Ozgrav associate investigator adam deller and the difx team win the peter mcgregor prize

OzGrav Associate Investigator Adam Deller and the Distributed FX Correlator (DiFX) team was recently awarded  the Peter McGregor Prize by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA). This is a newly created and prestigious award to celebrate major achievements in the development of astronomical instrumentation and technology, both hardware and software.

The Distributed FX Correlator (DiFX) is a software package that contains tools necessary to turn an array of radio telescope signals into a functioning radio interferometer. The nominations and letters of support made a very strong case arguing the innovative nature of the DiFX and its impact.

The DiFX transformed long-baseline interferometry. It has contributed significantly to reducing the barrier to entry and play a major role in radio astronomy research internationally. The system has enabled a wide range of science, as testified by the very high number of references to the key technical papers. The open-access nature of the software has put a new tool in the hands of astronomers, with demonstrated positive results. Its scalability and adaptability continues to enable researchers to tailor its behaviour and pursue what would otherwise be difficult science goals. DiFX was also used to image the black hole event horizon in 2018, so it’s evidently powerful.

The DiFX collaboration includes the following contributors:
Adam Deller (leader), Walter Alef, James Anderson, Matthias Bark, Matthew Bailes, Walter Brisken, Roger Cappallo, Geoff Crew, Richard Dodson, Dave Gordon, Zheng Meyer-Zhao, John Morgan, Chris Phillips, Cormac Reynolds, Jon Romney, Helge Rottman, John Spitzak, Matteo Stagni, Steven Tingay, Jan Wagner, Mark Wainright, Randall Wayth."

Congratulations to everyone involved!