News and Reports

Navy commander to speak with students

Commander Robert “Rob” L. Dain will address students about U.S. Navy Nuclear Propulsion Officer program (NUPOC).  Students are invited to hear Dain speak on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in Thomas and Brown Hall Room 104.

Dain will be joined by Lt. Steven Romero, who graduated from New Mexico State University in 2001 with a degree in chemical engineering.

Dain was raised in Tijeras, NM and graduated from Colorado State University in 1986 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering.  He later earned he earned a master of business administration degree from Florida Institute of Technology.

Dain assumed command of the pre-commissioning unit of the USS New Mexico in August 2006. The New Mexico is the Navy's newest class of submarine. Virginia-class submarines are designed for a broad spectrum of open-ocean, littoral missions and for multi-mission operations. Its capabilities include strike, battle group support, and special operations.

Dain’s personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (with two gold stars), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with three gold stars) and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Students may sign up for the NUPOC program up to 30 months before their graduation in preparation to enter the program to become a nuclear propulsion officer on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers or submarines. Students must be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and physically qualified according to Navy standards. All majors are eligible with one year of calculus and on year of calculus-based physics.