"Rockstar" might seem like a kind of elementary descriptor, but when it fits, it fits. This week's Three New Mexicans to Know are certainly rockstars, superstars — all the star words you can think of — in their respective fields.
And because they are such stars, they aren't just shining a light on themselves; that star power (I can't stop, and I refuse to apologize), shines on all of New Mexico.
So to all you natural luminous bodies visible in the sky, especially at night, — that's the actual definition of a star — thanks for shining your light so bright.
Miles Beaux
Matt Durham
Scientists, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Miles Beaux and Matt Durham just joined a pretty elite group.
Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the pair was part of a group of 83 scientists who — in total — are set to receive $100 million through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Early Career Research Program.
Beaux’s work has helped to establish plutonium capabilities for scanning probe microscopy. And Durham has been actively involved in the DOE’s Office of Science’s Nuclear Physics Heavy Ion program. As a result, Durham is currently leading a study of exotic tetra-quark particles in heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.
Need a translator? Us too. But what we do know is — that is a pretty impressive.
Of the 83 scientists, 32 are from DOE national laboratories and 51 are from U.S. universities. The university-based researchers receive $150,000 per year while the laboratory-based scientists’ grants will be about $500,000. The grants are planned for five years.
Marisa Saavedra-Gutierrez
Founder, Spatial Harmony Color Consulting + Design LLC
Some people have an eye for detail. Some people don’t.
Marisa Saavedra-Gutierrez definitely falls into the first category.
She is the founder of the New Mexico-based design firm Spatial Harmony Color Consulting + Design; a firm she founded in 2014. Prior to that she worked at American Home and New Haven Homes Inc.
You might have seen her name recently appear in our publication as her work is not just known in New Mexico, but across the pond.
Spatial Harmony recently received accolades from BUILD magazine, a U.K.-based international architecture design magazine, for “Most Client-focused Interior Design Firm: Southwest USA” and “Best Rustic Home Interior, New Mexico.”