There's an old proverb here that states "If you don't like the weather in New Mexico, just wait fifteen minutes." That's very typical as we approach spring, and the first two days in March already proved the adage to be true. March 1 gave us a taste of temperatures in the seventies, and March 2 took us straight back to winter snow and icy road conditions.

In any event, spring's on the way, and we're all looking forward to change and renewal. This includes programmatic change and renewal at the Laboratory as we study new roles and responsibilities to support the National Nuclear Security Administration's proposed nuclear weapons complex transformation.

See the story below about this transformation, and don't hesitate to call us for additional information.

The keynote speaker was Joe Martz of LANL's weapons program directorate (PADWP). He spoke about what he called the "sea change in our philosophy" that the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) proposed transformation of the complex presents for LANL.

Michael Anastasio, LANL Director, told attendees he was optimistic about the Lab's future and talked about our planned signature science facility called "MaRIE" (an acronym for "Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes") and other LANL initiatives.

NNSA Los Alamos Site Office Manager Don Winchell also took the opportunity to talk about complex transformation and public meetings about the proposal, which will be held in Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, and Espanola.

The cook-off will be held at the Big Rock Casino Event Center in Espanola beginning at 11 a.m. Entrance fee is $10 for the chili tasting and includes a buffet meal. You are welcome to put your chili to the test or just go and see what the cooks have to offer. Entertainment by local artists will also be provided.

The session is part of the full 2008 Quality New Mexico Conference and New Mexico Quality Awards (NMQA) Ceremony at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

During the conference, participants can spend two days networking with national and state award recipients to learn about their best practices, gather valuable tips to improve performance, and even receive recognition at New Mexico's highest levels.

Mr. Collins' presentation is underwritten by Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of New Mexico, and Comcast-Community Partnerships.

To highlight this small measurement, LANL's Bradbury Science Museum will kick-off NanoDays on March 26. There will be a week of displays and activities about science at the cutting edge of "tiny." Visitors can explore the magic of liquid crystals, the behavior of nano-scale reactions, how measurements are made at a scale where light doesn't work, and a magnetic material that acts like a liquid.

Visitors can find out how atoms are imaged and manipulated, as well as how changes in scale can affect the way things work. They can also challenge their imaginations about how very small the nano world is and reflect on how this may impact our lives in the future.

This event is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m.

The site has a customizable search engine that can be filtered by characteristics and locations. A subscription service is available that will automatically notify subscribers of upcoming events in their fields of interest or specified locations. This site is populated by institutions, associations, and economic and community development organizations.

The Ed Calendar accepts any business, educational, or training activities and job postings related to economic and community development in New Mexico, with the exception of fundraisers. New Mexico's rapidly expanding economic development clusters in aviation, film, agriculture, technology, renewable energy, artisan crafts, biotechnology, and tourism have begun to draw significant interest from businesses inside the state and elsewhere.

For more information, visit the New Mexico Community Capital website or contact Leslie Elgood at (505) 366- 3008 or leslie@nmccap.org.

At the end of the day-long workshop held in Albuquerque, teachers were able to take home a fuel cell car in order to teach their students how to build their own for the Fuel Cell Car Challenge on April 5. The competition is part of the Department of Energy's annual Science Bowl.

The fuel cell car challenge is aimed at students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades and is sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, Public Service Company of New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories, and Albuquerque Public Schools.

For additional information, contact the Community Programs Office at (505) 665-4400.

Volunteers need to be available from approximately 9 to 11:30 a.m. and be able to volunteer for two performances a month. Preferably, volunteers should have some performance or public speaking experience and enjoy working with children. Those interested will receive training and must complete a background check. For more information on this opportunity and many others, go to the VolunteerMatch website.