Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that, following an international search, Dr Douglas Bock has been appointed Director of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, and Director of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).
As Theme Leader and then Program Director for ATNF Operations since 2010, Douglas has led the operation of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), Parkes Telescope, Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and Mopra Telescope - which are used by more than 400 Australian and overseas scientists each year.
He oversaw the transition of ASKAP and the Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory from construction to ASKAP early science. Douglas has also been active in Operations planning for the international Square Kilometre Array project and looks forward to the opportunities ahead for Australia in radio astronomy, and working collaboratively with Australian Universities in evolving the role of the ATNF for the SKA era.
Douglas enjoys working at the interface of astronomy and technology, and this has led to a career focussed on the design, construction, and operation of radio telescopes.
Before coming to CSIRO, Douglas was Project Manager and Assistant Director - Operations for the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). Prior to that, he was Assistant Director for the Radio Astronomy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and System Scientist for the Allen Telescope Array. Douglas was a postdoc at Berkeley and has a PhD in Physics from the University of Sydney.
Douglas will be directing CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science which draws together NASA Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (operated by CSIRO) and CSIRO's radio astronomy activities which cover instrumentation, astrophysics research, SKA planning and pre-construction work, and the Australia Telescope National Facility.
I'd like to personally congratulate Douglas on his appointment and look forward to the energy and direction he will bring to our world class astronomy and space science team.
Regards,
Dave
Dr. David Williams
Executive Director, CSIRO Digital, National Facilities & Collections |
