The maze begins with a pencil sketch in January, which is then turned over to Dr. Steve Frank and Dr. Kurt Wurm, Department Head of New Mexico State University's Survey-Engineering program and a small group of students. They digitalize the drawing and calculate ground co-ordinates for Global Positioning Satellites. The corn is planted the first week of July, and the design is staked out when the plants are about knee-high. We cut the maze using a small farm tractor mounted with GPS equipment. A few weeks later, we fly over the Maze in a small plane and take the aerial photo.

Since 1999, the Mesilla Valley Maze has been funding an endowed Scholarship to the NMSU Survey Department. Each year a portion of the fund is awarded to the student that is most integral in bringing the design to life. Maze design has been added to the Department's curriculum and this is used as the centerpiece of their High School Recuiting Program. Since beginning this project, Dr. Frank has lead seminars at other universities on "The Use of GPS in Commercial Maze Design."