ProfessorSimon Ellingsen

Professor Ellingsen’s major areas of research are in the formation of massive stars, in particular through the study of interstellar masers. He has used the University of Tasmania’s continental-scale array of radio telescopes to make measurements of the scale and structure of the Milky Way with unprecedented accuracy. He modified the antenna control systems for the University’s radio telescopes to allow them to support the tracking of low-earth orbit objects and has been working with research and industry partners to enable them to develop unique sovereign space domain awareness capability.

Biography

Simon received his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 1996. He was promoted to Professor in Physics in 2015 and has been the Dean of School for the School of Natural Sciences since July 2019. He has attracted more than $10M in research funding over the last decade, including a $1.2M grant from the Australian Space Agency to construct a new satellite tracking antenna at the University of Tasmania’s Greenhill Observatory. He is the academic leader for the University’s activities in spacecraft tracking and space domain awareness.

Career summary

Qualifications
Degree Thesis Title University Country Date of Award
PhD Class II Methanol Masers in Star Formation Regions University of Tasmania Australia 17/05/1996
BSc (1st Class Hons) Single Dish Mapping of Extended Sources University of Tasmania Australia 01/12/1991

Administrative expertise

The School of Natural Sciences has more than 200 staff and 170 PhD students and is one of the largest and most research intensive academic units at the University of Tasmania. I have undertaken a number of different leadership roles within Natural Sciences since its creation in 2018 and have been Dean of School since mid-2019. I have been involved in running research facilities (telescopes) and associated projects for many years, most recently the Space Infrastructure Fund grant to construct a new satellite tracking antenna at the Greenhill observatory.