Technology News, Emerging Technology

CNM & Sandia Labs’ Albuquerque Campus Explores Quantum Manufacturing

Avatar of Ivy Delaney
September 15, 2026 by Ivy Delaney

Central New Mexico Community College will build a facility on 37 acres near Sandia National Laboratories, joining the CAMINO Collaborative to bolster New Mexico’s advanced manufacturing workforce. The college is acquiring the land along Route 66 and Eubank Boulevard from Albuquerque Public Schools, creating a campus where education and industry converge.

“The CAMINO Collaborative represents a bold vision for New Mexico’s future,” says CNM President Tracy Hartzler, “and CNM is proud to help make it a reality.” The initiative aims to connect learners with high-paying technician roles in fields like quantum technologies and aerospace. In November 2025, the DOE renewed the Quantum Systems Accelerator, in which Sandia is a key partner, with $125M over five years, and Sandia launched a quantum technician training program with Central New Mexico Community College.

CAMINO Collaborative Launches to Strengthen New Mexico Manufacturing

The strategic partnership between Sandia’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation (CAMINO) and Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) exemplifies a shared commitment to cultivating a skilled and diverse workforce, according to the collaborative’s announcement. CNM will construct a new facility on the 37-acre CAMINO campus adjacent to Sandia National Laboratories, directly addressing a need for specialized training in rapidly evolving fields. This location is not merely coincidental; it’s designed to foster close collaboration between educators, researchers, and industry professionals, accelerating the translation of innovations into practical applications.

Sandia National Laboratories’ ongoing research in quantum technologies directly informs the curriculum CNM will develop, with a focus on preparing technicians for roles in advanced manufacturing and emerging industries. The laboratory currently investigates both trapped-ion and photonic qubits, and on 2026-07-19 integrated superconducting circuits with aluminum scandium nitride phonons, a development that demands a workforce capable of fabricating and maintaining these complex systems.

This isn’t simply theoretical exploration; the Department of Energy renewed the Quantum Systems Accelerator, a program in which Sandia participates, with $125 million over five years in November 2025, demonstrating a sustained commitment to quantum advancement and the need for a trained technician base. Sandia’s participation in the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub led by Arizona State University underscores the broader goal of strengthening American competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing.

Learners participating in CNM’s programs will gain skills aligned with specific employment opportunities, and the college intends to provide a clear pathway from training to careers. “By combining Sandia’s cutting-edge research and innovation with CNM’s educational expertise, this collaboration empowers the next generation of talent to meet the evolving challenges of national security and advanced technology sectors,” said CNM President Tracy Hartzler.

The CAMINO Collaborative will also connect New Mexicans directly to industries shaping the future economy, and CNM will work with the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership to use existing manufacturing expertise, ensuring the training programs remain relevant and responsive to industry needs. The initiative aims to provide a system where individuals can enter training understanding the skills they will gain, the jobs available, and opportunities for continued education.

The strategic partnership between Sandia’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation (CAMINO) and CNM exemplifies a shared commitment to cultivating a skilled and diverse workforce.

Dr. Lonnie Love, a Sandia National Laboratories Fellow assigned to CAMINO

Quantum Technician Bootcamp Model Drives Workforce Development

The success of Central New Mexico College’s Quantum Technician Bootcamp is already translating into tangible economic outcomes for the region, with graduates securing positions earning around $80,000 annually. These early hires, placed with companies like Qunnect, Quantinuum, and Sandia National Laboratories, demonstrate the program’s direct impact on filling critical skill gaps in the burgeoning quantum industry and attracting further investment to Albuquerque. The bootcamp’s accessibility, requiring no prior experience and offering financial assistance through the New Mexico Legislature, expands the talent pool beyond traditional pathways into quantum technology.

This model of rapid, targeted training is now being scaled through the CAMINO Collaborative, where CNM will relocate its Quantum Technician Bootcamp and Quantum Learning Lab. Working alongside Sandia researchers and industry partners, the college intends to adapt and expand programs to address workforce needs in areas beyond quantum, including advanced energy, aerospace, and national security.

Higher Education Bond Proposal Funds CAMINO Campus Construction

The proposed $15 million allocation from Higher Education Bond 3 will directly fund construction of Central New Mexico Community College’s facility at the CAMINO Collaborative campus, a development slated to begin in the summer of 2027. This funding is contingent on voter approval this November and will not increase tax rates for New Mexico residents. The 37-acre site, acquired from Albuquerque Public Schools, positions the new campus adjacent to Sandia National Laboratories’ Science & Technology Park, facilitating close collaboration between educators and researchers.

This strategic location is intended to accelerate workforce development in key sectors, including quantum technologies and advanced energy. CNM plans to adapt existing programs and create new curricula in direct response to industry needs identified through partnerships with Sandia and other employers.

This collaborative approach extends beyond simply aligning training with job requirements; the college intends to integrate career exploration and entrepreneurial support into the educational experience. The facility’s design emphasizes a shared environment where students, researchers, and industry leaders can interact, fostering innovation and accelerating the transition from education to employment. Sandia National Laboratories’ involvement extends to curriculum development and ongoing research, directly informing the training programs offered at the new campus.

The laboratory’s technology transfer efforts, recognized with Federal Laboratory Consortium awards in June, will be instrumental in translating research breakthroughs into practical skills for the workforce. This close proximity and collaborative spirit are expected to create a dynamic ecosystem for advanced manufacturing in New Mexico.

The CAMINO Collaborative represents a bold vision for New Mexico’s future, and CNM is proud to help make it a reality through our highly regarded workforce training and entrepreneurial support programs.

Tracy Hartzler, CNM President

The CAMINO Collaborative will connect New Mexicans directly to the industries and employers shaping the future of our economy.

Tracy Hartzler, CNM President
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Ivy Delaney

Ivy Delaney has been working with neural networks and machine learning since the mid-nineties, back when a couple of hidden layers and a long afternoon of training counted as ambitious. She has watched the field go from academic curiosity to the thing quietly running underneath everything, and she brings that long view to quantum computing. For Quantum Zeitgeist she covers the ground where the two fields meet. That means quantum machine learning and the variational algorithms it leans on, and it also means the less glamorous but more interesting story of classical machine learning already doing real work inside quantum machines, decoding error-correcting codes, calibrating noisy hardware and learning the error models that simulators depend on. She writes about the hardware those algorithms have to run on too, and about the post-quantum cryptography scramble that the same hardware has set off. Her stories typically start with the paper, whether that is peer-reviewed work, conference proceedings or an arXiv preprint, with the source linked so you can hold a claim up against the research it came from. She is unimpressed by benchmarks that will not say what they beat, and by demonstrations that only work in the press release.

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