Stuart McMuldroch, Director General

Dr. Stuart McMuldroch became the Managing Director of the CTAO Central Organisation in April 2023, leading the Observatory as it transitioned to a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), which was established in 2025. As the Director General of the CTAO ERIC, Stuart oversees the Observatory’s development as it moves from design to construction and operation.

Stuart has a PhD in Astronomy and spent more than 22 years managing large-scale international projects at academic, commercial and government organisations. He was part of the New Horizons and GOES-R space missions as team leader for the design and construction of key optical subsystems. Prior to his appointment, he was the Head of the Giant Magellan Telescope program office at the Center for Astrophysics (CfA)/Harvard & Smithsonian.

Federico Ferrini, Managing Director

Prof. Federico Ferrini became the Managing Director of the CTAO Central Organisation in March 2018. During his tenure, he oversaw the achievement of significant milestones for the Observatory, such as the hosting agreement for CTAO’s southern hemisphere array site in Chile and the definition of the Observatory’s Cost Book and Technical Description. He now supports Stuart as the Observatory transitions to an ERIC.

Before joining the CTAO, Federico dedicated more than 30 years to astrophysics research and teaching at the University of Pisa. This included directing the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group and being named the Director of the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in 2011. As director, he fostered the collaboration and technical advancement of the VIRGO interferometric antenna – one of the three largest gravitational detectors in the world. Some of his other professional positions have included Scientific Attaché at the Permanent Mission of Italy in Geneva and Chair of both the CERN Pension Fund Governing Board and the Investment Committee.

Maurizio Miccolis, Project Manager

Maurizio Miccolis joined the CTAO Central Organisation as its Project Manager in November 2024. With more than 25 years of expertise in engineering and project management, Maurizio brings a wealth of experience in leading complex, high-profile scientific projects. Before the CTAO, he worked on the LFI instrument aboard the Planck satellite and the ALMA radio telescope, as well as the NEON project in the USA. Maurizio also held the position of Senior Project Manager for Computing and Software at the SKAO. 

As the CTAO’s Project Manager and a member of the senior management team, Maurizio leads the Central Organisation’s Project Office and works closely with the In-Kind Contribution Collaborations to build and commission the CTAO. He is also responsible for preparing the Observatory for operations, ensuring that the project’s technical, budget and schedule objectives are successfully met. Additionally, he is the Chair of the CTAO Configuration Control and Risk Management Boards.

Roberta Zanin, Project Scientist

Dr. Roberta Zanin joined the CTAO Central Organisation as its Project Scientist in June 2019. Roberta works with the project team in tandem with the In-Kind Contribution teams and the scientists of CTAO Consortium to ensure that the design, implementation and science verification of CTAO achieves the science goals of the project.

Roberta has devoted her entire scientific career to imaging Cherenkov astronomy. She has taken part in all the three major currently-running instruments of this kind: MAGIC, H.E.S.S. and VERITAS. Cultivating her research interests between Padua, Barcelona and Heidelberg, she built substantial experience in data analysis and interpretation, software development, operations and commissioning of the telescopes.

Volker Heinz, Construction Programmme Manager

Volker Heinz joined the CTAO in 2019 as the CTAO-South Site Manager, where he was responsible for developing the Chile site’s infrastructure and preparing for the array construction and operations in close collaboration with the CTAO’s hosting partner, ESO. In 2024, Volker was promoted to the Construction Programme Manager to plan and manage the construction activities, system integration, and early operations for both the CTAO-South and CTAO-North sites.

Volker began his career in industry, mainly in commissioning and field service for complex mechanical presses for automotive applications and steam turbines. In 2001, he joined ESO, where he worked across many projects, including as the team lead of the mechanical group on Paranal in Chile, various assignments for ALMA, as engineering team lead for the APEX project, and as the project manager for technical infrastructure for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

Nadia Defrancesco, Director of Administration

Nadia Defrancesco joined the CTAO Central Organisation in January 2019 as Head of Finance. In October 2024 she was promoted to the Director of Administration, overseeing the entire department. She is in charge of overseeing all the personnel and services in the Administration office, which includes finance, procurement, IT and human resources.

Nadia comes from the private sector, having worked first as a CPA and then many years for a German Financial Institution based in Bologna, where she was responsible for the finance, compliance and legal issues of the company.