Tuesday 25 March 2025
18:30 PM – 19:30 PM AEDT
Online

Dr Philip Crosby
Technical Expert & Assessor, Joint Accreditation System of Australia & New Zealand
Fellow & Board Member, ICCPM

Professor Ronald Ekers
CSIRO Fellow
Space & Astronomy, CSIRO

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a grand vision project to build the most sensitive radio telescope in the world. It is a story of transformational science, innovative engineering, and global collaboration. Its journey has been long and complex, reflecting the many issues faced in creating an affordable design, choosing the dual site, and developing a viable global mega science project organisation.

Our presentation covers the period from conception to the crucial site decision in 2012, leading to the pre-construction phase. The accompanying book is based on the authors’ personal experience at the leading edge of the project over many years. The book is intended for an audience ranging from funding agencies and governments involved in major research infrastructures, to the astronomy and physics communities, and professional researchers studying complex mega-projects.

Dr Phil Crosby

Phil Crosby trained as a communications engineer in the UK before running his own industrial electronics firm in Sydney. He then worked in scientific instrumentation, followed by 12 years with NATA applying technical management Standards to industry. He established four overseas NATA offices, led a science impact study in Antarctica, and a review of nuclear isotope production at ANSTO. In 2005, Phil joined The Boeing Company as Industry Participation Strategist for aerospace, then moved to CSIRO as Business Strategist for Astronomy and Space. In 2009 he was posted to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope mega-project in the UK in 2009, while completing his PhD in mega science in Manchester.

Phil returned to CSIRO as Assistant Director for Astronomy & Space Science (WA), dividing his time between oversight of the $170 million ASKAP project and industry liaison for the SKA. On returning to Sydney in 2015, Phil joined CSIRO’s new Space Science team, responsible for establishing a credible and capable core group underpinning Australia’s steep sector growth through liaison with Institutions, Government, and Industry. Now an independent consultant in large and complex projects, Phil currently assists public and private organisations on mega-project success, risk management, and international industry engagement strategy.

Phil holds qualifications in electronic engineering, business, and environmental management. His PhD was on success factors of high-technology mega-projects and he is a Fellow of the International Centre for Complex Project Management. Phil is a recipient of the BAE SYSTEMS Chairman’s award for SKA Industry Engagement, and a team recipient of CSIRO’s Chairman’s Medal for the ASKAP telescope project. He is past Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) Advisory Board, and a Member of the ASCER Advisory Board.

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Professor Ronald Ekers

Professor Ekers has held positions in several countries. After gaining his PhD from the Australian National University in 1967, he was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology from 1967 to 1970; a Visiting Astronomer at the the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge UK (1970-71); a Research Astronomer (1971-76) and full Professor (1976-80) at the Kapteyn Laboratory in Groningen, The Netherlands; and Assistant Director at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, New Mexico, USA (1980-88).

He was the first Director of the Very Large Array, the major national radio telescope in the USA, from 1980 until 1988, when he returned to Australia and CSIRO to become the Foundation Director of the Australia Telescope National Facility. He continued in this role until receiving a Federation Fellowship in 2003.

As President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Ron was responsible for the new definition of a planet and the subsequent reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Since 2003, Ron’s main research area (as a Federation Fellow) has involved the understanding of the evolution of the very early universe. His specialty is to devise experiments which exploit modern technology in unusual ways. This has resulted in his involvement in two major efforts, both leading teams which make heavy use of CSIRO resources:

  • to make a short wavelength (1cm) radio survey of the whole southern sky. This is particularly sensitive to galaxies with active black holes in there nuclei.
  • a search for ultra high energy neutrinos using radio telescopes to look for the pulse of Cerenkov emission when they hit the moon.

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