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Watching the Skies:

Panel Profiles

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Professor Carlos S. Frenk FRS
Eminent cosmologist Professor Carlos S. Frenk is the Ogden Professor of Fundamental
Physics at Durham University, where he also holds the post of Director of the Insitute for
Computational Cosmology (ICC). Carlos studied Theoretical Physics at the University of
Mexico and went on to do his Doctorate in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge,
where he was awarded his PhD in 1981. He took up posts at the University of California
and the University of Sussex before coming to Durham in 1985.

His research interests include cosmology, large-scale structure, galaxy formation and
supercomputer simulations of the formation of cosmic structures. Professor Frenk is the
Principal Investigator of the Virgo Consortium, an international collaboration that works
on cosmological supercomputer simulations. He has received numerous awards and
fellowships. In 2004 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. In 2007 he was awarded
the Daniel Chalonge medal from the Observatoire de Paris. He is one of the most
frequently cited space-science authors in the world ± in 2004 he was the 5th most cited
physical scientist in UK since 1980.

Professor Colin Cunningham BSc(Eng), MSc, CEng, FIET, FIoP, Director, UK ELT
Programme, UK Astronomy Technology Centre
Professor Cunningham leads the UK Extremely Large Telescope R&D programme from
the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. He graduated from Imperial College
in 1974 in Electrical Engineering, and from 1974-78 Colin was at the Jodrell Laboratory,
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and from 1978-86 the Freshwater Biological Association¶s
Windermere Laboratory (NERC) working on biological and environmental
instrumentation. In 1987 Colin joined the Royal Observatory Edinburgh as Project
Manager and Project Engineer for the highly successful SCUBA bolometer array camera
and was the Systems Engineer for the Herschel Space Observatory SPIRE Instrument
from 1997-2001.

One of three founding Directors of the Smart Optics Faraday Partnership, Colin is an
associate member of the Institute of Physics Optics and Photonics Division Committee
and Chair of the Framework 7 Opticon Key Technologies Network. He is a member of
the ESO ELT Science and Engineering Commitee. An Honorary Senior Research Fellow
at Glasgow University and, through the Edinburgh Research Partnership, he is an
Honorary Professor in both the University of Edinburgh School of Engineering and
Electronics and Heriot Watt University's School of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Dr. Robert Pfab, BA, MSci, Dr. Sc. ETH Zürich, Knowledge Exchange Manager, UK
Astronomy Technology Centre
Robert is a Knowledge Exchange Manager at the UK ATC. He focuses on promoting
collaborations between UK industry and the UK ATC, aiming to transfer the knowledge
and experience of the UK ATC¶s professional engineers into an industrial context. He is
also responsible for promoting the industrial engagement of UK companies with the
European Southern Observatory. Robert holds a doctorate in physical chemistry from the
ETH Zurich and is a graduate of Cambridge University.

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Professor Peter Wilkinson: Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of
Manchester
In 1990 Professor Wilkinson wrote the first published paper describing the scientific
rationale for a one square kilometer radio array in a recognizably current form. He has
been involved with SKA planning within various national and international forums ever
since and in 2000 became a founder member of the International Square Kilometre Array
Steering Committee. In 2004, he coordinated both the European (with Prof A. van
Ardenne ASTRON, Netherlands) and UK R&D efforts within the ³SKADS´ programme
and is Chair of the European SKADS Board.

The European and UK R&D for the SKA is centred on the development of an all-digital
broad-band phased array. Professor Wilkinson is also involved with technology R&D for
several other astronomical and non-astronomical programmes (in particular passive mm-
wave imaging) at frequencies up to ~100 GHz. He is keen to identify opportunities to
exploit the technology for other applications within the wider economy.

Phil Crosby, Manager ± Industry Participation Strategy, SKA Program Development

Office
Mr Crosby is responsible for global industry engagement with the project, and supports
procurement and intellectual property management. He is on secondment from his
position of Business Strategist for CSIRO¶s Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF)
where managed long range planning, risk management, industry engagement, and the
ATNF¶s Project Review Board.

Phil initially trained as an electronics and communications engineer with ICL and British
Telecom, before joining Mt Newman Mining (WA) prior to operating his own electronics
business in Sydney. He sold the company and moved into agribusiness in regional NSW
whilst completing a business degree in Armidale. In 1994, he joined the National
Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) in the field of technical management
standards, establishing offices in Korea, India, Chile, and Turkey. Phil also led several
major technical studies, including an impact assessment of Australia¶s Antarctic scientific
stations, and a review of the Australia Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation. He is
currently pursuing a PhD in the area of improving success of mega-science projects.

Professor Ray Sharples BSc, PhD, FRAS, CPhys, MInstP, Director of the Centre for
Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University
Professor Sharples is the head of the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation in the
Department of Physics, which develops advanced instrumentation for large ground- and
space-based telescopes. Ray is also a member of the Extragalactic Astronomy &
Cosmology Group. Technical interests are in adaptive optics and infrared integral field
spectroscopy and on the observational side Ray works on extragalactic globular cluster
systems as probes of galaxy formation theories, and on the evolution of galaxies in
clusters. Ray is the Principal Investigator for KMOS, a ¼15M multi-object, near-infrared,
integral field spectrometer being constructed for the 8.2m ESO Very Large Telescope in
Chile.

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