2nd MIDPREP workshop at MAAD2015 in Aveiro

© NL SKA Office

Extensive harmonizing and optimization discussions led to an excellent event at the second MIDPREP workshop, in conjunction with two SKA consortia meetings. The event, held in Aveiro, Portugal on 20-22 April, was felt to be optimal and timely. It was held under the aegis of the new Portuguese SKA membership, represented by the hosting Institute of Technology (http://engageska-portugal.pt/events/maad/). As at ASTRON last year, the meeting started with a MIDPREP workshop and continued with the Mid-Frequency Aperture Array Consortium (MFAA) and (this time) also with the Single Pixel Feeds SKA Dish Consortium.

The EC-FP7 program MIDPREP facilitates the collaboration between two leading European research institutes (in Sweden and the Netherlands) and three South African university partners. It does this through the exchange of both experienced and early-stage radio scientists and engineers. In this fashion, MIDPREP supports the consortia activities on radio-optics, calibration, ICT, processing. And of course technology views and designs of MID-SKA itself, which will be sited in the Karoo.

Excellent presentations were given (see http://www.astron.nl/midprep2015/programme.php). It was good to note that the important work on sky- and data-simulations originating from SKADS times in Oxford was carried on to S.A. by Ed Elson's work. Similarly, for the ongoing work with the EMBRACE AA Pulsar machine in Nancay by Steve Torchinsky's group. Other MFAA presentations reporting on news and progress on AA's are available in the AAMID consortium database.

After a typical Portuguese tapas reception, the participants enjoyed wonderful Portuguese spring weather, as this picture taken at IT's entry shows. At the end of the first day, the group enjoyed a very nice cultural event where Africa and wine met the participants at the Alianca Underground Museum near Aveiro.