Important Lessons from the Snowfall at the AOS and the OSF
During the last week of June, ALMA experienced extraordinary weather conditions: heavy snowfall covered the Array Operation Site (AOS), and even some snow covered the Operation Support Facility (OSF). An event like this one, caused by a cold front that generated winds of up to 100 km/h, had not...
Celebrating with bonfires, fireworks, parades and pupusas…
"It serves as a beautiful testament to the country's linguistic diversity and unity." describes Stefan Gairing, our Planner & Coordinator of Array Operations & Maintenance, recalling the speeches made in the four national languages of his native Switzerland, with which, every August 1st, they celebrate the...
We celebrate this National Holidays by putting everything on the grill!
With music, food and typical games we celebrated a new "18" at ALMA. It all started on Friday, September 15 at the SCO, where we shared a delicious "asado" and empanadas with our executives.A moment of relaxation in which we also saw the childhood photos sent...
“Breaking the Ice”: Bringing the Middle-Management Team Together
At ALMA we have several layers of organization, and one of them is the Middle-Management Team (MMT). Its members do not belong to the Core Management Team (CMT), but are managers, assistant managers, or other grade 16+. Before the pandemic, its members met from time to...
Saying farewell to the ALMA Software Architect
A few days ago, we received the sad news of the passing of Joseph Schwarz, our former colleague at ESO. Our paths with Joe crossed in 2000, when he moved to the ALMA project at ESO. There he played an essential role in leading the team...
Jumping to another “constellation”: Our former collaborators
There are many who continue their careers elsewhere after working at ALMA, but not before recognizing the importance of our observatory in their professional development.This is the case of Alejandro Barrientos, who worked with us for 12 years as Technical Dataflow Engineer, and today works as...
Our first decade: Héctor Alarcón
His present is in Chile, but his memory takes him to the United States. Specifically, to Socorro, New Mexico. It was there that Héctor Alarcón's relationship with ALMA began 15 years ago.There he was testing the antenna prototypes at the Atacama Test Facility (ATF), and when...