signing up, there’s a chance we could still use you – visit http://2012.albuquerque.wordcamp.org/schedule/wordcamp-hackathon/ for more information.

Mia Petersen2012-08-20T18:24:15+00:00August 20th, 2012|

Technology Ventures presents Deal Stream Summit in New Mexico

I have been talking about Technology Ventures Corporation’s CCET classes in past weeks and want to share with you another really cool service offered by TVC. Once a year, TVC holds its Deal Stream Summit (formerly known as the Equity Capital Symposium), an annual conference focused on starting, building and financing research-based technology, start-ups and innovators. By January of this year, start-ups and established companies were invited to submit business plans to TVC for selection to present at the Deal Stream Summit. My new company, Food Sentry, LLC, was one of nine companies selected to present and since mid-January, we’ve been meeting regularly with our project manager, George Friberg, and a team of advisors to polish our business plan and Summit presentation. Let me tell you, this is no easy task! Our adviors consist of business and IP attorneys, a retired banker, engineers, and even an Angel investor. They have helped us refine our business model and really take the business plan and presentation to the next level.

Last week we met at Tamaya with the other presenting companies for a dry-run of all of the presentations. The room was packed full of TVC advisors and the external advisors for all teams. Each company had 10 minutes on stage to practice their pitch in preparation for the April 3-5 event. Talk about a humbling experience! This is not a competition and each company has an opportunity to receive funding. Being able to share the room and stage in such a collaborative nature with so many incredible entreprenuers and their technologies was the experience of a lifetime. What start-up wouldn’t benefit from the advice and recommendations of so many experts and entreprenuers in the same room?

In case you’re interested, here are the nine companies selected to present at the Deal Stream Summit this year:

Asgard Enterprises LLC
Enerpulse Inc.
Food Sentry LLC
HT Microanalytical Inc.
IX Power LLC (“Nine Power”)
OBI Inc.
Rival Theory Inc.
RockinBoat LLC
TriLumina Inc.

Are you considering starting a business or have an idea that’s worthy of investment? I recommend you get involved with Technology Venture Corporation and let them help you strengthen your business case and prepare to raise funding from equity investors. The Deal Stream Summit is open to everyone – join us!

ljadkins2012-03-12T10:21:16+00:00March 12th, 2012|

Code for America Accepting Fellowship Applications

From their site:

“Code for America is now accepting applications for its 2013 fellowship. If you’re a developer, designer, researcher, or entrepreneur who wants to make a difference, this is your opportunity to build a new generation of Gov 2.0 apps to make city governments work better. CfA fellows get a crash course in how cities work, mentorship and networking with the top names in tech and government, and a platform to launch companies and careers that will bring long-term innovation to the public sector. They also get a living-wage stipend, travel expenses, and healthcare for the year. Most of all, they get the chance to be heroes.”

It’s a rare opportunity to learn, help and make incredible connections as well. Consider signing up at: http://codeforamerica.org/fellows/apply/#

Tech Leaders Ask You to Code for America

Mia Petersen2012-02-25T16:38:15+00:00February 25th, 2012|

Is it time to patent your idea or technology?

I told you last week about the Center for Commercialization & Entrepreneurial Training (CCET) at Technology Ventures Corporation. Well if you have an invention, idea or technology that is ready to patent, consider attending their session on “Writing Your Own Patent Application” on February 22, 2012 from 8:30-12:30 am.

My partner and I attended this same session last August and had our patent application written in less than two weeks. Bruce Winchell gave us all the information we needed to write a compelling patent application on our technology, and provided samples of correctly submitted applications. Mr. Winchell also met with us prior to filing to confirm our application was well written, correct and complete. And it was all free! It costs $625 to file a utility patent with the USPTO, and would probably cost thousands more if you out-source this to an IP attorney. I’m certainly not recommending you forego the legal help, but if you’re a start-up like ours bootstrapping your way to success, then attending this session is certainly to your benefit.

The seminar will include:

A review of the Patent Laws and most recent case law related to writing patent applications that will stand up in court.
A review of the latest Patent Office Rules and mechanics of actually writing the application to maximize the probability of being issued as patents.
Claim drafting to maximize the scope while providing best ability to survive legal tests in the courts.

With patent laws changing to “First to File,” you really don’t want to hesitate on getting your inventions patented.

Learn more and register online for CCET seminars at techventures.org.

ljadkins2012-02-15T11:04:12+00:00February 15th, 2012|