Number 19 - March 2013 - SKA

EWSMarch 2013KAALL SYSTEMS GO 2INDUSTRY PARTNERS 3THE SKA ORGANISATION 4AFRICA & EUROPE 6CALIBRATION & IMAGING 7STUDENT CONFERENCE 8NOVA MEETING 10“Great progress has beenmade, and we can assuredlylook forward to impressiveand unanticipated newscience from this newgeneration of arrays, drivenby a rising new generation.”– Dr Rick Perley, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USAYOUNG TALENT 14

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3ALL SYSTEMS GO,SAY MEERKAT PROJECT LEADERSThe South African SKA site in the Karoo is currently a hub of construction activity, and plansare on track to deliver the 64 MeerKAT antennas by the end of 2016, says MeerKAT projectmanager, Willem Esterhuyse. “Antenna 1 will be installed by December 2013.”“The project team ismotivated to build the besttelescope we can,” he said.(MeerKAT will constitute25% of Phase 1 of the SKAmid-frequency dish array).“We are confident that wewill build it to budget, andon schedule, while exceedingthe original specifications.”The work being done by theMeerKAT team is providingstrong momentum to integrateMeerKAT into SKAPhase 1. Discussions aboutthis integration are inprogress between SKA SAand the International SKAproject.Various subsystems ofMeerKAT are at the requirementsreview, orpreliminary design review,stages. The full qualification,and critical designreview, is expected to becompleted early in 2014.“Until the SKA is completed,MeerKAT will be themost sensitive radio interferometerin the world inthe L-Band,” Esterhuyseexplains. He noted thathis team has been able toincrease the sensitivity ofits offset Gregorian dishdesign from 220 m2/K to300 m2/K by using systemand value engineeringprocesses, without increasingoverall cost. “Thisconstitutes a 36% improvementin sensitivity, and an86% improvement in surveyspeed, compared to theinitial specifications!”InfrastructureupdateThe upgrade to the Karoosubstation in Carnarvonwas completed and handedover to Eskom in December2012.By mid-April 2013 theroads and civil works, aswell as the electrical andfibre ducting reticulationfor MeerKAT should beSite inspection by Riette Basson (architect); Anton Lourens(technical director at Aurecon) and Neels Hoek (SKA SA)Karoo Array Processor building and on-site power facilityunder constructioncompleted. At the sametime construction teamsare busy with extensions tothe dish assembly shed, aswell as the pedestal integrationshed, Karoo Arrayprocessor building andon-site power facility.www.ska.ac.zaSubscribeto e-version online atwww.ska.ac.za/subscribePrevious editionsare archived atwww.ska.ac.za/newsletterThis newsletter is published quarterly by the South African SKA Project.Editor: Marina JoubertContributor: Anina MummDesign & production: Loretta Steyn Graphic Design StudioPlease email marina@ska.ac.za to subscribe or send suggestions.SKA South Africa Project Office17 Baker Street, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South AfricaTel: +27 (0)11 442-2434MeerKAT Engineering Office3rd Floor, The Park, Park Road, Pinelands, South AfricaTel: +27 (0)21 506 7300

AureconAccording to chief operating officer Gustav Rohde, Aureconhas been closely involved in planning and executing theinfrastructure for the MeerKAT telescope. “Aurecon hasworked with the SKA SA team to propose infrastructuresolutions, and we have celebrated each milestone with theteam as we move closer toward realising this phenomenalproject,” he says.As a large international company, with offices throughoutsub-Saharan Africa, the company provides a range of skillsto the SKA SA team. Aurecon’s participation in MeerKATincludes the buildings, roads, foundations for the antennas,the on-site airstrip, and the provision of power.“Without these things,” Rohde explains, “there can beno telescopes, no connectivity to the telescopes and,ultimately, no MeerKAT or SKA.”“As an African, I’m proud of the fact that South Africa waschosen to host the SKA. This project, in particular, is onewhich will change Africa’s science and technologylandscape.” – Gustav Rohde, Aurecon COOStratosat DatacomStratosat Datacom was selected to design, build,install and commission the 64 antennas for MeerKAT. Thistelecommunications company has provided antennas andrelated equipment throughout Africa for the past 10 years.A major focus for owner Alan Geldenhuys and his companyis to engage local industry, especially in terms of localcontent, skills transfer and the upliftment of surroundingcommunities. “We foresee a great sense of communitywith the local towns’ people,” he said, adding that they willset up their contractor’s camp near the MeerKAT site laterin the year.“We have a team of passionate and highly skilled peoplewho are experienced and committed to designing andbuilding the best telescope on earth, for SKA SA.”– Alan Geldenhuys, Stratosat Datacom.Brink & Heath CivilsManaging director, Peter Heath, says the SKA hasreawakened his team’s awareness of astronomy, and hesuspects the same could be same for the average SouthAfrican. In 2007 his company was involved in upgrading theprovincial access road from Carnarvon to the SKA site, andlater the internal access roads to KAT-7. Now the companyis on schedule to complete the installation of further infrastructurefor the MeerKAT telescope by the end of March2013.S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3INDUSTRY PARTNERS CRITICAL TO MEERKAT’S SUCCESSIndustry partners are integral members of the SKA SA team. Various contractors have been hired to design andmanufacture, and install the antennas, roads, buildings and other infrastructure that support the MeerKAT (andthe SKA in the future).EMSS AntennasThe MeerKAT’s L-band cryogenic receiver is being developedby EMSS Antennas, and will be ready early 2014.