Upgrading the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope into the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer requires incredibly detailed models of each.  Greg Green, instrument designer at CFHT, is the keeper of the models of both facilities. The MSE model is so impressive that SolidWorks, the computer aided design company whose software was used to create the model, selected MSE to be its featured design for 2019.

It has taken nearly two years of work to build the relationships within SolidWorks, obtain the permissions, complete the release forms and trim the model down to something they could use.  The timing was perfect for the use of our conceptual design.  As time progresses through preliminary design the intellectual property will not be as easy to share with the world.  Having our model in front of about 4 million users of SolidWorks worldwide will be a big help in communicating the scope of the project to parties interested in becoming a partner.

With the selection, MSE and Greg’s efforts have leapt into the spotlight.  Greg was a guest of the company at the SolidWorks 2019 launch last September and is a featured presenter at SolidWorks World 2019 in Feburary. Greg will discuss the process of transforming the Canada France Hawaii Telescope to the MaunaKea Spectroscopic Explorer using SolidWorks.

The SolidWorks team created a video highlight Greg’s work and MSE’s collaboration with the W M Keck Observatory.  The video can be found at SolidWorks blog: