This is the part that bugged me most -

He was one of the leading scientists on the SKA.

SNIP FROM NY TIMES ARTICLE - Dr. Rawlings’s death appeared likely to have an impact, at least temporarily, on the Square Kilometer Array project, a principal focus of his work in recent years, and said by many astronomers to be the most sensitive radio telescope ever undertaken.

The final site for the internationally financed project, either South Africa or Australia, is scheduled to be announced in March. The project’s Web site says it aims to “give astronomers insight into the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang, the role of cosmic magnetism, the nature of gravity, and possibly even life beyond Earth.”

And from this site - [link to www.physics.ox.ac.uk]
Research Interests: Observational cosmology. Cosmic evolution of galaxies and AGN and feedback mechanisms. Physics of extragalactic radio sources and AGN. Large-scale structure and the cosmic evolution of galaxy clusters. Next-generation radio telescopes and their role in constraining cosmological parameters, dark energy and hot and cold dark matter.