Donations to aid Tasmanian astronomy research

Altium is donating cash, software, hardware and support to the value of $158,000 to the University of Tasmania Foundation.

At an event held at the University of Tasmania, Altium has announced one of the largest corporate sponsorships to date for the School of Mathematics and Physics with the donation of cash, software, hardware, and support to the value of $158,000 to the University of Tasmania Foundation.

The donation, to be distributed over a three year period, is for the development and completion of two projects - a radio transient detector and high-bandwidth interferometer both relating to advanced radio astronomy research being undertaken at the School of Mathematics and Physics.

"Today's announcement demonstrates Altium's ongoing commitment to supporting and equipping the next-generation of electronic designers and engineers", said Nick Martin, founder and CEO, Altium.

"Altium's electronic product development solutions are perfectly suited to meet the design challenges demanded by the School of Mathematics and Physics in their development of advanced applications for radio astronomy using FPGA technology".

The donation, presented to the university by David Warren, Nonexecutive Director, Altium, includes a substantial cash contribution, Altium's Unified Nexar-Protel 2004 software, Altium's NanoBoard hardware development platforms plus matching interchangeable FPGA daughterboards, dedicated technical support and training.

Nexar's unique LiveDesign methodology for embedded system-level design on an FPGA platform with its ability to download designs directly to the NanoBoard for immediate implementation and testing is particularly relevant to the projects.

"The nature of computations required in the projects results in immense data analysis tasks", said Larry Forbes, Head of School in Mathematics and Physics, University of Tasmania.

"Both projects need to crunch data in real-time, but the technology up until now has not been available".

"It was Altium's industry-leading FPGA technology that met our needs".

"Altium's LiveDesign methodology provides the ability to interact with circuitry in real-time before actually building devices".

"Furthermore, Altium's technology is easy to use - it can be fully utilised without the need for advanced FPGA design skills and frees up time for our professors to concentrate on their core competencies".

The radio transient detector project, led by Professor John Dickey, involves the search to identify transient, giant bursts (pulses) of radio energy.

There are numerous sources of pulses in the sky like collapsed stars and cosmic rays, so by using the radio telescope located at the university, the detector will enhance the ability for researchers to find those sources and detect the pulses.

The high-bandwidth interferometer project, led by Professor Peter McCulloch, will enable the professor and his team to prove that a class of variable radio sources are giant black holes at the centres of distant galaxies.

The interferometer (linking two telescopes to use as one) will bring signals from two antennas and combine them in different ways.

Professor McCulloch and his team will use this data to monitor the variable sources that are suspected of being giant black holes.

"Previously, such projects involving immense data analysis were tackled using mathematical tools and traditional code based methods".

"Now, by using the FPGA capabilities of Altium's technology, we can tailor the device to the precise needs of the job and complete the process more efficiently without having to make a lot of simulations", explained Professor Forbes.

"We can interactively design complex custom circuits using FPGAs that are specifically tailored to our application".

"Altium is the only technology provider in the industry that provides the necessary tools to make this happen".

Back to top