Events calendar
Government of Western Australia SKA Project Event
The Western Australian Government is holding a science and technology satellite event in London during G’DayUK 2009 to promote science and joint work in Western Australia.
The satellite event will demonstrate both the high standard of science in Western Australia/Australia and the UK and what can be achieved through greater collaboration, as well as generate excitement about the important proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.
The SKA plan is for a revolutionary next-generation radio telescope 50 to 100 times more sensitive than present day instruments. It will involve an array of several thousand receiver dishes, potentially spread across Australia and even to New Zealand and with a collecting area of one million square metres.
Presentations at the event will be based on the joint work being undertaken in the UK and Australia and the potential discoveries from the SKA.
Key speakers planned are:
Professor Peter Quinn – University of Western Australia
Prof. Peter Quinn, a Premier’s Fellow in Astronomy, is the Director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Perth. He is also Member Western Australia Radio Astronomy Committee; a Member of Australian Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Coordination Committee; and the Australian representative on the international SKA Science and Engineering Committee.
Professor Phil Diamond – University of Manchester
Prof. Phil Diamond is the Director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, part of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. He is part of the International SKA Steering Committee, which he chaired from 2004 to 2006, and is now the Co-ordinator of the EC-funded FP7 Preparatory Phase Study for the SKA (PrepSKA). PrepSKA is a global collaboration which is preparing the design of the SKA and developing plans for the governance, legal framework and funding of the project. Prof. Diamond is also a Member UK Joint Astronomy Centre Science Review Panel
Professor Barry Marshall
In 2005 Prof. Barry Marshall, along with J. Robin Warren, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their 1982 discovery that a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, causes one of the most common and important diseases of mankind, peptic ulcer disease. He was recently awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causea at the University of Oxford, UK and the Honorary Doctorate in Medicine at Örebro University, Sweden.
Premium Western Australian wines will be showcased at the event, and as well as providing an opportunity for networking together with scientific briefings which have been designed for both good science and a wider appeal, it will also highlight Western Australia as an attractive tourist destination.
If you would like to attend the Government of Western Australia Science and Technology Satellite Event, please contact:
Sally Jansen
Government of Western Australia
Tel: 020 7395 0562
Email: sally@wago.co.uk
For more information on the Australian SKA project please visit www.ska.gov.au