The cool thing about winning an award in New Mexico is the almost certain guarantee that the prize will be made of Nambé. Nambé is the pride of New Mexico, an alloy of eight metals developed by a Los Alamos scientist. It can retain temperature for long periods of time, is food safe and can be used on the stove or in the oven. Plus it’s shiny! But the cool part is that the company was started by Pauline Platt Cable, who was the secretary of a foundry that cast bronze and copper cookware. The original owner retired in 1951 and left it to Pauline, who worked with Martin Eden, the scientist, to create Nambé.

Even cooler is a Nambé award for Women in Science, and though I have no memory of how I happened to be awarded one, I am very proud to lug this around:

The word Nambé comes from the Tewa Indians meaning “people of the round earth.” According to the NY Times, girls are leading boys in science exams everywhere on this round earth but in the US.

But not in this little part of California, not when you can send Hello Kitty into space. Congrats Lauren Rojas. I salute you with my Hello-Kitty-inside-a-Kobe-beef-outfit.