Two New Mexico-led initiatives are competing for up to $160 million in federal funding that could create thousands of high-paying jobs and position the state as a national leader in quantum technology and water innovation.
The Quantum Moonshot and Energized Watershed projects were named among just 29 semifinalists nationwide in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s $160 million Regional Innovation Engines competition, according to a press release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Selected from nearly 300 proposals, each project could receive up to $15 million over two years and potentially $160 million over a decade.
For New Mexico residents, the advancement means potential access to thousands of jobs that don’t require advanced degrees but offer median salaries of $125,000 annually, building on the state’s existing strengths in national laboratory research and addressing critical regional challenges like water scarcity.
The Quantum Moonshot, led by Elevate Quantum alongside the New Mexico Economic Development Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico, aims to establish the state as a national leader in quantum research, commercialization and workforce development.
“This effort and our advancement to the semifinals drives home that New Mexico, Colorado, and the Mountain West is a global destination for research, commercialization, and impact for quantum,” said Zachary Yerushalmi, co-founder and CEO of Elevate Quantum, in the press release.
Yerushalmi, previously a founding senior investor and entrepreneur in residence at Oxford Sciences Innovation, leads a nonprofit organization that unites around 120 member organizations across Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming in quantum technology development.
The project builds on New Mexico’s existing quantum infrastructure. The state has what experts call a “unique competitive advantage in quantum technology” with world-class research facilities at Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs.
The Energized Watershed project, led by the University of New Mexico, brings together more than 50 organizations across New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and Far-West Texas to tackle critical water shortage challenges.
“Reliable water resources underpin our region’s ability to attract and grow manufacturing and AI-based industries while improving community health,” said Ellen Fisher, UNM’s vice president for research, in the press release.
The project focuses on innovating new technologies to efficiently capture, recycle, treat and reuse water; produce and distribute energy security; and generate predictive hydrological process models across the San Juan and Rio Grande watersheds.
These watersheds are critical to New Mexico’s future. The Rio Grande and its tributaries provide water to about half of New Mexico’s population, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe, according to UNM’s Sustainability Studies Program. However, average temperatures in the Rio Grande Basin are increasing at 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit per decade — twice the global average, creating urgent challenges for water security.
Central New Mexico Community College will serve as Chief Workforce Development Officer for the Energized Watershed proposal, developing workforce training programs to support water and energy security technologies and create pathways to high-paying jobs across the Southwest.
“We’re building a future where New Mexico families benefit from cutting-edge science and sustainable innovation,” said Rob Black, Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, in the press release. “Our state’s strength lies in advancing diverse technologies that will fuel economic growth and long-term prosperity.”
The NSF Regional Innovation Engines program, launched in 2023 as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, seeks to establish regional innovation ecosystems nationwide by uniting public and private scientific leaders to drive economic growth in communities.
NSF semifinalists will now advance to a live virtual review, with final selections expected in early 2026. The program represents one of the largest place-based investments in science and technology research and development in U.S. history, according to the National Science Foundation.
