Profile
Angus Gallie
My CV
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Education:
Allan Glen’s Secondary School, Glasgow (1968 – 1973); Glasgow College of Technology (1973 – 1976); University of Strathclyde (1977-1979)
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Qualifications:
BSc in Mechanical Engineering.
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Work History:
Current job: – UK Astronomy Technology Centre (2002 to present); Howdens Compressors; Precision Actuation Systems; Cooper Oil Tool; Motorola Semiconductors; Barr and Stroud Optical Engineers; Rolls Royce.
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Current Job:
My current job is: – Senior Mechanical Engineer
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Read more
I am a senior mechanical engineer. I work at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh, on projects where we design, manufacture and commission instruments for large astronomical telescopes throughout the world. I get involved at the very start of projects, where the scientists present science goals and an instrument concept to achieve these goals. The most satisfying part of the work is that I am involved from this concept stage right through to building the instrument, carrying out tests then ultimately installing it on the telescope! Because these are often very large projects, we usually work with other teams across Europe and the world. Right now I’m working on the ‘European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which will be the largest ground-based telescope in the world!
The telescope will be sited in Chile on a 3000 metre high mountain in the Atacama desert (one of the driest places on earth!). It is planned to start telescope operations in 2025. We are working very hard right now on the design of an instrument which will be one of the first to collect images and data. This instrument called ‘HARMONI’, is the size of a small house!
In the past I worked on the design of an instrument for a new space telescope. We delivered our module almost ten years ago and we are now getting really excited about the launch in 2021 of…….the James Webb Telescope!
Although my work on the Webb telescope was completed some time ago, I have been involved in a really big promotion campaign in the UK to get everyone excited by this ‘Successor to Hubble’ space telescope and the scientific discoveries which it will deliver. It’s going to get really exciting in the build-up to launch!
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My Typical Day:
Based at my desk in Edinburgh I work with engineers, scientists and managers locally and across Europe.
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My Interview
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What don't you like about your current job?
Sometimes there are demands coming from outside the core design team, which can be difficult to manage.
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