Dr Tom Scragg

Profile

After graduating in 1977 I worked on the automation of scientific instruments using first generation microprocessors. During my MSc  I developed the hardware and software for an industrial plant emulation system to aid in testing control systems. I had also worked on the automation of industrial plant (water, oil, gas, petrochemicals and nuclear) before moving into telecommunications. In 1997 I joined BT plc, building, designing and operating public telecommunication networks and national and multinational projects around the world. Later as Head of Telecom Network Services (Europe) for Wipro Technologies, I was responsible for the work of our technical staff in most of the major mobile telecommunications companies throughout Europe.

In 2020 I completed a PhD in the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. Following a short contract at the University of Central Lancashire I continue to work as an unpaid postdoctoral researcher in time domain radio transient phenomena at both JBCA and UCLAN. Since 2017 I have been engaged in the activities of the UK government funded ‘Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy’ (DARA) programme via my association with UoM, UCLAN and the University of Leeds.  I joined the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds in the summer of 2024 to work on another phase of the DARA project.

I have lived in India, Malaysia and the Middle East and worked for short periods in many other countries..

Responsibilities

• DARA Course facilitator
• Support for two element radio Interferometer projects in 8 African Countries
• In association with SARAO in South Africa, GRAO in Ghana and other UK Universities

Research interests

I study the variations in the highly periodic radio signals from Pulsars (rapidly rotating Neutron stars – the remnants of supernova explosions).  Pulsar signals are very faint and require the use of high performance computing (HPC) clusters to analyse the data captured using radio telescopes.  I have designed and built two Pulsar Timing Systems (HPC clusters) to undertake the processing of the Terabytes of data captured from large single dish telescopes and arrays of smaller telescopes.  Currently three such PTS systems are installed in GRAO, Ghana and at Jodrell Bank in the UK.  ( Development and Use of Next Generation Pulsar Timing Systems — Research Explorer The University of Manchester  ;  Pulsar Observations at the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory. Pulsar Astrophysics in the Next 50 Years, Proceedings of the IAU Symposium Volume 337, August 2018; Benchmarking of GPU-based pulsar processing pipeline of 40-m Thai national radio telescope. Journal of Physics Conference Series #, Volume 1380, Issue 1, November 2019. ).

Pulsar Timing studies gives us insight into the structure of neutron stars, their immediate environment (especially in systems with companion stars), the composition and changes in the interstellar medium and even the mass of the larger asteroids in the solar system.

I am also interested in the extremely bright, but short duration (<10ms) radio signals, known as FRBs or Fast Radio Bursts.  As FRBs are typically from outside our own galaxy they are also starting to tell us about the composition of the intergalactic medium. ( A MeerKAT, e-MERLIN, H.E.S.S. and Swift search for persistent and transient emission associated with three localised FRBs, MNRAS Volume 515, Issue 1, September 2022, Pages 1365–1379 . )

Qualifications

• PhD Astronomy and Astrophysics, JBCA, University of Manchester, 2020
• MSc Microprocessor Engineering and Digital Electronics, UMIST, 1980
• BSc (Hons) Applied Physics and Computer Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, 1977
• C.Dip.A.F Certified Diploma in Accounting & Finance, Chartered Association of Certified Accountants

Professional memberships

• FBCS: Fellow, British Computer Society
• FRAS: Fellow Royal Astronomical Society
• CITP: Chartered Information Technology Professional
• MIET: Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology
• CEng: Chartered Engineer, UK Engineering Council

Student education

Course Facilitator and lecturer for the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) programme , 3 x 10 days per year in South Africa and Ghana.

Courses cover radio astronomy, high performance computing, instrumentation, control systems and resource planning and management and includes many expert guest lecturers from European and African institutions.

20 graduate  students per session drawn from 2 countries.