Subaru
Staff -Part 2-
We
will introduce the Subaru day crew team. The day crew
team goes to the Subaru Telescope at the summit of Mauna
Kea and does various work during the daytime for night
observations. Tomonori Usuda, the day crew team chief,
Kouji Omata, and Tomio Kurakami of the day crew team member
appear in this issue.
|
|

Day Crew Team
Chief
Tomonori Usuda |
Born in Nagano pref., Japan
Hobby is playing sports and watching sports games.
|
- What do you do as
day crew team chief?
Arranging the weekly meeting of the day crew team, and coordinating
the team's work schedule so every team member is able to work
safely and efficiently, are my principal jobs as a team chief.
Also, shoveling snow away from the roof of the Subaru Telescope
enclosure is a very important job during this time of year,
because the Mauna Kea summit has a lot of snowfall during
winter.
- How did you become
interested in this type of work?
I have been interested in astronomy since I was small. Especially,
one of the TV programs that I watched inspired me a lot. That
is why I chose this kind of job.
On the roof of the Subaru enclosure |
- How do you spend your weekend?
I usually spend time with my two-year-old daughter. I always
come home late during weekdays. So I try to be with my family
during the weekend.
- What advice would you give to people
who hope to find a job like yours?
Well, please find something, at least one thing that you can
be proud of. That is very important, I think.

Day Crew
Kouji Omata |
Born in Saitama pref., Japan.
Hobby is making model airplanes, golf, and scuba diving |
- What do you do as
a day crew member?
I am in charge of operating and switching equipment
for the Cassegrain focus of the Subaru Telescope. Developing
new equipment, and maintaining them is my job too.
- How did you become
interested in this type of work?
Since I was a big fan of Astronomy in my childhood, I joined
an astronomy club in middle school. I was also interested
in machines, so I hoped to have a job creating something.
As a result, today, I found a job that supports Subaru Telescope
from the technical side.
In the enclosure
at the Mauna Kea summit |
- How do you spend
your weekend?
Mostly "family service," I spend time with my child.
The only time I can spend for myself is reading books in the
bathroom.
- What advice would
you give to people who hope to find a job like yours?
Sometimes life is a turn of Fortune's wheel. However, the
important thing is to take interest in many things and to
keep improving yourself.

Day Crew
Tomio Kurakami |
Born in Gumma pref., Japan
Hobby is playing tennis. |
- What do you do at the Subaru Telescope?
Mainly, my jobs are the re-aluminization (re-coating with
aluminum) of the primary and secondary mirrors of Subaru
Telescope, and the development and operation of TUE
(Top Unit Exchanger), which is a machine for changing
the secondary mirror. We
re-aluminized the primary mirror last summer and I am
in charge of preparing for the re-aluminization of the secondary
mirror.
- How did you become interested in
this type of work?
I have liked working with machines since I was small. When
I became a high school student, I decided to find a job
working with machines. I came to Subaru because I thought
I could do something really interesting.
- How do you spend your weekend?
I like to play sports, especially tennis. So I spend time
playing tennis with my friend during the weekend.
Work with TUE |
- What advice would you give to people
who hope to find a job like yours?
I think "Continuation is power." As long as you
keep working towards a goal, you can get closer to your
goal.
|
|
 |
Index of Subaru Staff |
· Staff 1 - Director of Subaru Telescope: Hiroyasu Ando
Director's Office Staff: Kazuhiro Sekiguchi, Debbie Guthier |
· Staff 2 - Day Crew Team Chief: Tomonori Usuda
Day Crew Team Member: Kouji Omata, Tomio Kurakami |
· Staff 3 - Day Crew: Kiichi Okita, Masao Nakagiri, Akihiko Miyashita |
· Staff 4 - Day Crew: Fumihiro Uraguchi, Norio Ohshima, Tomio Kanzawa, Masami Yutani |
· Staff 5 - Director of Subaru Telescope: Hiroshi Karoji |
· Staff 6 - Laboratory Technicians: Brian Elms, Lucio Ramos, Yoshiyuki Doi |
· Staff 7 - Operation Center:Takuya Yamashita, Saeko S. Hayashi, Kazuhito Namikawa |
· Staff 8 - Operation Center: Junichi Nomaru, Tomoko Fuselier, James Hopkins |
· Staff 9 - Support Astronomers: Akito Tajitsu, Takuya Fujiyoshi |
· Staff 10 - Support Astronomers: Shin Oya, Hiroshi Terada |
· Staff 11 - Support Astronomers: Kentaro Aoki, Hisanori Furusawa, Miki Ishii |
· Staff 12 - Graduate Students: Ryuji Suzuki, Masahiro Konishi, Tomohiro Yoshikawa, Masahiko Kimura |
· Staff 13 - Director of Subaru Telescope: Masahiko Hayashi |
|
· Staff 15 - Administration Office: Emi Poppas, Noriko Otsuki |
· Staff 16 - Telescope Engineering Division: Daigo Tomono, Satoru Negishi |
· Staff 17 - Computer Network System Administrator: Atsushi Kawai, Kiaina Schubert |
|
 |