Facilities in Graduate Environmental Engineering
New Mexico State University's department of Civil Engineering occupies Hernandez Hall (formerly ECII), built in 1989. This facility includes five laboratories designed for undergraduate teaching and graduate research in environmental engineering having a combined area of 10,000 square feet and equipment appropriate for trace environmental analysis, and laboratory or pilot-scale investigations. The laboratories are equipped with three fume hoods, a walk-in environmental chamber, laboratory benches, portable benches or tables for equipment, and desks for students. In addition to the two laboratories, the department has a satellite graduate student building at Wells Hall. Soil mechanics, soil physics and soil microbiology laboratories are also available.
Major analytical equipment includes: a Beckman Total Organic Carbon Analyzer, an N-CON Comput-Ox Respirometer, a Mitsubishi Organic Halogen Analyzer and an OI Corporation Total Organic Carbon Analyzer, for biological treatability studies and organic carbon studies; a Hewlett-Packard (HP) Gas Chromatograph, for the measurement of specific organics in the environment; a Perkin Elmer Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer equipped with graphite furnace, mercury analyzer system and additional equipment, for metal studies; and Buchii Total Nitrogen Analyzer, for nutrient analysis. Other miscellaneous equipment includes: Bausch and Lomb 21 UVVIS Spectrophotometers, an Orion Ion Analyzer, a Parr Adiabatic Calorimeter, a Dionex Advanced Chromatography Module, a Brinkmann Titroprocessor and a Dionex Ion Chromatograph.
Computing capabilities include two main computer labs (Rooms 125 & 125, and 236) with ArcGIS and AutoCad 2006, as well as an HP 488 CA plotter.
Soil-Air-Water Test Laboratory
The SWAT Laboratory provides analytical services in the areas of toxic and hazardous waste management to researchers from the University and other organizations. The Laboratory cooperates with different researchers in the acquisition and operation of specialized testing equipment related to toxic and hazardous waste management and environmental restoration projects. It is equipped for physical, inorganic, organic and bacterial analysis of soil, water, air and plants.
