SKA History Conference

Conference Programme

Meeting on the History of the SKA: 1980s-2012

Programme

27 March 2019

We would like to invite meeting participants to make suggestions for additional topics in the discussion sessions, and send them to richard.schilizzi@manchester.ac.uk. These will be reviewed in the first segment of Session 2 on 3 April, chaired by Ron Ekers.

 

3 April 2019
0830-0900	Registration
Session 1	Welcome and Overview	Session Chair: Thijs van de Hulst
0900-0910	Welcome to SKAO HQ	Phil Diamond
0910-0915	Outline of the Meeting	Richard Schilizzi
0915-0945	The SKA Story, Parts 1 and 2	Richard Schilizzi
0945-1015	Early development of the SKA concept including the evolution of the science case	Ron Ekers
1015-1045	Evolution of the SKA Design	Peter Hall
1045-1115	Coffee Break and registration
Session 2		Chair: Mike Garrett
1115-1135	Review of potential discussion topics during the meeting	Ron Ekers, meeting participants
	SKA science: I
1135-1225	The first ideas	i) Peter Wilkinson, ii)Jan Noordam, iii)Ron Ekers, iv)Leonid Gurvits, v)Peter Dewdney, vi)Jill Tarter
1225-1245	Key Science Projects  for the SKA	Chris Carilli
1245-1345	Lunch
Session 3	SKA science: II	Chair: Carole Jackson
1345-1355	The Key Science Project Down-select in 2010	Mike Garrett
1355-1415	Discovery space – an under-rated Key Science Project?	Ken Kellermann
1415-1515	Discussion topics: positioning of the SKA wrt large ground-based optical projects and other wavelength regimes including space (Joe Lazio, 2-3 mins)   are KSPs required by funding agencies? (Richard Wade, 2-3 mins ) science requirements analysis (Carole Jackson 2003-4 era, 2-3 mins; Joe Lazio PrepSKA-TDP era, 2-3 mins) impact of the KSPs on the SKA design (Peter Dewdney, 2-3 mins) maintaining the interest of the astronomical community in a long-term project (Tony Beasley, 2-3 mins)	Discussion Video
1515-1545	Coffee
Session 4	Site selection	Chair: Richard Schilizzi
1545-1600	Telescope site short-listing in 2006	Jim Moran
1600-1610	International SKA Project Office HQ selection in 2007	Anton Zensus
1610-1620	SKAO HQ selection in 2011	Simon Berry
1620-1635	Telescope site selection process and selection criteria 2010-12	Vernon Pankonin
1635-1650	Telescope Site Options WG 2012	Paul Alexander
1650-1730	Discussion topics: Site selection in other mega-science projects (Peter Tindemans, 6-7 mins ) did we engage with the funding agencies too early as far as site selection was concerned? (Richard Wade, 2-3 mins)
	END OF DAY 1
1730-1900	Welcome reception at SKAO HQ
4 April
Session 5	SKA Conceptual Design: I	Bo Peng
0900-0930	Small diameter dish arrays	Justin Jonas
0930-1000	Mid-frequency Aperture Arrays	Arnold van Ardenne
1000-1030	Low frequency Aperture Arrays	Michiel van Haarlem (presented by Arnold van Ardenne)
1030-1100	Coffee break
Session 6	SKA Conceptual Design: II	Chair: Peter Dewdney
1100-1130	Phased Array Feeds	Dave DeBoer
1130-1145	Software & computing ideas and development	Paul Alexander
1145-1155	FAST	Bo Peng
1155-1245	Topics for discussion on Global Engineering Collaboration in the SKA SKADS (Arnold van Ardenne, 2-3 mins) PrepSKA (Phil Diamond, 2-3 mins) TDP (Jill Tarter, 2-3 mins) CASPER (Justin Jonas, 2-3 mins) Impact of internationalism /cross-fertilisation on national radio astronomy developments (Bernie Fanaroff, 2-3 min) Impact of Precursors and Pathfinders on the SKA design (Peter Dewdney, 2-3 mins )	Discussion Video
1245-1345	Lunch
Session 7	Project Politics and Funding: I	Session Chair: Jill Tarter
1345-1445	National motivations to join the SKA project; funding models	i) Russ Taylor (CA), ii) Ron Ekers (AU), iii) Rob Adam (RSA), iv) Arnold van Ardenne (NL); v) Ken Kellermann (USA)
1445-1500	Why isn’t the US involved in the SKA?	Ethan Schreier
1500-1520	Ministry/Funding Agency views on the project evolution (science, innovation, site selection,..), ESFRI recognition in Europe	John Womersley
1520-1550	Coffee
Session 8	Project Politics and Funding: II	Chair: Bernie Fanaroff
1550-1605	OECD Mega-science Forum and the SKA	Stefan Michalowski
1605-1620	Options for SKA as a Legal Entity	Patricia Vogel
1620-1720	Discussion topics: Strategies for getting big science projects approved (Rob Adam 2-3 mins) is there a better means to coordinate national decisions on funding a global project like the SKA (Ian Corbett, 2-3 mins, Martin Gallagher 5-6 mins) role of procurement expectations in the development and conduct of the project (Simon Berry, 2-3 mins)	Discussion Video
	END OF DAY 2
1845-2300	Conference Dinner 18.45 pre-dinner drinks 19.30 dinner	Conference dinner speaker:  Prof. Sir Tejinder Virdee, Imperial College London, “Reflections on large science projects from a CERN perspective”
5 April
Session 9	Industry engagement with the SKA	Chair: Phil Crosby
0900-1000	Views from industry including what was learnt from the radio astronomy community and contracting	Phil Crosby Intro i) Tony Barry (Aurecon) ii) Lu Yu (CETC54) Discussion Video iii) Isak Theron (EMSS) iv)Peter Mathewson (BAe SYSTEMS)
1000-1030	Discussion topics: managing industry expectations (Carole Jackson, 2-3 mins; Nigel Rix, 2-3 mins ) what did we learn from industry (Arnold van Ardenne, 2-3 mins; Tracy Cheetham,  2-3 mins)	Discussion Video
1030-1100	Coffee
Session 10	SKA as a Mega-science project	Chair: Phil Crosby
1100-1125	SKA as a Mega-science project	Phil Crosby
1125-1145	Mega projects	Nuno Gil
1145-1200	Scale of data processing challenge	Marco de Vos
1200-1230	Discussion topics:   Optimism bias – initial projected timescales, science scope creep, cost estimation and cost over-runs of large scientific projects Costs and benefits of internationalism in the SKA project	Discussion Video Panel Chair: Phil Crosby Members: Tony Barry Stefan Michalowski Khotso Mokhele Tejinder Virdee
1230-1330	Lunch
Session 11	Wrap up	Chair: Khotso Mokhele
1330-1430	Panel discussion on The SKA: past and present Topics: . Were the large scale precursors a help or a hindrance for radio astronomy and the SKA? · Pros and cons of international collaboration · Were the key science drivers a help or a hindrance for the project? · Did we engage with governments and funding agencies too early or too late? · Was an intermediate stage like SKA1 a required step on the way to the full SKA?	Discussion Video Chair: Ron Ekers Panel members:  Bernie Fanaroff   Bo Peng Colin Lonsdale Elena Righi-Steele Peter Tindemans
1430-1450	SKAO reflections on lessons learned	Phil Diamond/ Joe McMullin
1450-1500	Closing words	Richard Schilizzi
	END OF MEETING