NMSU's Arrowhead Center honors innovators at 2026 Intellectual Property Awards

WRITER: Ana Cristina Vargas, acvargas@nmsu.edu 
SOURCE: Patricia Marquez Knighten, pmk@nmsu.edu 

New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center, in partnership with the Office of Research, Creativity and Strategic Initiatives, recognized faculty innovators, research teams and inventors advancing intellectual property and commercialization efforts during the 2026 Intellectual Property Awards.

The event highlights the impact of NMSU research through intellectual property development, patent activity and commercialization efforts that benefit industry and society. 

The 2026 NMSU Intellectual Property Award was presented to the Advanced Cyber Security Resilience Lab (ACuReL) team, which includes Gaurav Panwar, Roopa Vishwanathan and Satyajayant Misra with the College of Engineering. The award recognizes faculty and staff who have developed intellectual property and demonstrated meaningful progress toward real-world application. The ACuReL team's work advances cybersecurity, privacy and resilient systems. 

As part of the event, Arrowhead Center named Misra as the first NMSU Innovation Fellow, recognizing his leadership in research, mentorship and commercialization. Misra is a professor in computer science and electrical and computer engineering and serves as associate dean of research in the College of Engineering. His work spans cybersecurity, blockchain, edge computing and resilient systems, and he has led major research initiatives, including the NSF-funded DREAM Center. 

The program also included recognition of 2025 patent awardees, honoring NMSU inventors whose patented technologies contribute to ongoing research and innovation efforts. These innovations reflect NMSU's growing role in developing technologies with real-world applications across multiple industries. 

Among the patents recognized was "Scalable auditability of monitoring" (U.S. Patent No. 12,284,227 B1), awarded April 22, 2025, to Gaurav Panwar, Roopa Vishwanathan and Satyajayant Misra. Additional patents presented covered innovations in blockchain systems, robotic sensing, predictive data processing, user interface automation, infrastructure engineering and biomedical compounds.

NMSU and Arrowhead Center leadership, including Yu-Feng (Winnie) Lee, interim director of Arrowhead Center, and Patricia Sullivan, interim vice president for Research, Creativity and Strategic Initiatives at NMSU, participated in the recognition of awardees and innovators. 

"The Intellectual Property Awards recognize the work of faculty and researchers who are moving ideas beyond the lab and into real-world impact," said Patricia Marquez Knighten, director of Arrowhead Center's Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer. "We are proud to support their efforts to protect, develop and translate innovations that benefit communities and industry." 

The Intellectual Property Awards reflect NMSU's ongoing commitment to fostering innovation, supporting researchers and strengthening pathways from discovery to commercialization through Arrowhead Center's Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer, which works with faculty, staff and researchers to protect and advance their innovations. 

Arrowhead Center's Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer works with NMSU faculty, staff and researchers to protect, manage and commercialize innovations across disciplines. The program supports the full lifecycle of intellectual property – from invention disclosure and patent protection to licensing and commercialization – helping translate research into real-world impact.

Faculty, staff and researchers interested in protecting or commercializing their work can learn more at: https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/intellectual-property/index.html.