ALMA

Bill Dent says goodbye to ALMA: “I came for 3 years and stayed for 15”

Bill Dent says goodbye to ALMA: “I came for 3 years and stayed for 15”

It was early morning in the control room at OSF. Bill Dent was alone with an operator and typing away when the information on his screen began to slow to a complete stop. Unable to communicate with the antennas, they called the engineers to no success. “We had no contact, so we called management and IT, and that's when...

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With energy and enthusiasm we celebrated these National Holidays together

With energy and enthusiasm we celebrated these National Holidays together

SCO and OSF dressed in red, white and blue this September to share with our colleagues the celebrations of the chilean national holidays. In Santiago we enjoyed a different kind of lunch, with a delicious asado and typical desserts such as motes con huesillos. At OSF, we added traditional Chilean games such as hopscotch to the celebrations. And this...

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Putting out the cigarette: our No-Smoking Program

Putting out the cigarette: our No-Smoking Program

Thinking that health is a priority for everyone, but sometimes external help is needed, our Safety department led an no-smoking campaign for all ALMA staff and our contractors who wanted to quit smoking. The incentive? If they succeeded in overcoming three months of abstinence, they could even be rewarded with a bicycle. Thus, in the first stage of this...

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The Power Group, the energy of ALMA

The Power Group, the energy of ALMA

From turning on the light in a room and running a coffee maker to maintaining the antennas and correlator operations at OSF and AOS.... for everything to work as usual there has to be a team behind it working day and night: that's the Power Group. “All this never appears in the daily and monthly ALMA report because its...

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“Doctor, we’re ready to operate”: WSU’s first PDR

“Doctor, we’re ready to operate”: WSU’s first PDR

The Advanced Technology ALMA Correlator (ATAC), the centerpiece of WSU's new era, has just passed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This means that the observatory's new brain, which will be able to analyze more data from the antenna receivers, is going from strength to strength for the future of ALMA. While Band 2 had previously had a PDR, aligned...

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Ensuring good treatment: the new features of the Karin Law

Ensuring good treatment: the new features of the Karin Law

The newly enacted Law 21.643, also known as the Karin Law, aims to eliminate workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and violence in the workplace. This law came into effect on August 1 in Chile. The regulation, in line with Convention 190 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on violence and harassment at work, modifies the regulatory framework that should govern...

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