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New Hires

LSST E-News : 
April

The LSST Hiring Campaign continues in full force as the project staffs up to meet the demands of the construction effort. Current positions, along with those filled and coming soon, are posted online at http://www.lsst.org/hiring. The individuals below have joined the project recently as examples of Top Talent Working in a Team Environment that Inspires Excellence - welcome!

 

Project Office

Laurie Thomas joined the LSST Project Office in January as Travel Administrator. She is responsible for ensuring all Project travel complies with federal regulations as well as AURA and LSST policies and procedures. She will help manage a strategic approach to travel by coordinating all staff travel arrangements and by processing all travel expense reports. She is already working with the AURA Procurement Manager to launch a new Concur travel platform that can eventually be shared with other AURA centers. Prior to LSST, Laurie worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for 15 years, the last eight as Manager for Travel and Meeting Services. Experienced with various travel platforms and registration systems, Laurie has coordinated travel for clinical and scientific conferences; board, sponsor and staff meetings; and numerous television production projects. She has spearheaded logistics for meetings and conferences ranging from six to 800 attendees.

Joseph Cockrum joined the LSSTPO on February 2 as an IT Technician. Joseph will provide support for desktop computers, laptops, and other stand-alone clients on the LSST computing network. He also will assist the IT Systems Administrator in upgrades and configuration changes. Prior to LSST, Joseph worked at Sunnyside Unified School District where he provided comprehensive technical assistance for more than 1,200 teachers, staff members, students and administrators at 21 different sites.

Data Management

Tim Jenness joined the LSST Data Management Group March 23 as Deputy System Architect. Tim will assist in all aspects of DM system architecture, including refining the approved baseline design into the as-built design, doing “skunk works” rapid prototyping and evaluation projects, and helping institute good development processes. He brings a wealth of experience in large-scale processing systems and astronomical software in particular, and his ability to grasp the big picture while worrying small details will be of great use. Prior to LSST, Tim was head of software for the CCAT telescope, and before that he was head of the scientific computing group for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope.

Telescope and Site

Shawn Callahan joined the LSST Telescope and Site group February 2 as Technical Manager. Shawn will lead the telescope mount assembly fabrication effort. He also expects to work on interfaces to the primary/tertiary (M1M3) mirror cell and support system. Immediately prior to LSST, Shawn was a senior mechanical engineer with a Caltech team developing an integral field unit spectrometer called the Keck Cosmic Web Instrument (KCWI). He also was a senior or principal engineer for Keck Observatory, the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory (MMT), and the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). At Keck he was the program manager for analyzing and determining the cost/benefit/risk for the facility’s various seismic risk mitigation plans. At MMT and LBT, he contributed to the development, procurement, verification and installation of the telescopes. His responsibilities included optical support structures, working with design firms for structural and mechanical systems, factory inspections around the world, and installations.

Camera

Tim Bond joined the LSST Camera group February 2 as the Integration and Test Engineering Manager. Prior to LSST, Tim was with University of Hawaii – Institute for Astronomy where he most recently served as Opto-Mechanical Systems Engineer. Prior to the University of Hawaii he worked for NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Honolulu as the Senior Facility Mechanical/Telescope Engineer. His extensive background in instrumentation and mechanical packaging experience will be invaluable in his new role.

Bill Wahl joined the LSST Camera group February 2 as Sensor and Science Raft Engineering Manager. Bill Wahl comes from Brookhaven National Lab where most recently he was Chief Engineering Coordinator for the NSLS-II Injector in the Photon Sciences Directorate. Prior to BNL he was the Vice President of Engineering for Fonar Corporation in New York. Bill’s technical knowledge, diverse background in operations, and project management abilities will be fully utilized in his new role.


LSST E-News Team

 

Suzanne Jacoby (Editor-in-Chief)
Robert McKercher (Staff Writer)
Mark Newhouse (Design & Production: Web)


Emily Acosta (Design & Production: PDF/Print)
Additional contributors as noted

 

LSST E-News is a free email publication of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project. It is for informational purposes only, and the information is subject to change without notice. 
Copyright © 2015 LSST Project Office, Tucson, AZ

 

  

Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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