“These receivers are essentially small hi-fidelity antennasystems, parts of which operate at 250 degrees belowzero, inside a vacuum vessel, and with a pressure below0.000 000 001 bar,” explains LJ du Toit, managing director.The company has been involved in the project since 2005.“MeerKAT’s electromagnetic (EM) requirements havegrown significantly since then, and I am proud to say thatwe as a company have grown with it, and have managed tokeep up with the technology needs,” says Du Toit. “This islargely due to the knowledge and skills of Dr Isak Theron,who joined us in 2006 as the company’s technical directorand EM expert, and equally due to the multidisciplinaryengineering team who have joined subsequently.”He explains that the quality of receiver systems lies in boththe sensitivity and the stability of the system, and that thecompany is attempting to deliver a best-of-breed solution.“The inner workings of the MeerKAT telescope shouldinspire awe,” he believes. Du Toit’s wish for South Africais that the MeerKAT and the SKA will create a contagiousnational pride in the country, and in the capabilities of itspeople.An inside view of the cryogenicLNA test facility at EMSS.“This may look messy, but it isworld-class precision engineeringand there are only a handfulof such facilities in the world,”says LJ du Toit of EMSS Antennas.“When we evaluated the chosenLNA for MeerKAT, we were in absoluteagreement with the performancepredictions from two ofthem.”Drs Robert Lehmensiek and IsakTheron, both at EMSS, investigatingthe mode transducer at theback of what will become thecryogenic waveguide load.This load will be used to measurethe MeerKAT L-band receivertemperatures – one of the mostcritical parameters in determiningthe overall system sensitivity.They have just found anotherchallenge for the mechanicalengineers working on the cryostat.“SKA SA approaches the project with a strong sense ofteam work, and gets everyone involved,” Heath says. “Itreally is great to feel like we are part of the team, and notjust ‘the contractor’,” he said.“We feel honoured to be involved in such a prestigiousproject, especially since the company’s involvement overthe years has had a direct impact on Carnarvon, and othersurrounding communities. A significant investment hasbeen made in local employment, local businesses andupgrades to the local school and clinic.”On 7 February 2013, the SKA SA Project Office held an information sessionfor local industry, providing insight into opportunites for participation inthe MeerKAT project and the SKA Request for Proposals (RfF) process.The videos from this session are available athttps://www.youtube.com/user/SKASAIndustry,while the presentations can be downloaded athttps://docs.google.com/folder/d/0BypgZI1OrGCjOWNRVjZsSkJwU2s/edit?pli=1

Update onthe SKAOrganisationand itsBoard ofDirectorsS K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3The first SKA Organization Board meeting for 2013 took placeon 30 and 31 January (photo of Board members left). The Chair’snotes from this meeting are available online at:http://www.skatelescope.org/meetings/outcomes-of-the-skaboard-meeting-on-30-31-january-2013/During November 2012, staff at the SKA Organisationmoved into the purpose-built SKA headquarters atJodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester in the UK.SKA Board members representthe ten countries that are driving the design and pre-construction phase of the SKAtelescope. Germany, the most recent member, joined in December 2012.The SKA Board of Directors has the authority to appointsenior staff, decide budgets, admit new project partners tothe organisation, and direct the work of the global workpackage consortia in the SKA pre-construction phase.Professor John Womersley, chair of the board of theSKA Organisation, welcomed Germany’s membership.“Germany has an excellent track record, not only in radioastronomy, but also in the management and delivery ofscience megaprojects and associated engineering. Thisexpertise will be of great benefit to the SKA project as wemove towards the construction phase of this inspirationaltelescope”, he said.Professor Philip Diamond is the Director General of theSKA Organisation.Members of the SKA Organisation as of December 2012:• United Kingdom: Science and Technology FacilitiesCouncil• Sweden: Onsala Space Observatory• South Africa: National Research Foundation• New Zealand: Ministry of Economic Development• Netherlands: Netherlands Organisation for ScientificResearch• Italy: National Institute for Astrophysics• Germany: Federal Ministry of Education and Research• China: National Astronomical Observatories, ChineseAcademy of Sciences• Canada: National Research Council• Australia: Department of Innovation, Industry, Scienceand Research• Associate member: India: National Centre for RadioAstrophysics

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3MAURITIAN MINISTERVISITS MITRA SITEWilliamGarnier in front of the newSKA head office at Jodrell BankObservatory in the UK (Photo byRob Millenaar, SKA/ASTRON)Newcommunicationmanager at SKAhead office inthe UKWilliam Garnier took up theposition of chief communicationsofficer, for the SKAOrganisation, in November2012. He has been working inscience communication andoutreach for more than tenyears. After two years at ESO(European Southern Observatory)in Chile, he joined theALMA (Atacama Large MillimeterArray) Observatory tocreate and lead the communicationsdepartment.“I am thrilled to join the SKAOrganisation at such an excitingtime, and I am very keen tobring my expertise in managingoutreach projects in megascience enterprises to theorganisation. I am used toworking with people from allover the world and one of thethings I’ve always found fascinatingand encouraging is tosee all these people fromdifferent countries, with differentcultures and backgrounds,working together towards acommon goal. This is exactlywhat the SKA is about:thousands of people aroundthe globe building what willbe the world’s largest radiotelescope!”The Mauritian Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Researchand Technology, Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, visited the Mauritius RadioTelescope (MRT) at Bras d’Eau to receive an update on the developmentof radio astronomy in Mauritius, the SKA, and the Multi-frequencyInterferometry Telescope for Radio Astronomy (MITRA) project.MITRA’s development is a joint project between Mauritius and SouthAfrica, with nodes for radio astronomy observation being established inboth countries. Dr Girish Beeharry (University of Mauritius and the MRT),together with Stuart Macpherson and Gary Janse Van Vuuren, of theDurban University of Technology (DUT) in South Africa, lead the researchand development work related to the low frequency array telescope.Once completed, extremely wide field imaging with heterogeneous,non-coplanar arrays will be done. Ultimately, the project will form partof the Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) network.Students are currently designing and building MITRA subsystems at DUTand in Mauritius. Digital systems are based on the Universal SoftwareRadio Peripheral (USRP), and programming is being done in Mauritiususing open source GNU radio companion software. The development ofthe front end antenna and back end receiver systems are done in bothMauritius and at the DUT.The Mauritian Minister of Tertiary Education,Science, Research and Technology, Hon.Rajeshwar Jeetah, visited the MauritiusRadio Telescope (MRT) site at Bras d’Eau.“We hope that the Ministerialvisit will translate into to furthersupport and funding from theMauritian government.”– Dr Girish Kumar Beeharry,University of Mauritius and the MRT.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3A F R I CA / E U R O P E PA RT N E R S H I PRADIO ASTRONOMYPARTNERSHIPSBETWEEN AFRICAAND EUROPEAERAP (African-European Radio Astronomy Platform)invests in ongoing workshops, and participates in majorscience conferences, to promote investments in infrastructureand capacity building in radio astronomy in Africa andEurope.Workshop participants: The Square Kilometre Array: a large ScaleESFRI Infrastructure – From the Cosmos to the Cities of the futureA workshop on the Square Kilometre Array and African-European radio astronomy cooperation took place inLisbon, Portugal on 30 November 2012. The workshopbrought together scientists, engineers and industry todiscuss the SKA and how it can become a precursor tofuture internet technologies powered by green energies,and offering a great societal change promise.On 15 November 2012 Members of the European Parliamentlaunched the AERAP Group at an event hosted byBritta Thomsen MEP. She said in her keynote address thatthe launch of the AERAP group in the European Parliamentwas an important step in supporting policies whichcan be beneficial to the scientist, and which will bring thebenefits of science to the citizens in both Europe andAfrica.Maria Da Graça Caravalho MEP, who has been involvedin the preparation for the Horizon 2020 package as arapporteur on the Specific Programme, took part in thebilateral stakeholder meetings: “The launch of theAfrican-European Radio Astronomy Platform Group inthe European Parliament is a very important moment dueto the relevance of this project. This project is relevant toboth European and African counterparts for the advancementof science and capacity building in Africa. Especiallycapacity building in the area of research that will havea real impact in people’s life - from energy, space andmedicine. This is the proper way to cooperate with Africain a partnership- to not only focus on the basic needs ofthe African people, but going a step further, to creating anew generation of aid to developing countries.”Find out more at http://ska-ptafrica.org/Britta Thomsen MEPAbout AERAPMaria Da Graça Caravalho MEPThe African-European Radio Astronomy Platform(AERAP) is a response to the calls of the EuropeanParliament, through the adoption of the WrittenDeclaration 45/2011. The launch of the AREAPGroup in the Parliament comes after threesuccessful workshops exploring cooperation withregard to Infrastructure Investment and TechnologyDevelopment, Renewable Energy Solutionsfor Radio Astronomy and Human Capital Development.AERAP is a new stakeholder forum ofindustry, academia, and the public sector,established to define and implement prioritiesfor radio astronomy cooperation between Africaand Europe. The overall goals of the platform areto leverage radio astronomy to advance scientificdiscovery, improve knowledge transfer, andstimulate competitiveness across both continents.Find out more and subscribe to AERAP updates atwww.aerap.org

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3FOCUS ON CALIBRATIONAND IMAGING FOR THE SKACreating the best possible images from the information gathered by the SKAtelescope will be a major challenge, which can only be solved by combininghigh quality hardware and software.This was the focus of the 7th Workshop on Calibration and Imaging (CALIM), hosted in Cape Town atthe end of 2012. “Hosting the workshop in South Africa strengthens local participation, and research,”says Ludwig Schwardt, research developer at SKA South Africa and one of the event organisers.The main topics discussed were “antenna sensitivity” and “deconvolution algorithms”. Antennas mustbe sensitive enough to detect radiation from different directions in high-fidelity, and the ‘deconvolutionalgorithms’ are required to reconstruct the radiation data into images. “These kinds of workshops areexcellent as they ensure that our local research community can access the results of a much largergroup, even though our methods predated some of their current ideas by several decades!” saidSchwardt.Schwardt points out that the skills obtained through this kind of research - software development,modelling and high-performance computing - can be widely applied to other fields outside radioastronomy, for example in medical imaging.For more info and CALIM 2012 photos, go to http://calim2012.ska.ac.za/

