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18 September 2018
Adaptive Optics Facility Team Named Recipient of OSA’s 2018 Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award
18 September 2018
Adaptive Optics Facility Team Named Recipient of OSA’s 2018 Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award
Pioneering engineering provides astronomers invaluable tool to explore the universe.
WASHINGTON — The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce that the Adaptive Optics Facility on the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory, is the winner of the 2018 Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) team is recognized “for equipping one of the 8-m Unit Telescopes at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile with an Adaptive Optics Laser Guide Star Facility, providing exquisite images to the unique 3-D spectrograph MUSE and near-infrared imager HAWK-I”.
The 2018 award was presented last night during the Award Ceremony and Reception held during the OSA Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science APS/DLS conference in Washington DC, USA. ESO team members Robin Arsenault, Johann Kolb and Elise Vernet accepted the award on behalf of the entire 90-member team.
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“The team’s work has opened a new chapter in astronomical research telescopes, which will have a significant impact on other observatories world-wide and science as a whole,” says Award Selection Committee Chair, Ann C. Von Lehmen, National Science Foundation, USA.
Large and extremely large astronomical ground-based telescopes built today rely on adaptive optics to achieve maximum resolution and sensitivity. Adaptive optics compensate for changes in the Earth’s atmosphere to produce sharper images.
After a successful first generation of adaptive optics systems in astronomy, the team proposed an ambitious technological development program with the goal of providing an even more advanced adaptive optics telescope for the astronomy community. The project will be critical to development of adaptive optics systems for ESO’s upcoming 39-m Extremely Large Telescope.
The ESO team established several successful engineering collaborations with partners and industries to bring key components of adaptive optics systems to the next technological level, including:
· Robust and compact 20-watt sodium lasers
· One-meter class deformable mirrors and polishing of large, thin mirrors;
· Fast, noiseless detector systems for wave-front sensing
· High-power real-time computers and compact and accurate projector telescopes for artificial star creation.
The project is a significant example of the importance of innovation in science and industry, which will be necessary to face the upcoming challenges of the Extremely Large Telescope.
The Engineering Excellence Award was established by OSA in 1989. In 2007, the award was named in remembrance of Paul F. Forman, who helped raise visibility for the field of optical engineering. The team award recognizes technical achievements such as product engineering, process, software and patent development, as well as contributions to society such as engineering education, publication and management, and public appreciation of optical engineering. For more information on the award or the nomination process, visit OSA Awards.
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org.
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Team Members
Management
Robin Arsenault, AOF Project Manager
Pierre-Yves Madec, AOF System Engineer
Norbert Hubin, AOF Project definition and Steering Committee Chair
Harald Kuntschner, AOF Project Scientist
Jean-Francois Pirard, Telescope UT4 Upgrade for AOF and Commissioning manager
Lieselotte Jochum, Project Controller
System & Optics
Jerome Paufique, GRAAL module system Engineer
Elise Vernet, (ESO) DSM system Engineer
Paolo La Penna, GALACSI module sub-system manager
Stefan Stroebele, GALACSI module system Engineer
Wolfgang Hackenberg, 4LGSF sub-system manager
Domenico Bonaccini Calia, 4LGSF system Engineer
Enrico Fedrigo, Real Time Standard Platform sub-project manager
Johann Kolb, Lead Adaptive Optics system physicist
Sylvain Oberti, Adaptive Optics system physicist
Steffan Lewis, 4LGSF Lasers contract manager
