Daily Image
01-11-2007
Hiep Hiep Harvey
| Submitter: | Jan Noordam |
| Description: | Today we say goodbye to Harvey Butcher, our Director for the last 16 years. He has lost some hair in the process, and the rest is a little greyer than before, but by far the greatest change is in the institute he leaves behind. ASTRON is a major player again in world (radio) astronomy. It is building the giant, and highly innovative LOFAR radio telescope, which will stretch over a large part of Europe eventually. It plays a defining role in the design and technology of the even larger Square Km Array (SKA). In the meantime, the venerable Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) still produces the highest quality radio observations in the world, and also serves as a unique testbed for the new SKA technology. And, last but not least, ASTRON is highly respected as a builder of instruments for optical telescopes, like the ESO VLT in Chili, or the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In this highly charged process of progress, ASTRON has changed inevitably. The number of employees has almost doubled in the last 16 years (although not the techno-scientific staff, of course), and the organisation is much more professional. Perhaps more importantly, the big new projects are attracting the Best and the Brightest again. Our new building was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1996, but we are already planning a new one. Etc, etc. For his Vision, Vigour and Vexecution, Harvey has been promulgated as "Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw" (which is pretty high). He also has assorted other awards, like the Wubbo Ockels Prize, and something Big from IBM. We, who are privileged to participate in the great adventure, just say Thank You, Harvey, and Godspeed. |
| Copyright: | ASTRON |
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