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3FUN AND GAMES(AND LEARNING AND NETWORKING)AT THE ANNUAL STUDENT CONFERENCEA friendly game of cricket, a tradition started by the late Prof Steve Rawlings, markedthe end of yet another successful South African SKA Postgraduate Bursary Conference.Teams for the 2012 matchwere drawn from the ElectromagneticsResearchGroup at Stellenbosch Universityand the MeerKATproject team based in CapeTown. Lunch time discussionson team choices andstrategy provided somelight-hearted diversionsin-between the 13 conferencesessions.The 2012 event was theseventh SKA SA bursaryconference, and the attendancelist included nearly200 delegates. The conferencehas become a highlightfor local andinternational radio astronomersand engineersworking on the MeerKATand SKA. As in previousyears, the 2012 conferencebrought together SKA SAfunded postgraduate studentsand postdoctoralfellows, as well as selectedSKA SA funded undergraduatestudents. Supervisors,the SKA SA ResearchChairs, other interestedresearchers, and invitedspeakers from universitiesin Europe and America alsoattended.More than 90 postgraduatestudents, and postdoctoralfellows, presented thestatus of their research.The topics covered galaxyformation and evolution,cosmology, radio astronomytechniques and technologies,and the antennasystems for MeerKAT andthe SKA. The quality of theresearch and the level ofpresentations again impressedboth the local andinternational participants.Dr Jaap Baars from theMax Planck Institute forRadio Astronomy, and apioneer in radio astronomytechniques, presided overthe conference prize-givingceremony. He said that thesheer size of the studentpool present made SouthAfrica the envy of the internationalscientific community.“Your investment inpeople in this way is creatinga basis in science andtechnology that will ensurethe proper design, constructionand use ofMeerKAT, and the SKA,”believes Dr Baars, who wasone of the ten invited internationalspeakers at theconference.The following awards werereceived:Overall best presentations:• Best overall presentationby a PhD student: AndreYoung (StellenboschUniversity)Improving beam patternestimation for futureradio telescopes• Best overall presentationby a Masters student:Marisa Geyer (StellenboschUniversity)Ordering chaos aroundbumpy black holes usingSKAEngineering:• Best poster by an MScstudent: Shaun Katz(University of Cape Town)Rhino modelling environment• Best presentation by anMSc student: Mark Volkmann(StellenboschUniversity)The use of superconductorsin the SKA• Best poster by a PhDstudent: Joely Andriambeloson(StellenboschUniversity)Time domain studies inreverberation chambers• Best presentation by aPhD student: BrendonPotgieter (StellenboschUniversity)Probabilistic model updatingfor the validationof antenna modelsAstronomy:• Best poster by an MScstudent: MohammedEmritte (University ofJohannesburg)Constraints on thenon-thermal pressure ingalaxy clusters fromradio halo and SZ effectdata• Best presentation by anMSc student: NikhitaMadhanpall (University ofthe Western Cape)Towards cosmic magnificationwith the new radiosurvey• Best poster by a PhDstudent: Alida Odendaal(University of the FreeState)CAL 83 - A supersoftX-ray source in the LMC• Best presentation by aPhD student: TomMutubazi (University ofCape Town)Distance measurementsand peculiar velocity ofthe Norma clusterThe annual SKA Africa Postgraduate Bursary Conference also provides achance for old acquaintances from across the world to meet up again, forvaluable networking and for collaborations to be strengthened. Dr MarioSantos, of the Technical University of Lisbon, and Dr Caroline Zunckel(pictured) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal are both Oxford Universitygraduates who shared the same PhD study leader. Dr Santos, an invitedspeaker at the conference, focused on the prospects of studying cosmologywith the help of the next generation of radio telescopes.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3This year’s conference includedthe inaugural SteveRawlings memorial lecture.This lecture, honouringour late colleague andfriend, will be part of allfuture conferences. ProfMatt Jarvis of Oxford Universityand the University ofthe Western Cape, a closefriend and colleague ofSteve’s, presented the firstlecture. Steve was a greatsupporter of the SouthAfrican SKA effort, a brilliantresearcher and a kindand genuine friend, and hewill be greatly missed.REFLECTING ON SOUTHAFRICA’S SUCCESSFUL SKA BID“Teamwork and a keen sense of detail helped SouthAfrica and its partner counties to be chosen as thepreferred SKA site” said SKA SA Site Bid Manager,Dr Adrian Tiplady, in his overview of the decadelongbid campaign.