Inclusion in an international training program for early-career engineers and scientists in the Thirty Meter Telescope partnership

Creators: McConnell, Nicholas J.; Barnes, Austin; Skidmore, Warren; Kupke, Renate; Lu, Jessica; Roberts, Scott; Bhatia, Ravinder; Dawson, Sandra; Sanders, Gary H.; Hunter, Lisa

Others:: Adler, David S.; Seaman, Robert L.; Benn, Chris R.

Abstract

The TMT Early-Career Initiative (TECI) is an innovative, evolving program designed to support inclusion in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) by engaging graduate students and postdocs in TIO projects, and preparing them with skills required to contribute to the project and advance in their careers. TECI has an annual cycle that begins with a workshop that includes project management, instrument design, and teamwork sessions, and engages participants in projects that could lead to visits and new collaborations. Project teams are led by the participants themselves, who consult with a member of the relevant technical team or project staff. In this paper we describe the components of TECI, our approach to designing it, and outcomes from our early piloting in 2016-17, as well as our first full program in 2018-19.

Additional Information

© 2020 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). TECI has developed from the efforts of numerous individuals and teams. In particular, we thank Christophe Dumas, Fengchuan Liu, and Claire Max for ongoing support of TECI, as well as the TMT Workforce, Education, Public Outreach, and Communication (WEPOC) group, including Gordon Squires, Wako Aoki, Yiping Wang, Samir Dhurde, Eric Chisholm, Mitch Aiken, and Janesse Brewer. Rafael Palomino, Maureen Savage, Dave Palmer, and Hanne Buur have made substantial contributions to TECI's curriculum. TECI participant selection and the TECI Workshop would not be possible without the administrative and logistical support of Nicole Mattacola and Diana Bisel. Finally, we thank Tamara Ball for providing input on TECI outcomes and the preparation of this manuscript. TECI was funded by the TIO Project Office in Pasadena, California and University of California Observatories. The TMT Project gratefully acknowledges the support of the TMT collaborating institutions. They are the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of China and their consortium partners, the Department of Science and Technology of India and their supported institutes, and the National Research Council of Canada. This work was supported as well by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, and the Department of Atomic Energy of India.

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