Mr. Gerhard Pieter Swart Profile

Gerhard Pieter Swart

Telescope Engineer: MID at SKA Observatory

SPIE Involvement:

Conference Program Committee | Author

Proceedings Article | 11 September 2024 Presentation + Paper

Construction update for the Square Kilometre Array Observatory

Gerhard Swart, Philip Diamond, Lewis Ball, Simon Berry, Robert Braun, Andrea Casson, Tracy Cheetham, Antonio Chrysostomou, Peter Dewdney, Robert Laing, Maria Grazia Labate, Ben Lewis, Lindsay Magnus, Joseph McMullin, Sarah Pearce, Nick Rees, Antony Schinckel, Luca Stringhetti, Andre van Es

Proceedings Volume 13094, 130940L (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3021248

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Observatories, Signal processing, Design, Pulsars, Antennas, Software development, Data processing

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Proceedings Article | 29 August 2022 Presentation + Paper

The Square Kilometre Array project update

J. McMullin, P. Diamond, M. Caiazzo, A. Casson, T. Cheetham, P. Dewdney, R. Laing, B. Lewis, A. Schinckel, L. Stringhetti, N. Rees, A. van Es, M. Labate, G. Swart, Lewis Ball, S. Berry, R. Braun, A. Chrysostomou, L. Magnus, S. Pearce

Proceedings Volume 12182, 121820Q (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2642184

KEYWORDS: Observatories, Optical instrument design, Telescopes, Prototyping, Signal processing, Antennas, Astronomical telescopes, Radio telescopes, Interferometry, Radio astronomy

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SPIE Journal Paper | 17 February 2022

Precise timescale, frequency, and time-transfer technology for the Square Kilometer Array

Aniket Hendre, Bassem Alachkar, Paul Boven, Songlin Chen, Hannah Collingwood, John Davis, Peter Dewdney, David Gozzard, Keith Grainge, Charles Gravestock, Yichen Guo, David Hindley, Maria Grazia Labate, Sascha Schediwy, Simon Stobie, Luca Stringhetti, Gerhard Swart, Bo Wang, Lijun Wang, Mark Waterson, Richard Whitaker, Althea Wilkinson

JATIS, Vol. 8, Issue 01, 011022, (February 2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.011022

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Optical fibers, Receivers, Transmitters, Clocks, Satellite navigation systems, Calibration, Receptors, Signal attenuation, Radio telescopes

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SPIE Journal Paper | 31 January 2022

Assessment of the performance impact of direction-independent effects in the Square Kilometre Array

Bassem Alachkar, Peter Dewdney, Luca Stringhetti, Songlin Chen, Keith Grainge, Maria Grazia Labate, Aniket Hendre, Alice Pellegrini, Jayashree Roy, Gerhard Swart, Mark Waterson

JATIS, Vol. 8, Issue 01, 011020, (January 2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.011020

KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Visibility, Quantization, Calibration, Interference (communication), Receptors, Signal attenuation, Analog electronics, Error analysis, Telescopes

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SPIE Journal Paper | 24 January 2022 Open Access

Highlights of the SKA1-Mid telescope architecture

Gerhard Swart, Peter Dewdney, Andrea Cremonini

JATIS, Vol. 8, Issue 01, 011021, (January 2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.011021

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Pulsars, Data processing, Observatories, Control systems, Signal processing, Calibration, Optical instrument design, Data modeling, Antennas

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Proceedings Article | 13 December 2020 Poster + Paper

Highlights of the SKA1-Mid Telescope architecture

Gerhard Swart, Peter Dewdney

Proceedings Volume 11450, 114502T (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2563278

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Signal processing, Radio telescopes, Antennas, Observatories, Pulsars, Data processing, Data storage, Optical instrument design, Prototyping

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Proceedings Article | 13 December 2020 Presentation + Paper

The Square Kilometre Array project

J. McMullin, P. Diamond, A. McPherson, R. Laing, P. Dewdney, A. Casson, L. Stringhetti, N. Rees, T. Stevenson, M. Lilley, A. van Es, M. G. Labate, G. Swart, A. Schinckel, T. Cheetham, M. Caiazzo, M. Austin, L. Ball, S. Berry, R. Braun, A. Chrysostomou

Proceedings Volume 11445, 1144512 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2565117

KEYWORDS: Observatories, Antennas, Radio telescopes, Interferometry, Chemical elements, Radio astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Prototyping

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Proceedings Article | 13 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

Square Kilometer Array project status report

Alistair McPherson, Joe McMullin, Tim Stevenson, Peter Dewdney, Andrea Casson, Luca Stringhetti, Miles Deegan, Peter Hekman, Martin Austin, Mark Harman, Phillip Gibbs, Andre Van Es, Maria-Grazia Labate, Gerhard Swart, Marco Ciaizzo, Daniel Hayden, Wallace Turner

Proceedings Volume 10700, 107000Y (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312438

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Pulsars, Signal processing, Antennas, Data processing, Space telescopes, Control systems, Calibration, Observatories, Data archive systems

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Proceedings Article | 23 June 2006 Paper

Completion and commissioning of the Southern African Large Telescope

David A. Buckley, Gerhard Swart, Jacobus Meiring

Proceedings Volume 6267, 62670Z (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.673750

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Mirrors, Image quality, Imaging spectroscopy, Observatories, Control systems, Optical instrument design, Received signal strength, Large telescopes, Calibration

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Proceedings Article | 16 September 2004 Paper

Telescope performance verification

Gerhard Swart, David Buckley

Proceedings Volume 5497, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551360

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Mirrors, Acquisition tracking and pointing, Image segmentation, Systems engineering, Safety, Image quality, Large telescopes, Optical instrument design, Inspection

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Proceedings Article | 15 September 2004 Paper

Facing software complexity on large telescopes

Gerhard Swart, Deon Bester, Janus Brink, Clifford Gumede, Hendrik Schalekamp

Proceedings Volume 5496, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551455

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Software development, Human-machine interfaces, LabVIEW, Standards development, Computer architecture, Control systems, Optical instrument design, Mirrors, Large telescopes

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Proceedings Article | 15 September 2004 Paper

Flexible pointing models for large Arecibo-type optical telescopes

Hendrik Schalekamp, Gerhard Swart

Proceedings Volume 5496, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552178

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Telescopes, Mathematical modeling, Reflectors, Optical instrument design, Optical telescopes, Spherical lenses, Error analysis, Reflector telescopes, Large telescopes

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Proceedings Article | 7 July 2004 Paper

Many segments and few dollars: SALT solutions for ELTs?

David Buckley, Jacobus Meiring, Jian Swiegers, Gerhard Swart

Proceedings Volume 5382, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.566263

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Telescopes, Sensors, Image quality, Optical coatings, Optical instrument design, Large telescopes, Control systems, Monochromatic aberrations, Cameras

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Proceedings Article | 4 February 2003 Paper

Why systems engineering on telescopes?

Gerhard Swart, Jacobus Meiring

Proceedings Volume 4837, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457026

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Systems engineering, Mirrors, Image quality, Control systems, Defense and security, Software development, Large telescopes, Optical instrument design, Prototyping

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Although Systems Engineering has been widely applied to the defence industry, many other projects are unaware of its potential benefits when correctly applied, assuming that it is an expensive luxury. It seems that except in a few instances, telescope projects are no exception, prompting the writing of this paper. The authors postulate that classical Systems Engineering can and should be tailored, and then applied to telescope projects, leading to cost, schedule and technical benefits. This paper explores the essence of Systems Engineering and how it can be applied to any complex development project. The authors cite real-world Systems Engineering examples from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The SALT project is the development and construction of a 10m-class telescope at the price of a 4m telescope. Although SALT resembles the groundbreaking Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) in Texas, the project team are attempting several challenging changes to the original design, requiring a focussed engineering approach and discernment in the definition of the telescope requirements. Following a tailored Systems Engineering approach on this project has already enhanced the quality of decisions made, improved the fidelity of contractual specifications for subsystems, and established criteria testing their performance. Systems Engineering, as applied on SALT, is a structured development process, where requirements are formally defined before the award of subsystem developmental contracts. During this process conceptual design, modeling and prototyping are performed to ensure that the requirements were realistic and accurate. Design reviews are held where the designs are checked for compliance with the requirements. Supplier factory and on-site testing are followed by integrated telescope testing, to verify system performance against the specifications. Although the SALT project is still far from completion, the authors are confident that the present benefits from Systems Engineering on the project will be felt through telescope commissioning and testing.

Showing 5 of 14 publications

Conference Committee Involvement (4)

Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy XI

16 June 2024 | Yokohama, Japan

Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy X

17 July 2022 | Montréal, Québec, Canada

Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy IX

14 December 2020 | Online Only, California, United States

Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy IX

13 December 2020 | San Diego, California, United States

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