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Working at ESO
Are you interested in working in areas of frontline technology and in a stimulating international environment? Do you feel your profile matches our requirements? Learn more about our current vacancies and apply online. Read more..
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in the Atacama Desert region of Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnator. The ESO headquarters are located in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky" and whose operations will be fully integrated into the Paranal Observatory.
For its Maintenance, Support and Engineering (MSE), ESO is inviting students from Chilean Universities in their career's last period, to participate in the following programme:
Winter Students 2021
Paranal
Deadline 14/06/2021
The MSE Department of the Paranal Observatory provides technical support to the four VLT 8-m telescopes, to the VLT Interferometer with its auxiliary telescopes and to all instruments available for scientific observations. The telescopes and instruments are complex systems that involve many advanced technologies and require a high level of engineering support. The MSE Department of Paranal has a total workforce of 80 engineers and technicians distributed in 6 engineering groups.
The following are the three projects proposed for the Winter period 2021. They can start anytime between July and September 2021 and can last between 3 and 6 months depending on the topic and availability of the student. Please enquire if you are not sure.
I. "Scientific Instruments remote data analysis and monitoring"
In order to improve the performance of the scientific instruments and their subsystems it is essential to monitoring key parameters to allow obtaining a global vision about their actual behavior. To accomplish such purpose, critical parameters of scientific instruments must be identified and tracked in order to provide a glance of the future and predict failures and / or misbehaving in time. A tool for remote monitoring of the critical parameters will be created to take advantage of the large database currently available in our facilities and the example of the "4LGSF Data Analysis" project recently developed by summer students.
The objective of this project is to use the tools and lessons learned for scaling up to other instruments. This project will contribute to the framework under development for the Integrated Operations Programme including the ELT in the future. This project will be carried out with the concept of fast prototyping using agile methodology and the deliverables will be shared to various instruments.
Student Profile:
- Strong knowledge and experience in data analysis.
- Strong knowledge and experience in python and python tools for data analysis.
- Desirable knowledge of KairosDB, Grafana, Docker, Elasticsearch.
Duration and Shift:
Six (6) months from June 2021. The working schedule will be 100% remote.
II. "Cloud-based data analysis solutions"
In the frame of the Integrated Operations Programme, Paranal is preparing for the arrival and operation of new systems and in particular of the ELT. The goal of this internship is to explore the usage of cloud services such as Microsoft Azure for the storage and processing of operational and engineering data for future data and system analysis solutions. The aim is to demonstrate through pilot project the potential benefits of advanced data analysis techniques such as ML/AI in cloud and on-site architectures.
Student Profile:
- Student of computer science, physics or engineering with a strong focus on data engineering
- Strong background in Python, Jupyter notebooks databases and time series data analysis
- First practical experiences in the development and application of ML algo
- First practical experiences with cloud solutions like Microsoft Azure
- First experiences in working with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
- Proficiency in English.
Duration and Shift:
Six (6) months from June 2021. The working schedule will be 100% remote.
III. "Implementation of KPI application in MAXIMO"
In the framework of the improvements for Planning with MAXIMO (IBM Computerized Maintenance Management System), the student will implement the Module Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the start center of MAXIMO according with the data available in the database; the aim is to implement a standard process to create KPI and then customize according to MAXIMO users requests (this is first requested for the Paranal Observatory and then we will migrate it to the La Silla observatory to enable their new external contract operation. Some examples of KPI are: Job plan fulfillment, Work order report time, etc.
Student Profile:
- Student of industrial, mechanical or software engineering of the last year of career, preferable.
- Good command in English.
- Knowledge in SQL data base.
- Ideally, knowledge or previous experience on any CMMS.
- Knowledge in KPI and Dashboard.
Duration and Shift:
Three (3) months from June 2021. The working schedule will be 100% remote.
We Offer:
ESO offers a special allowance during the period you are performing your apprenticeship with us. For students travelling to the observatory, transportation arrangements (plane tickets) from and to Santiago will be provided by ESO, with accommodation provided on site.
Application:
We invite all students from Chilean Universities in their career's last period to apply. The apprenticeship should be supported by the University (Letter should be provided). If you are interested in working in areas of frontline technology and in a stimulating international environment, you are invited to apply online at http://recruitment.eso.org/.
Applications must be completed in English and should include a CV and a motivational letter indicating the project(s) you are interested to apply to.
For further information on Paranal Engineering apprenticeships, we invite you to take a look at the following page: http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/paranalenginternship.html
Deadline for applications is 14 June 2021.
ESO is committed to equal opportunities. The post is equally open to suitably qualified candidates irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, race or religion.