The Giant Magellan Telescope will be one member of the next generation of giant ground-based telescopes that promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe. It will be constructed in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Commissioning of the telescope is scheduled to begin in 2027.
The GMT has a unique design that offers several advantages. It is a segmented mirror telescope that employs seven of today’s largest stiff monolith mirrors as segments. Six off-axis 8.4 meter or 27-foot segments surround a central on-axis segment, forming a single optical surface 24.5 meters, or 80 feet, in diameter with a total collecting area of 368 square meters. The GMT will have a resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. The GMT project is the work of a distinguished international consortium of leading universities and science institutions.
GCC was responsible for Construction Management Subject Matter Expertise services for the Site, Enclosure, and Facilities team. GCC was also instrumental in developing the international Construction Management Plan, including procurement consulting services.
GCC Services: CM-Safety Manager
“The Giant Magellan Telescope is a non-profit corporation, founded to build and operate the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), a ~25m optical telescope located at one of the world’s best observational sites in the Atacama region of the Chilean Andes. The GMT project includes the construction of a remote mountain-top “campus”, including roads, utilities and related infrastructure, as well as a variety of conventional and highly specialized technical buildings. The GMT project contracted with Grabowski Collaborative Consulting (GCC) to guide our engineering and procurement teams through the collaborative process of contracting construction management (CM) services for delivery of the GMT site infrastructure, telescope enclosure, and support facilities. Gregory guided our CM procurement team’s process from inception to award and initiation of the contract. Gregory’s collaborative and organizational skills, including providing team building leadership for the procurement process, organizing procurement meetings, drafting specialized procurement documentation, identifying and introducing potential vendors, supporting the source evaluation process, and finally guiding the integration of the GMT and CM teams, were absolutely critical to the successful completion of the construction management procurement process. The GMT project team was very fortunate to have secured the services of GCC, and we look forward to the next opportunity to engage with Gregory.”
BRUCE C. BIGELOW, PH.D., SITE, ENCLOSURE, AND FACILITIES MANAGER
