Thomas Küsel - Senior Program Manager - South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

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Thomas Küsel is the SKA Program Manager at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO). In this role, he oversees SARAO’s construction contracts for the delivery of the SKA-MID telescope. Thomas is an accomplished program manager and systems engineer with extensive expertise in leading large-scale, complex, and cutting-edge technology projects.

With over two decades of experience, Thomas has played pivotal roles in managing and engineering radio astronomy systems. He served as the Lead Systems Engineer for the MeerKAT and KAT-7 telescopes and was instrumental in establishing the Systems Engineering (SE) team at SARAO, which he led from 2007 to 2018. His international experience includes serving as the Lead Systems Engineer for the SKA Dish Consortium from 2014 to 2018 and for the Next-Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) project from 2020 to 2022.

Beyond radio astronomy, Thomas has contributed to critical national initiatives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led systems engineering efforts for South Africa’s National Ventilator Project. He currently serves as an independent advisor on the National Energy Crisis Committee, lending his expertise to address the country’s energy challenges.

Thomas is an INCOSE-certified Expert Systems Engineering Professional (ESEP). He holds an MBA (cum laude) from the University of the Witwatersrand, an MEng from the University of Cape Town, and a BEng (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria.