Project Manager’s Corner

I have been on the job for three months now, and I am very excited to be working with a great team on a spectacular project. It is a tremendous privilege to be named the LSST Project Manager. It is already well established that the Project is positioned to address many of today’s compelling questions in astronomy and physics. It will also provide a new paradigm for data intensive science and engineering and will offer countless opportunities to address STEM education. The privilege for me is the opportunity to work with the team of engineers, scientists, and other professionals to derive, build, and commission this observatory. The team has been led by Don Sweeney since 2003, and it is my pleasure to take over and lead this team in making the LSST a reality.

The agency-led reviews in May (see our June issue of E-news) were milestones in several aspects. These reviews were jointly sponsored by the NSF and DOE to address issues and concerns held by each agency. The Cost review focused on the changes made to program cost and schedule in order to align the NSF and DOE elements of the program. The result of this review is a schedule and cost that we now consider to be the baseline not-to-exceed values. The Joint Interface and Management review addressed the LSST management structure of the dual agency program and took a critical look at the interface definitions of those areas where the scope for the two funding agencies depend on each other. The positive comments from both of these review panels were a testament to the hard work completed by a vast number of individuals throughout the team. The team was rewarded with excellent news in July when the National Science Board authorized the Director of the NSF to advance the LSST into the final design phase, an action that also permits the NSF Director to put LSST into a future MREFC budget.

The All Hands Meeting in August was an unmitigated success (see Survey article in this issue). It brought together 267 participants for a week-long meeting to discuss LSST. There were 22 plenary talks and 59 working group sessions throughout the week, so the science collaborators and engineers alike could work together on common and otherwise just important project development issues. Also at the meeting were 32 participants from 29 potential international affiliates, those organizations world-wide that provided letters of interest in supporting LSST operations. The value of bringing the team together was clear, and I will work with the team to provide similar opportunities in the future. All Hands Meetings may not always be this big, but I will strive to bring the scattered members of the collaboration together for more face-to-face interactions.

With the new fiscal year starting in October, the Project is also moving into a new phase to prepare for construction. The NSF has awarded a new cooperative agreement for LSST Design and Development work that starts in fiscal year 2013 and intends to bring the project to the start of construction. There remains uncertainty in the start date for MREFC construction, but the program plan continues a high level of activity focused on preparing for the next Agency reviews and a construction start. The NSF Final Design Review and the DOE CD-3a review are both anticipated late in calendar year 2013, and we will advance the Project to be ready for an MREFC construction start in July 2014.

Article written by Victor Krabbendam.