Associate Project Manager Blog

Inside TMT, and Around the World, with Ravinder Bhatia

The Thirty Meter Telescope is being designed and built by an international partnership of institutes and countries representing almost half the world’s total population. 

Over the coming weeks, I’ll describe more about the exciting work that is going on among this international partnership in support of the exciting astronomical discoveries that we will make. My aim is to share with you some of the technical highlights of the work that is being done in each country, and also to introduce the people and cultures behind these activities. 

I’m intrigued by the international relations between our partner countries, and want to understand how the history of those relationships have evolved to a point where we can work together on a scientific project that brings together people from so many parts of the world. 

My own responsibilities as Associate Project Manager for TMT involve: 

• coordinating the preparation of all of the work packages which define what is to be done by which team, for what budget, and by when; 
• supporting the technical teams in the execution and oversight of that work across the partnership; and 
• supporting the higher level liaison activities with the managers at our partners, particularly those in East Asia. 

Prior to joining TMT, I was the Lead System Engineer at the ALMA Observatory in Chile, and prior to that, I worked at the European Space Agency.

Stand by for my next article, as we explore together how make a mirror with a diameter of thirty meters.