Michelle Cluver (University of the Western Cape)

MeerKATs with Big IDIAs: How Data-Intensive Astronomy is bringing the Research Cloud to Africa

Abstract

In 2018, the 64 dish MeerKAT radio interferometer will begin full operations, thereby propelling the South African astronomy community into the era of Big Data. In this talk I will give a brief overview of the key science projects that will be running on MeerKAT, as well discuss the role of the Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) in facilitating this “big data” science and how we aim to grow this capacity within strategic research areas in Africa. Global partnerships with SKA countries, such as Australia, are essential for the development of tools and expertise in this dynamic field.