Tim Colegate

G’day, my name is Tim Colegate.

I commenced my studies at Curtin in 2001, and graduated in 2005 with a double degree in Physics & Computer Science at Curtin University. In 2007 I graduated with Honours in Physics.

Tim Colegate with partially constructed dish

During my honours I was engaged in part-time employment, working with people at CSIRO in Sydney on performance and cost modelling for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio-telescope.

Having commenced my PhD studies in 2008, I am now looking at how we can better design the SKA to explore the time-variable events that occur in the sky. This involves an analysis of known and likely time-domain phenomena and their underlying astrophysics, as well as investigating areas of unexplored parameter space. The aim is to use this information as an input to the current performance and cost modelling effort being undertaken for the SKA, which Curtin is involved in.

What I enjoy most about my research is being involved in the worldwide cooperative effort which is necessary for a project such as the SKA to succeed, as well as learning about the challenges of building such a mega-science project, possibly right on our doorstep. Two trips to the University of Cambridge in the UK over the last couple of years has certainly been a great opportunity to see what work other groups are doing for the SKA.