[mmaimcal] FYI: 30 Jan '06 BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO

Thu Feb 2 15:00:41 EST 2006

Folks,

Comments, criticisms, corrections?

Al

                     BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
                          30 Jan 2006 - 13 Feb 2006 

******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT****************************
On 31 January, President Bush delivered the annual State of the Union
Address.  Included within that speech is a preview of the major
initiatives to be included in the Administration's forthcoming budget
proposal for fiscal year 2007.  The details of that budget proposal will
be released next week.  Science, normally not an element of State of the
Union speeches, figured prominently in this one.

The President announced the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI),
which includes among its goals doubling the Federal commitment to the 
most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over 
the next 10 years.  The sum of the budgets of the National
Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and
the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and
Technology is proposed to double over 10 years, a total of $50 billion
of new funding. 
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Though of course I cannot speak for the panels, I think most 
participants have felt that the reviews of the past week have gone well. 
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The current issue of Nature has an article on ALMA.  Although it has
some misleading statements, it has been published.   If you have not seen 
it, you might follow this link (there is also a podcast).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7076/full/439526a.html
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Peter Napier assumed his new task as Team Leader for the
ALMA Prototype System Integration group in Socorro.
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Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
See also the JAO ALMA Calendar overview at:
http://www.alma.cl/alma_project
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General Happenings
OSF: Clearing of land for the laydown areas for the Vertex and Mitsubishi
antenna assembly continues. There are about 175 people on the ALMA 
construction site.  The 'Altiplano Winter' remains mild.

AOS: Steel erection on the Technical Building continues.

ATF: Preparations continue for optical pointing tests. 

NTC: A photonics reference from the master laser and laser synthesizer
were propagated over a 10 km fiber from the LO Photonics Lab to the 1st
LO Phase Lock Loop lab.  This was a very successful demonstration for 
the committee reviewing the North American Cost and Management of ALMA.

NAASC:  The North American Cost and Management of ALMA Review takes
place 30 Jan - 1 Feb.
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DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
 Mon  30 January
All Day: North American Cost and Management Review, CV
 Tue  31
All Day: North American Cost and Management Review, CV
 Wed  1 Feb 
All Day: North American Cost and Management Review, CV
01:00 - 2:30 NAASC Meeting
 Thu  2 Feb
Groundhog Day (An astronomical event day, midway between solistice and 
         equinox).
4:00 pm NAASC: Tony Remijan, ALMA postdoc, speaks on "IRAS 16293-2422: 
Evidence for Infall onto a Counter-Rotating Protostellar Accretion Disk". 
 Fri  3 Feb
 Sat  4 Feb
 Sun  5 Feb
 Mon  6 Feb
Visiting Committee, CV.
 Tue  7 Feb
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
4:00 PM-5:00 PM: NAScienceIPT teleconference (open to all interested 
                                 parties) (434)296-7082
 Wed  8 Feb
 Thu  9 Feb
Duisburg:  VERTEX Preliminary Pre-Production Design Review
 Fri  10 Feb
Duisburg:  VERTEX Preliminary Pre-Production Design Review
 Sat  11 Feb
 Sun  12 Feb Lincoln's Birthday
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS ****************************
 Feb 22          2100UT          ASAC Telecon
 Feb 23 	 1500UT 	 ALMA Board telecon 
 Feb 24          1900UT          ANASAC Telecon
 March 20-21	 all day 	 AMAC Meeting 	        Kyoto, Japan
 March 22-24	 all day 	 ALMA Board Meeting 	Kyoto, Japan
 June 13-14    	 all day 	 ALMA Board Meeting 	OSF
 November 9-10 	 all day 	 ALMA Board Meeting 	Madrid 	TBD
 Nov 13-16    all day Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics Madrid
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS ****************************
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******************************ALSO OF INTEREST*****************************
The last issue of the SMA Newsletter said:
A call for proposals for the 1 May - 31 October 2006 period
will be issued in February 2006. Please watch the SMA
website http://sma-www.harvard.edu for the announcement.
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HEAD-NORTH AMERICA ALMA SCIENCE CENTER
REQ. NO.:    CV2327

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is searching for an 
astronomer to head the North American ALMA Science Center located at 
Charlottesville, Virginia. 

The Head of the NAASC has the overall responsibility, and scientific 
leadership, for the development and operations of the Center and fostering 
optimum science use of ALMA by the North American scientific community, 
including overseeing the development of the North American ALMA Regional 
Center and a taking a leading role in the development of the ALMA 
Operations concept for North America.  Please see:
http://www.nrao.edu/administration/personnel_office/careers.shtml#cv2327
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European ALMA Regional Center Manager
Applications are invited for a European ARC Manager in the Data Management 
and Operations Division at the ESO Headquarters in Garching near Munich, 
Germany.  Please see:
http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/adm/pers/vacant/arcmanager.html
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Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
preceding biweekly period to Jennifer Neighbours or Al Wootten via e-mail
(jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu).

The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday by
e-mail to all NRAO scientific staff members and anyone else interested. 
A specific mailing list, alma-info, has been created for anyone wishing 
to receive it.
Past issues are available at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html