Organizational Model
& Opportunities
Jorge Ibsen
JAO Computing Group Manager
Case Study: CSRG
 CSRG?
– Computer Systems Research Group
– Explore software frameworks used in large
astronomical projects (VLT, ALMA, others)
– Started as a student initiative after summer
internships at observatories (La Silla, Gemini)
– Driven by curiosity (just for the fun of it)
Case Study: CSRG
 Organization
– Self organized, mimicking organization of a small
development team (10 persons)
– Internal selection process involves the whole team,
preserving group identity independently of individuals
– Three management roles:
 Public interface (university, observatories)
 Projects manager (strategic planning)
 Technical Lead (concrete development)
Case Study: CSRG
 Communication tools
– Traditional (phone, e-mail)
– Instant messaging (yahoo, gtalk, skype)
– Content Management Systems (wikis)
 Faculty Support
– Faculty members involved to insert activities within the
study program (courses, internships, diplomas, etc)
Case Study: CSRG
 Results
– Many publications and development projects
– Development done using high engineering standards,
competitive at an international level
– Funds coming from different sources (research projects
and agreements)
– Inserted into a broader university organization (PIE-A)
Lesson learned:
Required elements
 Students
– Highly motivated and enthusiastic
– Selected both by technical (hard) and social
(soft) skills (competences)
 Faculty members
– Supportive
– Involved
Lesson learned:
Required elements
 Communications
– Frequent
– Periodic
– Redundant
 Projects
– Committed contact point
– Interested topics for both parties
Possibilities
 Summer Internships
– 8 weeks at 100% (January and February)
– Work in a self contained project (inserted on a
broader scope)
– Complete integration to a existing work team
The goal would be to be fully immerse in
observatory life, while developing a project
Possibilities
 Engineering Diploma/Master and/or PhD
thesis
– Duration depending on the thesis type (6 to 24
months)
– Work mostly at the university with visits to an
observatory
– For Master/PhD thesis, they should contribute
to a broader research line
Possibilities
 Co-operative Education (“Practicantes”)
– 6 months working at a observatory
– Assigned to a self contained development
– Complete integration to an existing work team
– Idea is to validate this experience as part of the
universities studies
Opportunities
 Multidisciplinary work
– Software
– Electronics
– Mechanics
 Inter-university collaboration
– Student exchange
– Training
– Project co-development
Conclusions
 There is an opportunity window
 It is possible to re-use previous experiences
 Multidisciplinary inter-university
collaboration is aligned to current
international projects development
organizational structures
Questions