Dr Richard Lord : The Acquisition of KAT-7

KAT-7 is a prototype system of the MeerKAT project – a world class radio telescope being developed in the Karoo. The KAT-7 is nearing completion and is in the final stages of establishing its operational baseline. KAT-7 is a critical stepping stone in the MeerKAT project and many valuable lessons have been learnt on what it means to deploy a high tech facility on a remote greenfields site. The presentation traces the whole acquisition cycle – from concept definition to operational baseline, highlighting some of the key challenges and lessons learnt.