Meet the RATT team - Rhodes University

The
Team
The
Team
Oleg
Gianni
I’m an astronomer at the SKA SA project. I used
radio astronomy to observe the first galaxies, to
understand the evolution of massive clusters of
galaxies and magnetic fields in the Universe.
[email protected]
Josh
Working
as
an
astronomer at the SKA Africa I used modern
(radio) telescopes to study the physics of
galaxies. Telescopes like MeerKAT or the SKA
enable us to observe the cool gas, a very
important ingredient in galaxies.
[email protected]
Lerato
I work in classification of true sources against
fake sources. This will provide great scientific
exploitation of astronomical data. I studied
Physics, Maths and Astrophysics. I’m currently
doing
my
MSc
in
Radio
Astronomy
[email protected]
Kshitij
For my PhD, I
made images of very faint radio emission in
sources beyond our galaxy- and studied their
interactions with their environs. Nowadays I
tinker with radio imaging and calibration
techniques which we hope will give us a clearer
view of our Universe.
[email protected]
Jonathan
I am interested in calibration and high performance
computing. I have a BSc in Physics and Applied
Mathematics. An Honour in Physics and Electronics
and MSc in Physics. I have just started my PhD.
[email protected]
Theophilius
I work on intensity mapping
experiments which is very significant for
upcoming telescopes such as MeerKat. I studied
Maths and Computer. I am currently a PhD
student at Rhodes. [email protected]
Ulrich
I am working on the
variability of radio sources. That is sources
that appear differently between observations.
My method will allow Astronomers to
understand what causes these variations.
[email protected]
Liju
I work with the
Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of
Reionization (EOR), an experiment dedicated
towards the detection of the redshifted hyperfine
Hydrogen 21 cm line from the EOR.
[email protected]
I’m the SKA Research Chair at RATT. I studied
mathematics and did a lot of software, but
eventually found radio astronomy much tastier.
I’m mainly interested in new recipes for
calibration and imaging of radio data.
[email protected]
The
Team
Justin
As SKA SA Associate Director for Science and
Engineering I have to ensure that the MeerKAT
telescope achieves its science objectives. I also
work closely with the international SKA and
dabble in the CBASS project.
[email protected]
Griffin
Following the group fundamental tenet of Vade, et
vade in domum magnum my work is focused on how
to wield the black magic that is interferometry to help
proper scientists discover how our Universe functions.
[email protected]
Sphesihle
I try to make pretty images of
the sky using radio telescopes. This is not always
a straightforward task due to various instrumental
and atmospheric. I did a BSc in computational
physics, and I am pursuing a PhD in astronomy.
[email protected]
Ridhima
PhD student at Rhodes
University. Basically, I look back in time, trying to
unveil the radiations emitted from the first
generation stars, known as the Epoch of
Reionization. [email protected]
Trienko
I am interested in the
calibration of radio data. With better data we
can do better science. Inadequate calibration
can create ghost sources in your image that
don’t exist. I did my PhD in Computer
Engineering. [email protected]
Alexander
I am working on Fringe
Fitting Calibration of the
wide VLBA stations. Both Fourier transform and
Least-square global fringe method will be
applied. I have an MPhil in Computational
Nuclear Science and Engineering.
[email protected]
Roger
I am a radio astronomer primarily focussed on
supermassive black holes. I am particularly
interested finding pairs of black holes in a close
orbit as these are predicted to generate
gravitational waves.
[email protected]
Kelachukwu
My research involves
modelling
the antenna primary beam from
measurement which will take into account all
distortion effects. I am a PhD student.
[email protected]
Tariq
I have just started
working on myMaster in Astrophysics which
aims to tie together the first proposed imaging
runs of black holes, simulations of what we think
these black holes look like and cutting edge
reduction software. [email protected]
Arun
The SKA is going to be the largest Big Data
factory of the future which is expected to
generate one Exabyte data per day. No human
will be able to look at all this data. I train
computers to imitate human wisdom to sift
through the data searching for nuggets of gold
and make new discoveries. [email protected]
Marcellin
I am a PhD student at Rhodes, I used
Mathematics to reduce and accelerate radio
data on computer memory and processors
respectively. Hopefully, my method will
potentially be used for the future SKA.
[email protected]
Modhurita
After my MSc in Physics I did a PhD in
Astronomy. I worked on gravitational lensing – we
can see massive objects in the universe bend light
like a lens would. Now I am developing new
calibration techniques. [email protected]
Ermias
My PhD research focuses on wide-field surveys of
galaxies in continuum and the HI lines with data
obtained from the KAT-7 and the SKA precursor
(MeerKAT). I studied physics and completed my
MSc in radio astronomy
[email protected]
For any further information, visit the websites:
http://www.ru.ac.za/physicsandelectronics/
http://www.ru.ac.za/physicsandelectronics/radioastr
onomycentre/