Optoelectronics Laboratory collaborates with a leading scientific communicator in the divulgation of astronomy

The optoelectronics laboratory of the School of Electrical Engineering (SEE), of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), is working with Teresa Paneque, an astronomer from the University of Chile, in the preparation of scientific divulgation content that covers the contributions that electrical and electronic engineering make in astronomy , in particular, from the work that is carries out inside the laboratory through various projects related to instrumentation.

At first, Dr. Esteban Vera, academic and investigator at SEE in charge of it, spoke with Paneque about the research in adaptive optics, particularly, the projects it has underway, the challenges that are coming before the implementation of large telescopes in the north of the country, and how this opens opportunities to form specialized engineers in this type of applications on topics such as signal processing and image sensing, among others.

“The path is very long and full of opportunities. I think we have a lot of capacity and there are a lot of people who have been trained with a tremendous degree of specialization and who have tried to massify this. Although there are few resources, in Chile we know how to work with them. We do much more, with less, and that gives us a competitive advantage over other countries. Particularly in astronomy, the projects
we generate are huge, in the category of big consortium, so our contribution can be made from how we prepare professionals to solve these problemes (…)”, the academic valued during the interview.

Professor Vera also commented on his personal area of interest, concluding with a call to be part of the team and strengthen the ecosystem divulgation associated with itself, in what was the interview conducted last Friday July 17 at 8:00 p.m via Instagram Live.

On the other side, Paneque, who is also finishing her Master of Science in Astronomy, stated to be very satisfied with “(…) the instances that are being give to be able to disseminate astronomy not only from the point of view of scientific results, but also from all the work that goes behind all the compilation of data that will be used to carry out scientific research. It’s there, in electrical and electronic engineering, where there is a challenge to prepare professionals who can create their own Chilean technology”.
It Is expected that this collaboration can be extended to the generations of three capsules for social networks, and culminates with an interview on TXS radio, the first radio dedicated to scientific dissemination, a space where Paneque also collaborates as a communicator.