Miska Le Louarn, Adaptive Optics simulations
Pierre Haguenauer, Adaptive Optics commissioning Engineer
Marc Sarazin, Astronomical Site Monitoring upgrade (for AOF) manager
Antonio Manescau-Hernandez, (ESO) MUSE System Engineer
Bernard Delabre, AOF Optical Design
Bernard Buzzoni, Optical Technician (Launch Tel. Testing)
Stéphane Guisard, Optical Engineer (DSM installation & alignment)
Ronald Holzloehner, 4LGSF laser physicist (return flux simulation & analysis)
Samuel Leveque, Optical Engineer (metrology and alignment methods)
Control, Electronics & Detector Systems
Mario Kiekebusch, Lead Software Engineer for GRAAL & GALACSI
Mauro Comin, Software Engineer for the 4LGSF
Javier Argomedo, Software Engineer for GRAAL
Robert Donaldson, Software Engineer for the Real-Time Adaptive Optics control
Christian Soenke, Electronic Engineer for the Real-Time Adaptive Optics control
Marcos Suarez Valles, Real Time Standard Platform sub-project manager
Philippe Duhoux, Adaptive Optics Software Engineer
Steward McClay, Software Engineer support for the 4LGSF
Dan Popovic, Software Engineer support for the 4LGSF
Ivan Munoz, Software Engineer, Interface with Telescope Control Software
Gianluca Chiozzi, Software Engineer for Astronomical Site Monitoring Upgrade
Heiko Sommer, Software Engineer for Astronomical Site Monitoring Upgrade
Dario Dorigo, Software Engineer for Astronomical Site Monitoring Upgrade
Thomas Bierwirth, Manager for Software development for the Astronomical Site Monitoring Upgrade
Ignacio Vera, Data Base Administrator
Giorgio Calderone, Software Engineer
Michel Duchateau, Lead Electronic Engineer for GALACSI
Andreas Jost, Lead Electronic Engineer for GRAAL
Ivan M. Guidolin, Lead Electronic Engineer for the 4LGSF
Lothar Kern, Electronic Engineer for the 4LGSF Safety Systems
Gert Fischer, Senior Electronic Technician
Andreas Haimerl, Electronic Technician
Pablo Gutierrez-Cheetham, Electronic Engineer for GALACSI
Lorenzo Pettazzi, Control Engineer
Babak Sedghi, Control Engineer
Fernando Gago, Control Engineer
Mark Downing, Lead Electronic Engineer for WFS Detector Development
Javier Reyes, Senior Detector Engineer
Mirko Todorovic, Electronic Engineer
Leander Mehrgan, Detector Engineer
Mechanics & AIV
Ralf Conzelmann, Lead Mechanical Engineer for GRAAL & GALACSI
Ronald Guzman, Mechanical Engineer for 4LGSF
Marco Quattri, Mechanical Engineering & Analysis for 4LGSF
Paul Jolley, Mechanical Engineer
Rob Ridings, Mechanical Engineer
Jose Antonio Abad, Mechanical Engineer
Christophe Frank, Mechanical Engineer
Jutta Quentin, Drafting
Juan Carlos Palacio, Mechanical Engineer
Sebastien Tordo, Lead Integration Engineer
Jean-Louis Lizon, Senior Integration & Cryogenic Engineer
Christophe Dupuy, Senior Integration Engineer
Thomas Pfrommer, Integration Physicist for 4LGSF
Emmanuel Aller-Carpentier, Integration Engineer
Stefan Huber, Mechanical Technician
Jean-Paul Kirchbauer, Mechanical Technician
Commissioning, Science & Operation
Joël Daniel Roger Vernet, GALACSI-MUSE Instrument Scientist
Pascale Hibon, GRAAL/Hawk-I Instrument Scientist
Paola Amico, Laser Traffic Control System Engineer
Peter Hammersley, UT4 re-commissioning
Stéphane Brillant, On-Site Science Operation
Javier Valenzuela, On-Site Instrumentation Engineer
Diego Del Valle, On-Site Software Engineer
Jose-Luis Álvarez, On-Site Laser Operation Engineer
Juan Carlos Guerra, On-Site Adaptive Optics Engineer
Christian Ramirez, On-Site Mechanical Engineer
Juan Beltran, On-Site Instrumentation Specialist
Pedro Baksai, On-Site Software Engineer
Pierre Bourget, On-Site Optical Engineer
Pierre Sansgasset, On-Site Optical Engineer
Volker Heinz, On-Site UT4 Upgrade support
Eloy Fuenteseca, On-Site Cooling Facility upgrade
Fernando Selman, On-Site Instrumentation Scientist
George Hau, On-Site Science Operation
Dominika Wylezalek, MUSE Data Reduction
About The Optical Society
The Optical Society (OSA) is dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving, and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics worldwide. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students, and others interested in the science of light. OSA’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources, and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical, and educational achievement.
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