issued by AMEC

May 4, 2006 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- AMEC, the international project management and engineering company, is near completion of one of the world's most sophisticated and sensitive telescopes. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) will look back in time to study how the universe has evolved since the 'Big Bang'.

Testing of the telescope will occur throughout May in Canada; once successfully completed, ACT will be shipped to the Atacama Desert region in Chile.

Designed to scan a patch of sky millions of times, ACT will detect faint microwaves and then provide a series of images that will be used to show how the structure of the universe has evolved. As more distant microwaves are detected, researchers are able to, in effect, peer back in time.

The telescope's testing is being led by Dr. Mark Devlin, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. "Our goal is to look at microwaves in finer resolution and greater sensitivity than has ever been done before," states Devlin. "This will help determine new things about the universe. Foremost, we will directly test models of the very early stages of the birth and evolution of the universe. We will observe how large structures - clusters of galaxies - evolved over time. This telescope is the first of this size and is designed specifically to make these measurements."

ACT's 6.4 meter reflector makes it one of the world's largest millimeter-wave telescopes.

ACT will be sited in Atacama Desert's Cerro Toco mountains at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The region's high winds and extreme temperature swings presented unique design challenges. The telescope will be protected by a massive bowl-shaped shield; the entire structure is 12.2 meters in height.

Funded by the National Science Foundation in the United States, ACT is a collaboration among Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, NASA, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, astrophysics research group INOAE in Mexico, and the universities of Haverford, Columbia, Massachusetts, York College, Rutgers in the U.S.; Toronto and British Columbia in Canada; Universidad la Catolica in Chile; Cardiff in the UK and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

"This telescope has a very scientific requirement," says AMEC's David Halliday, Vice President Special Projects. "Within two years of the telescope's operation, scientists should have sufficient data to identify and study some of the most massive structures in the universe giving them greater insight into the 'Big Bang' theory. It's an extremely important piece of equipment and we are thrilled to be part of the team developing it."

AMEC is an international leader in the building of telescopes. It has begun working on the design for the world's largest telescope, the Thirty-Metre Telescope. With the mirror the size of a football field, it will be housed in a stadium-sized observatory. The project, scheduled for completion in 2015, will provide astronomers with clearer views than any other ground-based optical telescope.

AMEC is an international project management and services company that designs, delivers and supports client assets for customers worldwide across the public and private sectors. AMEC employs 45,000 people in more than 40 countries, generating annual revenues of around US$8 billion. With US headquarters in Washington DC, AMEC has approximately 3,000 employees operating from 86 offices in 37 states. Engineering News Record Magazine has ranked AMEC as the #1 International Design Firm in the United States. http://www.amec.com/