Rebecca Martinez’ grandfather, Gregorio Garcia, who was a sheepherder, built his house piece by piece of rock and mortar. It still stands today in Chili. She still lives on family land in Chili, now with her husband, Adam Martinez, and infant son Adan.
She has never seen a need to stray far from home in Rio Arriba, though her intellectual curiosity has taken her to the position of technical project manager in nuclear process infrastructure at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She is now manager on a multi-million dollar construction project in the Lab’s plutonium facility. She points out that her responsibility is coming in under budget. The scope of her project is to install two glove boxes, safety tools used when scientists are handling possibly contaminated materials.
“Engineering is exciting,” she said. “Aren’t I lucky?”
She also thinks she is lucky because she was able to return to work part time after the birth of her son and still manage the project. And she is scarcely afraid of anything, recalling her grandfather’s dicho that thunder was only God (making a noise.)
Though she never doubted she would go to college, she credits the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund with helping her to earn a bachelor’s and master’s of science degree in civil engineering from the University of New Mexico with highest honors. The fund is administered by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, with funding from donations by Lab employees and a matching amount from Los Alamos National Security, LLC.
Martinez was a silver winner of $2,000 in 2004 and turquoise winner of $1,000 for the next three years. She started out pursuing a degree in architecture and journalism, but found she wasn’t challenged. The minor she earned in journalism has been useful.
“People say engineers don’t need to know how to write,” she said. “That’s a misconception. Communication in any field is critical, especially when conveying technical information.”
Martinez excelled at Española Valley High School, where she was one of three valedictorians, and adamantly points out that the Valley produces some of the best graduates in Northern New Mexico. She had already taken advanced placement calculus 1 and 2 in high school so she could start at a higher level in college.
At University of New Mexico, she had a grade point average of 4.0 in graduate school and defended her master’s thesis with distinction. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with her undergraduate degree and was honored as the engineering student of the year for 2007-08 by the New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers. She recalls a professor saying he was surprised that someone from the Española area had been named.
“People need to understand the potential of our young people from the Valley,” Martinez said.
She was the student representative on the UNM School of Engineering Dean Search Committee and a Transportation Research Board Minority Fellow.
Her thesis drew on her roots. It was called “Establishing a Collaborative Environment between Transportation Agencies and Tribal Communities,” recommending intergovernmental agencies negotiate agreements. It laid the groundwork for helping tribal businesses have a say at the table in highway construction.
Adam, her husband, also works at the Lab, as a health fitness specialist at the Lab’s Wellness Center. He is also a triathlete who is training for a half-Ironman competition. Her father, Gerald Martinez, is an electrical engineer who works for Los Alamos County, and her mother, Rosina Martinez, babysits Adan and her two oldest grandchildren.
“My mom gave up a career for her family,” Martinez said. “I want people to understand that we worked hard for what we have in our family – and my parents gave their love and lives to us.
“The LANL scholarships help students do their best, go to school and come back. They are invaluable to students in the Valley,” she said. “Now I don’t see myself going anywhere else.”
Because Martinez has stayed so close to home, she is one of those who answered Lab Foundation President Liddie Martinez’ call to each year’s scholarship class.
“We are your family,” Liddie Martinez said. “Bring jobs back to Northern New Mexico. Remember where you are from. Remember to come home.”
For more information on the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund, contact Tony Fox, Scholarship Program Officer, LANL Foundation, 505-753-8890, ext. 16, or tony@lanlfoundation.org . See www.lanlfoundation.org for application guidelines.
(Billie Blair works as a public relations consultant for the Foundation.)