“The arrival of the SKA in Africa is the outcome ofmany years of dedicated effort by various people,”he stressed in his presentation at the conference,which was packed with anecdotes and vintagephotographs. “In 2002 our aspiration wasn’t necessarilycommensurable to the budget,” he noted ofthe initial R2,5 million budget and R1,9 million forRadio Frequency Interference (RFI) monitoringequipment. This, however, did not stop South Africato submit its “Initial Offer to Host the SKA” in May2003, under leadership of Dr Bernie Fanaroff. Bythen “Site K3” in the Karoo had been selected as thecore telescope site, ahead of options in the Kalaharior Namaqualand.Dr Bernie Fanaroff, SKA SA Project Director (front middle) and Dr JaapBaars (front right), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany,with the winners at the prize-giving ceremony. They are (front row, from left)Marisa Geyer (Stellenbosch University), Nikhita Madhanpall (University ofthe Western Cape) and Mohammed Emritte (University of Johannesburg).At the back are (from left) Mark Volkmann (Stellenbosch University), TomMutubazi (University of Cape Town), Joely Andriambeloson (StellenboschUniversity), Alida Odendaal (University of the Free State) and Andre Young(Stellenbosch University). (Photo: Engela Duvenage)South Africa’s further Response to the Request forProposals to Host the SKA followed in December2005, and elaborated on aspects such as the qualityof science, siting issues, infrastructure, climate andcost. Dr Tiplady believes the initial radio frequencymonitoring campaign, spanning twelve months and40 sites, ensured that South Africa was shortlisted.The final 150-page bid summary, and the elevenreports, on aspects such as the RFI environment,array science performance, power provision,tropospheric turbulence, infrastructure cost andlabour issues, (consisting of 27 000 pages in total!),were submitted a mere twelve weeks after the SKASiting Group issued their Request for Information inJune 2011.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3“The Stella Novae conference highlighted some of the most exciting recent developments in the field of nova studies – such as the discoverythat nova explosions can produce gamma-ray emission, as well as the important role that radio observations will have in revealing theorigin of this and other surprising phenomena.” – Dr Jennifer L Sokoloski, Columbia University, USANOVA MEETING IN CAPE TOWN –THE NEXT DECADEBy Patrick Woudt (co-PI of ThunderKAT) andValerio Ribeiro (SKA SA Postdoctoral Fellow, ThunderKAT)Roughly every 10 years, astronomersstudying nova outbursts get together todiscuss their latest research.Since the last meeting in Sitges (Spain) in 2002, groundbreakingresults, facilitated by new telescopes and supercomputingsimulations, have given insight into the physicsof the nova explosion, and the associated outflow of matterinto the interstellar medium, and have increased our understandingof the binaries in which novae occur. To discussthe current state of nova research, the Astronomydepartment at the University of Cape Town (UCT) hostedand organised the 4th meeting in this series under theheader “Stella Novae: Past and Future Decades”, from4 – 8 February 2013. It brought together about 90researchers from 22 countries.As the title of the meeting suggests, there was a strongemphasis in the meeting on the future decade of novaresearch. The directors of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope(LSST) and the European Extremely Large Telescope(E-ELT) gave presentations via skype, and talks about novaresearch with SALT, MeerKAT and the SKA were prominentin the programme. Participants were given a taste of whatto expect from MeerKAT, and the SKA, through talks by DrLaura Chomiuk (Jansky Fellow at Michigan State University),who gave an invited review on observing transientswith the SKA and its pathfinders, Dr Tim O’Brien (associatedirector Jodrell Bank Observatory) who gave an overviewof recent progress in radio observations of novae, and ProfPatrick Woudt (UCT) who presented on ThunderKAT, theMeerKAT Large Survey Project for explosive transients.Highlights from the conference include the realisationto most that nova ejecta are bipolar (contrary to thepreviously assumed spherical outflow), and that (some)novae emit at all wavelengths, including gamma-rays,as seen in recent examples such as Nova Mon 2012,observed by Fermi. From the lively discussions at theconference, we can look forward to the next decade innova research with great excitement and anticipation.Conference web site:http://www.ast.uct.ac.za/stellanovae2013March 2007Nova outburst, credit: ESO; Woudt et al. 2009(Astrophysical Journal 706, 738)

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3FOCUS ON HIGH-PERFORMANCESIGNAL PROCESSINGA workshop on high-performance signal processing washeld at the University of Cape Town (UCT) from 28 – 31January 2013. The workshop, funded by the South AfricanSKA Project, provided engineers and scientists with an opportunityto share ideas on the technology underpinninghigh-performance computing, and to present signal processingto young students considering a career in a fieldcritical to the MeerKAT and SKA, and to almost everyother high-tech engineering industry.(by Morgan Morris, see3 Communications)I N T E R N A -The SKA will not only require super computing power, butalso a daunting level of signal processing, explains FrancoisKapp, the digital back-end subsystems manager onthe MeerKAT project. The processing work will includereceiving, cleaning up or filtering, storing and sorting thesignal received by the atennas, as well as converting thesesignals from analogue to a more useable digital format.A sizeable portion of the technology will be outsourced toindustry, notes Kapp. Luckily, he says, industry andMeerKAT / SKA are working off the same script. “Everyone’sscaling up, building supercomputers for a multitudeof applications, of which we (radio astronomy), are just oneapplication.” However, much of the technology has alreadybeen developed in-house by Kapp and his team: notablythe ROACH hardware platform – which the students got touse at the UCT workshop.ROACH, or the Reconfigurable Open Architecture ComputingHardware, is an integrated circuit board developedwithin the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processingand Electronics Research (CASPER). The collaboration includesengineers, students and academics from the Universityof California, Berkeley; Caltech; the US NationalRadio Astronomy Observatory; the MeerKAT project team;and the University of Cape Town. ROACH’s standout