IPAC Selects Ben Rusholme As Its First Chief Engineer

IPAC is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Benjamin Rusholme to serve in the new and inaugural role of Chief Engineer at IPAC.

The Chief Engineer will foster best practices and technical coordination among projects, advocate and facilitate career growth for IPAC technical staff, participate in strategic planning for the direction of technology development at IPAC, and advise the Director’s office on technology issues.

An IPAC Staff Member since 2006, Rusholme brings extensive experience and expertise to his new role, having demonstrated exceptional engineering skills and leadership abilities as a System Engineer for both the Euclid NASA Science Center at IPAC (ENSCI) and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) data system. He also currently serves as IPAC’s ZTF task lead.

"Ben has a vision for engineering and technology directions for IPAC. He’s hitting the ground running, launching a new technology seminar series, and plans to look for ways to improve the efficiency of some of our engineering-related processes. Just as we have always had an excellent advocate for our science staff in the Head of Science Staff, we anticipate that Ben will be a resource for the engineering and technical staff at IPAC," said David Imel, Caltech/IPAC Manager. 

Rusholme, who received his Ph.D in interferometric studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background at the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2002, will continue his current duties with the Euclid and ZTF projects.

"The Chief Engineer is a new position for IPAC,” said Rusholme. “There are three identified areas of responsibility (cross-project coordination, advocate for technical staff and strategic planning). However, I’m looking forward to discovering the role! I hope to accelerate the exciting work at IPAC by sharing best practices, removing obstacles, and planning for both the bigger picture and longer term. The recent Decadal Survey underscored how astronomy infrastructure is becoming wider, faster, and more open. This position is designed to ensure that IPAC’s technology and processes grow to meet the challenge."

Rusholme’s previous experience includes postdoctoral research in the field of cosmic microwave background at Stanford University. He is a coauthor in over 230 refereed scientific publications.