Our HPC Hour return for 2021 saw us reaching for the stars. We were so lucky to have Professor Cathryn Trott as our special guest with her presentation: Software Telescopes: Astronomy in the era of the Square Kilometer Array.

Professor Trott is an Associate Professor, and ARC Future Fellow, at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy and International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. Professor Trott leads the Epoch of Reionisation project to explore the first billion years of the Universe with radio telescopes, and is heavily involved in the design and data processing for the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and future Square Kilometre Array (SKA) EoR projects.

As 2020 closed, the SKA Convention was ratified by the final of the five participating nations, completing the process needed for the Observatory to be formally created. The SKA project is one of the most ambitious science and engineering endeavours of the 21st century. Professor Trott’s presentation gave us a taste of just how big a leap the SKA telescopes are from previous telescope technology, and how incredible an impact that will have on future scientific research.

If you missed our HPC Hour in person you can watch it here. (Please note: the final couple of minutes from Professor Trott’s presentation are missing from this recording unfortunately, due to a technical glitch).

Whilst you can catch up on our HPC Hour presentation, you have missed your chance to socialise and network with other HPC buffs and pick the brains of some of the brightest minds in science. But there’s always next time!

Keep an eye on the DUG Blog for the announcement of our next HPC Hour special presentation. Coming soon!