sellingpoint, other than its significant processing power, is that itcan be configured, or rewired even after it has left the labbench – thus its moniker – to execute different computingtasks. In contrast, traditional computer chips are designedto perform only one or two specific tasks, be it generatinggraphics or running a car’s electronics.Tapping into the latest advances in FPGA integrated-circuittechnology, short for field-programmable gate array,ROACH boards can perform a variety of tasks really well,and super-fast. So much so that ROACH-2, with five timesthe processing capacity of its predecessor, can now befound doing duty in a multitude of instruments in a multitudeof places. By one count, over 300 ROACH boards havebeen deployed at research facilities internationally.Speakers at the UCT signals processing workshop included, from left, JasonManley (DSP team, SKA SA), Prof David Davidson (SKA SA Research Chair,Stellenbosch University), Prof Justin Jonas (Associate Director for Science andEngineering, SKA SA), Prof Mike Inggs (Engineering, UCT), Dr Andrew van derByl (Engineering, UCT), Francois Kapp (DSP, SKA SA), Prof Matthew Bailes(Swinburne University, Australia), and Sias Malan MeerKAT(DSP team, SKA SA).“The board is now the heart and soul of important radioastronomy instruments all over the world,”– Prof Mike Inggs, one of the hosts of the UCT workshop.The RHINO (reconfigurable hardwareinterface for computing and radio)platform is a pared-downversion of the ROACH boardsbeing developed by the SoftwareDefined Radio Group atUCT. It is a cheaper versionof ROACH, designed fortraining in reconfigurablecomputing, rather than forrunning specialised instruments,explains Inggs.The workshop, notes co-host, UCTresearch officer Dr Andrew van derByl, exposed the engineering and astronomyworlds to both signal processing and reconfigurablecomputing. It also helped to entice students into a fieldthat, thanks to MeerKAT and the SKA projects, will keepscience and industry busy for years. Especially as the workof radio astronomy and signals processing – its hardwareand algorithms – can be applied to the likes of telecommunications,radar, encryption, even banking.“The way things are going, there are always new avenuesto explore and new things to do.” – Dr Andrew van der Byl, UCT

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3CONFRONTINGTHE ELEPHANTSIN THE (SKA) ROOM“The elephantsin the room”was the themeof a workshopon third-generationcalibration(3GC) in radioastronomy, heldin Port Alfred,in the EasternCape of SouthAfrica, duringFebruary 2013.3GC is catch-all term for the calibration, imaging techniques and algorithms that arerequired to deal with the increased capabilities of the new crop of SKA pathfindertelescopes, and the SKA itself.“By ‘elephants’, we refer to possible fundamental or practical limits on the scientificperformance of upcoming telescopes,” explains Prof Oleg Smirnov, SKA SA ResearchChair at Rhodes University. “With orders-of-magnitude increases in the sensitivities,and fields-of-view, of our instruments, some of these ‘elephants’ may now be takingshape and we can’t afford to overlook them as we design and build the SKA.”The workshop kicked off with a hands-on advanced interferometry school for postgraduatestudents and researchers looking to gain a deeper understanding of calibrationand imaging problems. Participants got to grips with 3GC concepts and challenges bytackling difficult case studies that required new approaches.The second part of the workshop lasted for six “intensive” days of interrogating “elephants” such as:• problems imposed by primary beams (sidelobes, beam stability, beam modelling, etc.);• modelling and calibration of the ionosphere; and• deconvolution, source extraction and source modelling.“The workshop alternated between in-depth talks and practical sessions, where weplayed with real data and simulations that illustrate the issues raised in the talks,”Smirnov adds.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3A perspective from Dr Rick Perley, scientistat the National Radio Astronomy Observatory,on the recent 3GC workshop at Port Alfred.Rick is based in Socorro, NM, USA, where thescience operations centre for the Very LargeArray is located.“This was extremely useful to students and researcherswho want to be involved in the design of various subsystemsof SKA, such as electronics or software, but previouslyhad a limited exposure into the complexity andoutstanding issues of calibration,” says Dr Slava Kitaeff,research associate in the field of high performance computingat the International Centre for Radio AstronomyResearch at the University of Western Australia. “It is alsogreat to see how the international radio astronomy communityis coming together to address the most challengingtechnical issues of the SKA, and calibration iscertainly one of them.”Dr Francesco de Gasperin, research associate at the Universityof Hamburg in Germany, agreed that the workshopwas extremely useful. “It was a rare opportunity to find allthe top scientists in this field from around the globe inone location, along with students in the field,” he said.“It created a very productive environment for experts anda perfect place for students to learn. This kind of workshopalso underlines the leading role that South Africais taking in the global radio astronomy community.”The meeting was sponsored by SKA SA, Rhodes University,and RadioNet3.Find out more athttps://sites.google.com/a/ska.ac.za/3gc3/home“If you stare at this plot long enough, you’ll understandwhy CLEAN works.” – Ludwig Schwardt, SKA SA.(Voted best statement of the conference.)Thirty five years ago, I arrived at the VLA as thefirst of a group of young researchers, looking forinteresting challenges. The builders of the array— which was then about 1/3 completed —handed us a challenge: ‘We don’t know how tocalibrate this new instrument — we want you tofigure out how to do this’. Our efforts were successful.The array succeeded beyond all expectations,and great science was done.Today, there is a new set of arrays rising –MeerKat, ASCAP, LOFAR, MWA, and the potentialof the SKA. These new arrays all share onething: They have wide fields of view at low frequencies.This brings a new host of dauntingcalibration challenges, far more complex thanthose facing the early VLA. The success of thesenew instruments depends upon finding solutionsto these challenges. And the solutionswill come from a new generation of youngresearchers.The 3GC series of workshops is designed tobring together the leading researchers fromthe many institutions contributing to these newarrays. It combines the wisdom of the ‘grizzledveterans’ with their deep understanding of thepracticalities, with a rising new generation, whobring new methods, fresh thinking, and boldapproaches.The third 3GC workshop in Port Alfred, SouthAfrica was a sparkling success. It showed thatthere is great progress in finding how these newand exciting new instruments can be made todo great new science. New concepts, and newapproaches, were vigorously discussed anddebated. I am sure that all who participated willreturn to their institutions, ready to experimentwith and to implement these new ideas.Although success cannot be guaranteed – thisis the nature of research – great progress hasbeen made, and we can assuredly look forwardto impressive and unanticipated new sciencefrom this new generation of arrays, driven bythis rising new generation.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3YOUNG TALENT AT THESOUTH AFRICAN SKA PROJECTAs a system engineering technician, Obert Toruvandais involved in the design, procurement and installationof the MeerKAT and the African VLBI Network (AVN).Right now, he is working on the Mozambique7.6 metre ICO dish, which iscurrently located near the HartebeesthoekRadio AstronomyObservatory in Gauteng. The dishwas previously part of Telkom’stelecommunication systems,and Toruvanda is helping tomodify it for its new role: a radioastronomy training facility inMozambique.“I feel proud just knowing that I have laid myhands on, and made a contribution to the biggesttelescope in the world,” – Obert ToruvandaBeing part of the SKA SA has brought a positive turn inObert’s career, and has provided him the opportunity totrain other young technicians. “Getting feedback fromthem, of their successes, will be the biggest reward forme.” According to Obert, the SKA SA brings education,development, jobs and growth for South Africa, especiallywith its bursaries targeted at all levels, fromtechnicians to postdoctoral fellows. He also believesthat collaborations with other African countries willenhance international relations on the continent.The SKA SA has kindled an appreciation for science inToruvanda, and he now believes that it is important forthe public to understand and appreciate more aboutour place in the universe. “Since joining the SKA SAteam I have learnt a lot, and understand the world welive in much better,” he says.MAINTENANCE IS KEYWithout proper maintenance, a sophisticated radiotelescope cannot meet its science goals, says SizweSeranyane, better known as “Sky”.Sky is the KAT-7 operations and maintenance manager,and he is responsible for the upkeep of the telescopes.If there are any technical problems, Sky and his team oftechnicians repair the system. Sky is also in charge ofthe routine maintenance, and ensures that the necessaryspares, materials and equipment are available forrepairs.Maintaining seven radio telescope dishes is a challengingtask, says Sky, but maintaining 64 (for MeerKAT),and then thousands (for the SKA) will be on a completelydifferent scale. “Because we are aware of theseCharl Daniels provides projectmanagement support to theMeerKAT team, as the SKASA project controls officer.His personal goal is for theMeerKAT project to setthe industry standardwhen it comes to projectmanagement and controls.“I have great passion for what Ido and am so blessed to have thisopportunity to share and grow withthis project and its team.” – Charl DanielsBecause the team he works with is so diverse, hesays, it is both challenging and rewarding to worktogether. “Individuals all think and operate differently,and learning to participate in a diverse team, andrespecting each other, is what will bring us success.”Daniels is also convinced that the SKA SA projectwill show South African tax payers the value of theirinvestment. “I think it may be good for people to seethis project as a constructive investment in ourcountry, and the relationships that will be built withother countries as a result.”“People should know that they are part of this projectand that it is, as South Africans and as tax payers, ourtelescope. We should be proud of the fact thatwe will have the most powerful radiotelescope in the world, and a supersmart team that operates andmanages it.”“My work ensures that the science instrumentis alive and kicking for the scientiststo be able to do science.” – Sizwe Seranyanefuture challenges, the work we are doing now is veryimportant to create a base of skills and expertise,” heexplains. “The preparation of people, and the effort toput systems and equipment into place, is a valuable andessential learning curve for me, and my team.”“One of my hopes is that the MeerKAT and the SKA willhelp to change perceptions of people who think thatmaths and science are only for a select few,” Sky says.“Such a mammoth radio telescope, on our doorstep,will make the science more real and should draw in theyounger generation.” Sky feels honoured to be responsiblefor keeping the facility running: “It’s good to bepart of a big project like the SKA,” he says.

S K A N E W S M A R C H 2 0 1 3“I feel very proud to be part of something so big,” – Virgillian Kasper“The SKA project in theKaroo will create job opportunitiesand inspireyoung people to learn moreabout science and technology,”– Priscilla MalgasSKA SA ENCOURAGES YOUNG,LOCAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENTVirgillian Kasper and Priscilla Malgas are electrical assistants working at the MeerKAT site. Thanksto SKA SA’s artisan programme, they received bursaries to train as electrical artisans at the KimberleyFET College. “I feel very proud to be part of something so big,” says Kasper, whose daily activitiesinclude adding new power points in the various buildings on site. Although he sometimes has towork out in the desert heat, he says it is very rewarding to know that his work enables others todo their work.Malgas and Kasper both agree that for them, the SKA SA project representsopportunities for local economic growth and career development,especially for young people like themselves. “The positive effect of theSKA being built near our town is already improving the socio-economiccircumstances of our people, because there are a lot more job andbusiness opportunities,” said Kasper.Kasper also said that the scientists and engineers on site constantlymotivate the young staff members to develop their skills, and make themost of this opportunity to work for the project. Malgas is furtheringher studies, part-time, at the College of Cape Town.Both artisans feel it is very important for the public to be interested inscience. They have begun to follow astronomy research and each has afavourite recent development: For Kasper, it is the discovery late lastyear of a planet made largely of diamonds. For Malgas, it’s the SKAproject itself.Kasper and Priscilla say that the SKA SA project provides such excitingstudy and career opportunities, and they encourage the other youngpeople in Carnarvon, Williston, Van Wyksvlei, Brandvlei and elsewhere,to take these opportunities and make the most of them, and to makethe most of themselves.“The young people on our team, such as Priscilla and Kasper, are reallykeen, willing to do anything and eager to learn”, says Dawie Fourie,manager at SKA South Africa’s Karoo site.Any students from Carnarvon,Williston, Van Wyksvlei or Brandvlei,with Grade 12 mathematicsand science, interested in trainingas artisans, should contactMs Daphne Lekgwathi at theSKA South Africa Project Officein Johannesburg;Telephone: (011) 442-2434 oremail: dlekgwathi@ska.ac.za

OLEG SMIRNOV: A CAREER OWED TO THE SKA“RATT is about hardwareand software for the futurewith the SKA and MeerKATin mind. It is one of veryfew groups in the worldfilling this crucial gapbetween radio astronomersand engineers – and thereforegives South Africa acompetitive edge in thisfield.” – Prof Justin Jonas, AssociateDirector: Science and Engineering,SKA South Africa and Department ofPhysics, Rhodes University.The RATT group was establishedat Rhodes University in 2012, andalready has a number of studentsenrolled, including two PhD students(from Ghana and Cameroon)and an Msc student from Mauritius.From South Africa an honoursstudent has already joined thegroup and a third doctoral studentwill arrive soon. Two post-docs(an American with a PhD fromOxford, and an Indian with a PhDfrom the University of Illinois)have accepted offers andare due to arrive within a coupleof months.“You could say my entire academic career is owed to the SKA,” saidProfessor Oleg Smirnov, who holds the SKA SA Research Chair in RadioAstronomy Techniques and Technologies (RATT), at Rhodes University,and heads up the new Radio Astronomy Research Group at the SKASA office in Cape Town.By the time Smirnov started his radio astronomy career in 1999 at ASTRON, theNetherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, the concept of the SKA had alreadyblossomed and therefore shaped his research path.“I got into science for the thrill of problem solving,” Smirnov remembers. “Now,I enjoy training young scientists and seeing them experience that too.”Building and operating the SKA will provide many problems to solve for technicians,engineers, computer scientists, physicists and astronomers. And once thetelescopes are built, many of these skills will flood into other sectors of SouthAfrica’s knowledge economy, Smirnov believes.His research focuses on calibration and imaging techniques, and right now thefield is experiencing a rush of new ideas. His highlight in recent astronomicalfindings is the discovery of many Earth-like planets. “And on a more parochialnote,” he adds, “the discovery by the world that South Africa is a major scientificdestination, thanks to the MeerKAT project, and the SKA site decision, is just asexciting!”NS“Over the past decade we’ve been exploring and extendingbasically the same patch of ground, but now it really feelslike we’re breaking through into completely new territory.”– Oleg Smirnov.www.ska.ac.zawww.dst.gov.zawww.skatelescope.orgwww.nrf.ac.za