From the School Director

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue54 1–31 August 2024

Future Fellows were announced in the past month and I was extremely pleased to see Craig Anderson was successful with his project 'Mapping the Gas that Drives Galaxy Evolution with Magnetic Dye Tracers.'

Also announced were ALMA programs, and I am pleased to pass on the news that Melanie Kaasinen is CI on a successful new Large Program looking at evolution of galaxy disks.

A significant event from the past month was the GMTIFS Preliminary Design review. Congratulations to all those who participated in this significant project milestone.

Congratulations also to Neco Kreil who made it to the ANU final of the 3 minute Thesis. I greatly enjoyed hearing Neco tell us how the Universe became magnetised, and how these fields are the architects of galaxies, as well as all the other 3MT contestants.

It is a very big upcoming month. It is now only 4 weeks until the Mount Stromlo 100th Anniversary Symposium. The program is now on the web site. We have 154 registrations joining us on the 18 September for the Symposium, which will be followed by a Gala Dinner at the Hyatt Canberra. A reminder that all Stromlites are welcome and encouraged to attend the Mount Stromlo 100th Anniversary Symposium. Registrations are closed, but if you have not managed to register, you may ask Cristy very nicely. It is going to be a wonderful event.

Also in the week of the symposium we will have a public talk from Professor Tamara Davis on The Dark Side of the Universe, which will be held in the Physics lecture theatre on the evening of Thursday 19th, as well as the Annual Stromlo Students Symposium.

I am excited to report that the IEEE has dedicated a milestone to Mount Stromlo, including recognising the important roles of engineers in the history of Mount Stromlo Observatory. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) established its milestone program to honour significant technical and scientific achievements throughout the world. The milestone nomination was made to align with the 100th anniversary and will be unveiled by the IEEE President & CEO Thomas Coughlin on 3 September.

Please read on to learn about activities in what has been another busy month right across RSAA.

Stuart Wyithe

Image: ANU 3MT finalist RSAA PhD student Neco Kriel.