Dr. Bañuelos leads the NICE2 Lab (Nanomaterials, Interfaces, and Confinement for Energy & the Environment Laboratory) in the Department of Physics at UTEP. He enjoys mentoring students and is committed to training competent scientists to take on today's grand challenges in science.

• Outstanding Academic and Research Excellence Graduating Senior, Linh Pham, Department of Physics Student - Department of Physics (05/08/2021)
• ADP Math and Science Teachers (MaST) Academy Scholar, Melissa Cano - ADP Math and Science Teachers (MaST) Academy (05/01/2021)
• Best Presentation: Physical Sciences, Kyle Williams, 2021 COURI Spring Symposium - COURI (04/15/2021)
• NSF Aspire Alliance for Inclusive and Diverse Faculty Fellowship ASPIRE Graduate Fellowship, Omar Avina - NSF Aspire Alliance (03/15/2021)
• 2020 U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) Winter School, Ramon Ogaz - Texas A&M University (12/15/2020)
• Research Team’s efforts highlighted on the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ISIS Neutron Facility Website - STFC RAL ISIS (UK) webpage (11/05/2020)
• First prize/ Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research symposium, Linh Pham - Rice University (10/31/2020)
• Mayo Clinic 2020 Summer Foundations in Research Internship, Kyle Williams - Mayo Clinic (07/20/2020)
• 2020 PCCP Hot Articles Themed Collection - Journal: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) (06/30/2020)
• BUILDing Scholars Program, Kyle Williams - BUILDing Scholars Program (06/01/2020)
• EERE Graduate Summer Fellowship, Jose Ali Espitia - EERE Graduate Fellowship Program and LLNL (06/01/2020)
• FermiLab Summer Internships in Science and Technology (SIST) program, Linh Pham - Fermi Natnl. Accelerator Lab. (FermiLab) (06/01/2020)
• Summer Undergraduate Research Program Assistantship (SURPASS) at UTEP, Ramon Ogaz - UTEP COURI (06/01/2020)
• Tuition Award for summer 2020, Tahmida Raheen Iqbal - UTEP (06/01/2020)
• Yale Developmental Science Summer Program, Ian Reyes - Yale University (06/01/2020)
• C. Sharp Cook Graduate Scholarship Fund, Tahmida Raheen Iqbal - UTEP (10/09/2019)
• Mentored Experiences in Research, Inquiry, and Creativity for Undergraduate Scholars (MERITUS) scholar , Francisco Ayala - UTEP COURI (09/01/2019)
• Ohio State Universty Graduate Fellowship, Francisco Ayala - Ohio State University (08/01/2019)
• National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Research Fellowship, Jose Ali Espitia - NNSA and Lawrence Livermore Natnl. Lab (LLNL) (06/01/2019)
• NSF-HBCU Summer school on Computational Modelling on Disorder Materials Location, Linh Pham - U. of Southern Mississippi (06/01/2019)
• Undergraduate Academic and Research Excellence Award UTEP College of Science, Francisco Ayala - UTEP College of Science (05/05/2019)
• Chapin High School Science Fair Sweepstakes, Advance to District Competition, student: Cesar Meza - Chapin High School (01/11/2019)
• 2019 National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Fellowship, student: Jose Espitia - Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (12/23/2018)
• Travel Scholarship to attend 2018 SACNAS Conference, student: Carlos Cuellar - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (10/01/2018)
• Travel Scholarship to attend 2018 SACNAS Conference, student: Hasan Rahman - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (10/01/2018)
• First Place presentation in Translational Biomedicine, BUILDing Scholar Symposium, student: Victor Madrid - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (09/29/2018)
• Best Presentation – 2018 COURI Summer Symposium, student: Sebastian Torres - UTEP Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (08/04/2018)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Kyle Williams - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (07/15/2018)
• Invited Speaker: Gordon Research Conference on Physics Research and Education - Gordon Research Conference on Physics Research and Education (06/10/2018)
• Geological Society of America (GSA) Student Research Grant, student: Ezequiel Moreno - Geological Society of America (06/01/2018)
• SURPASS Scholar, student: Francisco Ayala - UTEP COURI SURPASS Program (06/01/2018)
• UTEP Student Government Association Travel Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - UTEP Student Government Association (06/01/2018)
• BUILD Program Internship, UT Austin, student: Victor Madrid - UT Austin, via BUILD program (05/31/2018)
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Dept. of Physics, University of New Mexico, student: Crystal Rodriguez - Dept of Physics, University of New Mexico (05/31/2018)
• Internship at Sandia National Laboratories, student: Jose Espitia - Sandia National Laboratories & Consortium for Integrating Energy Systems in Engineering and Science Education (CIESESE) Program (05/15/2018)
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory Higher Educations Research Experiences Program, student: Bruce Lomeli - Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Geochemistry and Interfacial Sciences Group (05/15/2018)
• Physics Award for Academic and Research Excellence, student: Pawan Koirala - UTEP College of Science (05/01/2018)
• APS Braslau Student Travel Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - American Physical Society (04/01/2018)
• Society of Physics Student (SPS) Travel Grant Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - Society of Physics Students (04/01/2018)
• UTEP Graduate School Travel Grant, student: Pawan Koirala - UTEP Graduate School (02/15/2018)
• RISE Bridge Program, student: Omar Avina - El Paso Community College RISE Bridge Program (01/01/2018)
• RISE Bridge Program, student: Sitri Puentes - El Paso Community College RISE Bridge Program (01/01/2018)
• Research Group featured in College of Science Fall 2017 Newsletter - UTEP College of Science (12/15/2017)
• Outstanding Presentation Award 2017 Texas Section of the APS. student: Carlos Cuellar - Texas Section of the American Physical Society (10/21/2017)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Victor Madrid - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (08/15/2017)
• MARC Research Program, student: Bruce Lomeli - UTEP MARC Program (08/15/2017)
• Petnica Summer Institute (PSI) in Cosmology in Petnica, Serbia, student: Carlos Cuellar - Petnica Summer Institute (PSI) in Cosmology (08/01/2017)
• Utrecht University Summer School in Theoretical Physics in Utrecht, The Netherlands, student: Carlos Cuellar - Utrecht University Summer School in Theoretical Physics (08/01/2017)
• Public Outreach Internship, American Physical Society, student: Francisco Ayala - American Physical Society (06/01/2017)
• SURPASS Program, student Crystal Rodriguez - COURI - Campus Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives (06/01/2017)
• Robert C. Cook Scholarship For physics graduate students, student: Kevin Vallejo - UTEP Robert C. Cook Fund (05/01/2017)
• GEM Scholarship, student Kevin Vallejo - Boise State University (04/01/2017)
• Travel Award to attend Joint APS / Soceity of Physics Students meeting in San Antonio, TX, student: Melissa Cano - Texas section of the Society of Physics Students (03/15/2017)
• Travel Award to attend Joint APS / Society of Physics Students Meeting in San Antonio, student: Francisco Ayala - Texas Section of the Society of Physics Students (03/15/2017)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Raul Higuera - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (12/15/2016)
• Physcon 2016 ,Optical Society of America (OSA) Poster Award: Applied Physics, student: Francisco Ayala - Physcon 2016 ,Optical Society of America (OSA) (11/05/2016)
• American Physical Society Travel Award to attend the Texas-Four Corners Joint Meeting of the APS, student: Kevin Vallejo - Texas and Four Corners Secitions of the APS (10/21/2016)
• MERITUS Program, student: Francisco Ayala - COURI - Campus Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives (09/01/2016)
• 2016 Linton-Poodry Summer Leadership Institute - SACNAS - Society for Advancement of  Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (07/22/2016)

• Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2014)
• Ph D in Physics, New Mexico State University (2010)
• BS in Physics, New Mexico State University (2004)

• On precipitation hardening behaviour in a triaxial forged Mg-2Zn-2Gd alloy and relationship to mechanical properties Materials Technology (2023), Matthew Weaver, A J. Maldonado, Jose L. Banuelos, RDK Misra.
• Journal cover: Oxide- and Silicate-Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment Chemical Reviews (2023), Jose L. Banuelos.
• Oxide–and Silicate–Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment Chemical Reviews (2023), Jose L. Banuelos, James Kubicki, et al..
• In-Situ Observations of Barium Sulfate Nucleation in Nanopores ACS Crystal Growth & Design (2022), Alexander B. Brady, Juliane Weber, Ke Yuan, Lawrence F. Allard, Omar Avina, Ramon Ogaz, Yao-Jen Chang, Nikhil Rampal, Vitalii Starchenko, Gernot Rother, Lawrence M. Anovitz, Jose L. Banuelos, Hsiu-Wen Wang, Andrew G. Stack.
• Rapid Adsorption Mechanism of Methylene Blue onto a Porous Mixed Ti-Nb Oxide Materials Chemistry Horizons 1 1 (2022), Tahmina Akter, Jose L. Banuelos, Daniel Andrade, Dante Bañuelos, Geoffrey B. Saupe.

• Determining Heterogeneous Nucleation Rates of Mg(OH)2 on MgO Using Multiharmonic QCM-D and X-ray Scattering methods (2024), Volume Washington, DC, Pedro J. Hernandez Penagos, Jose L. Banuelos.
• X-ray Scattering Investigations Reveal CO2-Dependent Nanoscale Organization of Bulk and Interfacial Carbon Dioxide Capture Liquids (2024), Volume Denver, CO, Daniel Moran, Jose L. Banuelos.
• The kinetics of hydroxylation of magnesium oxide materials for direct air capture of CO2 investigated using x-ray scattering techniques (2024), Volume UTEP, Masiel Velarde, Emiliano Frayre, Alan Delgado Romo, Pedro Hernandez Penagos, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Invited Talk: Science, Curiosity, Mr. Potato Head, and Our Changing World (2024), Volume El Paso Convention Center, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Geothermal Power & Direct Lithium Extraction (2024), Volume The University of Texas at El Paso, Benjamin Brunner, Hermann Lebit, Jose L. Banuelos, Eva M. Deemer, Mark Engle, Judith Hoyt, Natalya Kharitonova, Mya Valenzuela.

• 2024 Hill Prize: For developing clean, emission-free direct lithium extraction using geothermal energy
• DOE RENEW: Texas Research Expanding Nuclear Diversity
• ORNL: Fundamental Mechanisms Driving Efficiency of CO2 Capture Using Mineral Looping
• Reimagining the CORE: Redesign of Introductory Mechanics, PHYS 2320
• UTEP COS Next Generation Software and Instrumentation for Student Access to Nanoscale Characterization – Enabling Excellence in Our Technical Workforce
• Accelerating STEM Success through Experiences for Transfer and Third-Year Students
• mini grant Big Ideas in Physics – Undergraduate Research Fundamentals (A freshmen-year research-intensive experience)