He’s Part of the “Pit Crew” for a Maunakea Telescope

Beginnings: Derek Petrowski sets a goal every New Year’s Eve and did so again on Dec. 31, 2021. “I try to make it a realistic goal,” Petrowski says, “but this time I was feeling a little wild. So I said, ‘2022 is coming up, I’m going to get a job at a telescope.’”

Petrowski is the son of an engineer, whose career took him around the world. Derek was born in Suva, Fiji, but his family settled in Hawai‘i in 1990. He left school after 10th grade when “I found myself getting bored in school,” Petrowski says. So he got into the world of carpentry and later worked as a car audio specialist on O‘ahu.

He says curiosity has driven him throughout his life, which at times meant teaching himself how to build motorcycle engines and learning how power plants worked while helping build them.

Overcoming Doubts: Petrowski was working at the Honua Ola power plant in Pepe‘ekeo on Hawai‘i Island while his wife, Carolyn, was employed at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope in accounting and administration. At a holiday party in 2021, Derek talked with some of Carolyn’s colleagues and discovered how similar their jobs were to his.

“I always had an interest in working with the telescopes, but I thought … I don’t have the pedigree to even try for this.” Despite his doubts, he applied for a position at the Keck Observatory on Jan. 3, 2022.

Photo courtesy: Derek Petrowski

“I remember my first interview, I was so nauseous because I really wanted it. I was in cold sweats and I felt like I was going to throw up. I had never felt like that before.”

Keck Community Engagement Manager Kekoa Alip says he saw great potential in Petrowski “and it’s proven to be right.” Alip says Petrowski is passionate about involving people who are already part of Hawai‘i’s community in telescope operations.

“We don’t have a lot of local people working in the telescopes,” says Alip. “My target was to get talent from the community.” That’s why telescope experience was not a job requirement.

Typical Days: “This is the first job where I wake up in the morning and I don’t dread going to work,” Petrowski says. “And when I come home, I feel like I accomplished something. I’ve been there for three years now and that feeling hasn’t changed.”

“Support techs,” Petrowski says, “we’re like the pit crew for a race team.”

On a typical day, he comes into the observatory on Maunakea in the morning and makes sure all the telescope’s instruments are chilled and working correctly. He checks software, cameras, infrastructure or anything else that could keep the telescope from functioning, then works with others to resolve any issues.

Along with his everyday work, Petrowski helps on public tours and passes on his knowledge to new hires.

“Impressive and inspiring is his passion for community involvement and serving the community,” says Alip, “which is one of our core values at Keck – to be great stewards, and he’s proven to be one of the greatest.”