Blogs

June 18,  2014 - LSST's hiring campaign will be the focus of the Project's booth on the exhibit floor of the SPIE  Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 25-26. Stop by, or encourage others who might be interested, to discover the exciting career opportunities available with the Project now and in near future.

June 17, 2014 - The LSST Project welcomes Eduardo Serrano as the Site Manager for the Telescope and Site team in Chile. Eduardo joins the LSST team in La Serena, most recently working at the SOAR telescope as site manager since 1998. He will work closely with Jeff Barr, the Project Architect, to support the upcoming summit facility construction activities and operate as the overall onsite safety manager to ensure compliance to LSST safety policies. Eduardo has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of La Serena and previously worked at CTIO in support of telescope engineering activities.

June 11, 2014 - In anticipation of our federal construction start, LSST is seeking scientific, engineering, education, and administrative talent now and in the near future for the construction and eventual operation of this new generation observing facility.  LSST sees the diversity of its team as a critical component in constructing and operating a large scientific facility of value to all.  We reflect that deep commitment by strongly encouraging women, minorities, veterans and disabled individuals to apply for the opportunities offered here.  The LSST Hiring Campaign website will be updated to show new pos

May 8, 2014 - Congratulations to the LSST camera team for successful completion of their Critical Decision 3A (CD-3A) review May 6 & 7, 2014!  CD-3A approval will allow the project to proceed with long lead procurements.  The review panel recommended that CD-3A approval be granted by DOE, with no other recommendations or actions.  There were many positive comments from the review committee regarding our team and their progress.  Congratulations to the camera team for all the hard work that led to this positive outcome.

April 4, 2014 - Save the date for the LSST 2014 Project and Community Workshop scheduled for August 11-15, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. For the sake of simplicity, the Project has decided to refer to the workshop as merely LSST 2014. It will be similar to the all hands meetings held in the past with emphasis on project/community interaction and cross-subsystem technical topics. The organizing committee hopes the Phoenix  location will make travel easier for out-of-state and international attendees and that the eclectic abundance of restaurants within walking distance of the meeting hotel will help stretch per diem farther.

Watch this space for announcements about the workshop website URL and the opening of registration.

March 27, 2014 - The LSST Project Office is happy to announce the hiring of Stefan Dimmick as an IT Systems Administrator.  Alongside Iain Goodenow, he will support the ongoing development and maintenance of LSST computer systems. Stefan’s office is room M-12C in the NOAO buiding (next door to Iain); his extension is 318-3892; his email is: sdimmick@lsst.org; and his supervisor is Daniel Calabrese.

Mario Juric, the LSST Data Management Project Scientist has been awarded the 2014 AURA Science Award.  The award recognizes Mario as an intellectual leader of the astronomical community, who contributes not only through his individual research, but also by enabling scientific research by others.

February 28, 2014 - Glenaver Charles-Emerson has joined the LSST Project Office as an administrative assistant. Glenaver has been assigned to support the LSST team at NOAO, including the Telescope and Site, Data Management, and Systems Engineering groups. She brings a diverse skill set to LSSTPO with experience as an administrative professional in academic, finance, and medical settings. In addition to Tucson, she has lived and worked in Kansas, Guam, and her native England. Please join us in welcoming Glenaver to LSST.
 

February 11, 2014 - As project activities have intensified and as the Tucson project staff has grown, the Project Calendar (found in sidebar navigation menu to the left of this blog) has become a bit cluttered. In order to make it easier to read, and therefore a more useful tool, the calendar has been split into two calendars. The first is the Project Events Calendar with reviews, meetings, report due dates, etc. As an example, this is where you would find the LSST Project and Community Workshop (formerly the All Hands Meeting) planned for August 11-15.

Design News magazine has named Brookhaven National Laboratory/LSST engineer Justine Haupt as 2014 Rising Engineering Star. The magazine's editors selected Justine for her work designing test systems for LSST's focal plane components. She was chosen from an impressive slate of candidates including engineers working on underwater robotic fish, smart glasses software, and prosthetic limbs. She is the second person to receive the honor. Design News senior editor Rob Spiegel said, "Justine is impressive in her range of excellence. She has strong engineering skills, but she also gives back to her professional community." Congratulations, Justine!