Dr. Tom Landecker, an emeritus researcher, was recently awarded the WG Schneider Medal, the highest expression of recognition for the achievements of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). This award recognizes an employee who has made an outstanding contribution to the NRC above the expectations of their job functions and who exemplifies the values of the NRC.
Dr. Landecker has been a major force and inspiration for Canadian astronomy for 5 decades. With experience in both engineering and astronomy, he has driven technological improvement in the service of science, working with academic partners to develop new telescopes at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) of the NRC that have allowed science, including some of the major World Rapid Burst (FRB) research here in Canada.
He is a publishing power, author of 150 articles in arbitrated journals in science and engineering. It celebrated its 80th anniversary with 9 new newspapers in 2021 alone.
He is highly respected among his peers in astronomy, not only for his experience but also for his enthusiasm, leadership and mentoring, inspiring and encouraging the next generation of Canadian astronomers.
A legacy of telescopes and the discovery they allow
Dr. Landecker first joined the DRAO as a postdoctoral fellow, now part of the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Center in 1969.
In this role, he helped build the Synthesis Telescope, a unique imaging radio telescope open to all Canadian and international astronomers. Later, as director of the DRAO, Dr. Landecker used the Synthesis Telescope to lead the team that conducted one of the largest interstellar (dust and gas) surveys, the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS, 1995-2014). He developed techniques for wide field polarization imaging that have become field standards. The project produced more than 400 publications with advice and continues to generate about 20 more each year. This success ushered in an international era of wide-ranging radio surveys.
After that, Dr. Landecker initiated the Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS), tracing the polarization of the entire radio cell and making it available to all astronomers through the NRC’s Canadian Astronomy Data Center. The GMIMS consortium consists of 14 Canadian and 22 international scientists, including many experts in magnetic field studies.
All projects of Dr. Landecker has developed new technical capabilities to support science that was previously simply not possible, from telescope upgrades and new algorithms for CGPS, to new power concepts and on-site demonstrations that have led to success. of Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping. Experiment (CHIME).
Support for university collaboration
Dr. Landecker has also played a key role in the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), located at the DRAO. He advised university partners on the development of CHIME’s unprecedented “half-pipe” design, to realize a valuable new tool for FRB cosmology and research. CHIME has been spectacularly successful, receiving the Governor General’s Award for Innovation (2020) and the Berkeley Award from the American Astronomical Society (2022). A CHIME result on FRB was praised among the best scientific results of 2020 by both the journals Nature and Science.
“Tom has been absolutely crucial to the success of CHIME, due to his deep knowledge of radio instrumentation, his incredible experience in galactic broadcasting, his enthusiastic appreciation and his detailed knowledge of a wide range. of research topics and their deep respect for their peers “.
Mark Halpern, University of British Columbia and Principal Investigator, CHIME
“Tom has been a major driving force in Canadian radio astronomy for many decades … Tom has been absolutely essential to the development, construction, implementation, testing, calibration and scientific exploitation of CHIME.”
Victoria Kaspi, McGill University and Principal Investigator, CHIME / FRB
Tutoring
The enthusiasm, technical experience, scientific approach and practical work ethic of Dr. Tom Landecker has directly inspired generations of postdoctoral students and fellows. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. She has supervised 17 graduate students at Canadian universities and has worked closely with many more, acting in particular as a strong advocate and mentor for women in engineering and science.
“Tom Landecker has been my mentor since I was in graduate school … In a world full of competitive agents, he’s the most collaborative and inclusive person I’ve ever met. My graduate students and I have I have benefited immensely from your knowledge and wisdom, and I am eternally grateful for your support and friendship. “
Professor Jo-Anne Brown, University of Calgary
“Through mentoring, Tom has encouraged students and postdoctoral fellows, including myself, in fields traditionally dominated by men in astronomy and engineering, always with genuine confidence in their abilities and potential to contribute. … His way of communicating allows me to learn new concepts and fill in the gaps in my understanding as I feel part of a productive conversation. “
Anna Ordog, current postdoctoral fellow, University of British Columbia-Okanagan
Congratulations Tom!