“It is very gratifying to realize that the work done contributed to an important global milestone”

Apr 20, 2023 | News | 1 comment

Tags: ALMA

☆☆☆☆☆
Óscar was short of breath. His six years’ experience working in thermoelectric power plants had helped him land a position with us, but nothing anticipated him for the Chajnantor’s altitude.

“I had a hard time assimilating the environmental conditions to which we are subjected,” says Óscar Alarcón, 10 years after arriving as an Operator of the Power Generation and Distribution area of the observatory in the ADE-IMG/PO area.

Before, the use of medical oxygen was not mandatory as it is now, and that made it difficult for Óscar to breathe. An irony, because over time his job has been to take care of ALMA’s “lungs”: he is one of the people in charge of safeguarding and managing the three turbines that support all the electrical demand required to carry out scientific operations, along with other services that make it possible to live and work at the site.

A tough job, but one that he does not do alone: “The team we have is very united, we are always supporting each other in the tasks to be developed in case there is a lack of personnel or the work is required quickly. We also have a very good relationship with the antenna area-AMG, we collaborate with each other”, says Óscar.
This fraternity as a team has been developed over time, and for this reason they are always looking for recreational activities outside working hours to strengthen ties: “At the beginning, when I first arrived, we used to organize pool championships among colleagues, we went to the movies a lot, or to the music room”, recalls Óscar.

Today these recreational activities have been replaced by sports, with more emphasis on physical conditioning, with cardio exercises, weights, soccer, tennis and basketball, among others.

And that hard work, coupled with camaraderie and collaboration, has paid off, as was the capture of the first image of a black hole, which Oscar recalls with pride: “It is very gratifying to realize that the work we did contributed to an important milestone worldwide. These are the things that make you really proud,” he says.
But his commitment continues into the future: “Over the years ALMA has acquired much more important scientific challenges that commit us to develop our work as a team more efficiently. In my case, there is a greater degree of responsibility in the work developed to satisfy the scientific commitments acquired”, concludes Óscar.

“I would like to remember René, because I believe that he, to a great extent, represented many values that ALMA wishes to instill and transmit.

He was enthusiastic in what he did, giving talks on astro-photography to anyone who was interested, always participating in the different branches of ARA. In him we could see many leadership abilities, as he was a very respectful and kind person.

I would like, through this newsletter, to remember him and pay tribute to his memory and all that he represents for the institution”.

Oscar’s words to his friend René Durán, who worked in the Safety area and who left us two years ago.

These 10 years are also his.

1 Comment

  1. Martin Diaz
    Martin Diaz on April 20, 2023 at 7:57 pm

    Lindas palabras para René Oscar!! Además de las extraodinarios fotos que acompañan este artículo!!
    Un abrazo y nos vemos en el OSF!!

    Reply

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