Alec Thomson
SKA-Low Commissioning Scientist at SKA Observatory
Perth, Western Australia
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolAlec Thomson is an astrophysicist and SKA-Low Commissioning Scientist with nine years' experience building and commissioning radio astronomy instrumentation and analysing polarisation data across ASKAP, MeerKAT and SKA pathfinder projects. He holds a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from ANU and has progressed from outreach and tutoring roles into research and instrument commissioning at CSIRO and the SKA Observatory. Alec specialises in probing cosmic magnetic fields through large radio surveys and practical telescope commissioning, pairing observational science with hands-on system validation. Based in Perth, he blends technical leadership on next-generation low-frequency arrays with a strong commitment to public engagement and collaborative science. An underappreciated strength is his track record of translating complex polarisation datasets into robust, operational insights that directly inform telescope deployment and survey strategies.
10 years of coding experience
6 years of employment as a software developer
Australian National UniversityBachelor of Science - BS (Honours), Physics, First class honours, Bachelor of Science - BS (Honours), Physics, First class honours at University of Tasmania
Japanese
Github Skills (94)
python10
astronomy10
distributed-computing10
pydata10
core-library10
latex10
infrared10
spectra10
spectrum10
dask10
pandas9
task-scheduler9
science9
slurm9
gps9
Programming languages (8)
Github contributions (5)
AlecThomson/vis-downloader
Dec 2024 - Jul 2026
Contributions:1 release, 5 reviews, 8 PRs in 1 year 7 months
AlecThomson/arrakis
Jul 2023 - Feb 2026
Contributions:31 releases, 3 reviews, 83 PRs in 2 years 7 months
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