BizTECHNOLOGY
continued from page 105 Park and alumni in similar fields, providing opportunities for employees to supercharge their careers. Alumni also will be tapped for mentoring through the UA Center for Innovation, allowing startup founders to receive guidance in a variety of areas, including business formation, business development, market analysis and scaling collaboration operations. The recent expansion of Steward Observatory’s Engineering Technical Services to the UA Tech Park at Rita Road provides an opportunity for Tech Parks Arizona. “Our building at the UA is going through a major renovation, and the space here at the Tech Park was available for us to expand. Plus, it is already owned by the university,” said Jeff Kingsley, associate director of Steward Observatory and director of projects, engineering and technical services for the UA College of Optical Sciences. “It’s a one-year trial experiment, but if it works well, we’ll stay much longer than that, and the extra space will allow
106 BizTucson
<<<
Fall 2019
us to take on additional projects.” Steward Observatory provides resources for students and faculty in several programs at the UA. “Our mission is to support the research projects of tenured faculty at Steward Observatory, the College of Optical Sciences, the Lunar Planetary Labs and other areas of the university,” Kingsley said. “We want to be able to provide them with the resources they need to do big projects.” One of the observatory’s main projects at the UA Tech Park at Rita Road is the development of a new and less expensive 6.5-meter telescope. “We are working with local UA alumni-created companies M3 and CAID on this project,” said Kingsley. Observatory staff is also building the mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope, which has seven mirrors and will be located in Chile. There is a possibility that the cells, which hold the mirrors on the telescope, will be built in their facilities at the UA Tech Park if a new building can be built. Kingsley thinks this will be achieved fairly easily. “A ben-
efit of being located at the Tech Park is that they can build quickly here. We can move forward with this and even build more if necessary because the space is readily available.” In its UA Tech Park facilities, the observatory staff also is working on the San Pedro Mártir telescope, which will be placed in northern Baja, California, and finishing the primary mirror and support system for the Tokyo Atakama array going to the Atakama Desert in Chile. The projects draw researchers and astronomers from all over the world. While at the UA Tech Park at Rita Road, Kingsley plans to provide monthly lectures for employees who work at the UA Tech Park. Key senior technical presenters would discuss a variety of science topics, engaging employees at the tech park and creating further opportunities for networking and collaboration.
Biz
www.BizTucson.com