NM Tech Talks

NM Tech Talks co-founder Vicki Apodaca and board member Rudy Parra stopped by to meet the students, hear about the projects they’re building, and share what’s coming up with New Mexico Tech Week. The energy in that room was 🔥 and it’s clear the future of AI in New Mexico is in good hands.

📅 New Mexico Tech Week runs October 26–31, with TechFest happening October 29–30 at the Innovation District in Downtown Albuquerque. Students, this one’s for you: talks, workshops, networking, and a chance to connect with the people building tech right here at home.

Link in bio to check out the full lineup 👆

⚡ NMTT was out in Hobbs last week!

We drove down to Lea County for the Q Station Energy Challenge showcase, put on by Q-STEM New Mexico and the New Horizons Foundation, where startups from across the country pitched what’s next in energy tech for the Permian Basin.

Nine of the twenty companies in this challenge are homegrown New Mexico teams. Seeing them hold their own against out of state founders, in the middle of oil country, is exactly the kind of thing we love showing up for. Energy innovation in this state is not just an ABQ story.

Big respect to everyone who pitched. 👏

More NM tech events: https://www.nmtechtalks.com/events

Link in Bio 🔗

we showed up for New Mexico and we came with a mission 🌵⚡

NM Tech Talks was at the NM Women Lead Advanced Energy Ecosystem Conference this week repping and spreading the word about TechFest 2026 and New Mexico Tech Week.

if you are in the energy space in NM you need to be at TechFest this October 👀

link in bio for more 🔗

WomenInEnergy CleanEnergy AdvancedEnergy NMWomenLead EnergyTransition ABQTech NewMexicoTech

Thank you Mayor Tim Keller for taking the time out of your day and reaching out to the tech community by attending NMTT Desert Dev Lab Hackathon! We are very honored to have your support!

One person. 30 hours. A production ready app. Third place at Desert Dev Lab 2026. 🌵🔥

Cyrille Gindreau built Sowit solo and it was one of the most impressive things we saw all weekend. Sowit is a home farming and community food sharing platform that lets you monitor your garden with live sensor data and AI powered care recommendations then trade or sell your surplus produce with neighbors on a map based community marketplace.

55% of US households grew food at home in 2024. Most first time growers struggle to keep their plants alive. And surplus food goes to waste. Cyrille saw all three of those problems and built a solution in about 30 hours.
He is now seeking a $1M seed round. If you are an investor paying attention to food tech and local food systems sowit.org is worth your time.

Congratulations Cyrille. What you built this weekend speaks for itself. 👏🌵

When I say BEEP! 🌵
You say BOOP!

That was the rally call of Team Beep Boop and they backed it up with second place at Desert Dev Lab 2026. 👏

Hailey Hudson, Allison Barricklow, and Shokhina Jalilova are young women from Young Women in Computing and they came to DDL 2026 and built WaterOptix — a tool that helps New Mexican farmers make smarter decisions about water use when shortages hit.

Snowpack expected to decline 25% by 2050. Rainfall unreliable. Water rights on a use it or lose it system. These three looked at one of the most urgent challenges facing our state and built a real software solution in 48 hours.

This is what women in STEM looks like. This is what the next generation of New Mexico builders looks like. We are so proud of you. 🙏🌵

First place at Desert Dev Lab 2026 goes to CrimsonDev and what they built is something every household in America needs. 🏆🌵

Antonio Luna, Rupak Dey, and Christopher Meraz are NMSU students from Las Cruces and they spent 48 hours building pantry.ai — an AI meal planner that works from what you already have in your fridge and pantry before telling you what to buy.

The problem is real. The average family of 4 wastes $1,500 a year in food. 43% of all US food waste comes from households. Produce wilts. Pantry items get forgotten. Expiration dates get misread.

pantry.ai fixes all of it. Expiry aware pantry tracking. AI generated weekly meal plans built around what you own. A smart shopping list that only buys what is actually missing. And a local first feature that surfaces New Mexico farmers markets, CSAs, and food hubs within 30 miles of you before sending you to a national grocer.

Built in a weekend. First place. These three are just getting started. 👏🌵

Crunch time at Desert Dev Lab 2026. 🔥
Headphones on. Heads down. No talking. Just building. Demo Day is almost here and these hackers mean business. 🌵