I went to collect a little logic analyser from a that I met on some Facebook forum. I didn't know what he does for a living and all I had was a cell phone number and an office block. Anyway, I got to the office block and his phone kept going on to voicemail. I west searching for him from company to company until I found him...inside the SKA project office....

We spoke for a bit (he is an electronics engineer currently doing his masters) and he took me on a grand tour...

faaaaaaaaak me...I am absolutely gobsmacked and humbled by what I saw and the people I met. It's absolutely amazing to hear people speak passionately and intelligently about technology and their involvement in the project.

He showed me all sorts of stuff including the lab where they develop, test, simulate and then prepare the hardware devices that process data coming off the dishes. We went to the control room and it looks like a miniature version of the Houston control centre. The are a series of screens. The one screen has live video feeds showing the dishes, buildings, etc. Another is much like a dashboard showing the status of each critical aspect of each dish radio receiver. Another shows the block of data captured from the dishes for a specific data collection task. The guy running the control room explained to me in great detail how each aspect of the operation works, how the data is used and how the different radio telescope projects fit together. They control all the dishes from the office in Cape Town and equipment is flown up and down on a weekly basis.

What did I learn from all this. There are ultra intelligent people in this country quietly going about their business without making a big deal of what they do.