All-Hands Q4: Shared achievements with eyes on 2026
On November 27, a new edition of All-Hands was held, where the ALMA community reviewed the scientific, operational, and organizational milestones of recent months with a view to 2026. “It is essential to recognize the observatory's achievements, especially because they are the reason why ALMA works so well and...
Doing science of (at) very high level
The Chajnantor is a privileged place for the astronomical world, but few know what it is like to work at that altitude. For this reason, we have received numerous visits from experts in Hypoxia to determine the impact of the lack of oxygen on the brain....
The race against time for Cycle 10
On Saturday, September 30th, a new cycle of observations began. And if every year it is a great challenge to meet the stipulated deadlines, the cyber-attack we suffered at the end of October 2022 made the start of Cycle 10 a real race against the clock."All...
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...