Daily Business Report, Sept. 18, 2009
General Atomics receives award for the Predator B
General Atomics has received the John R. Alison Award, the highest honor given for industrial leadership, by the U.S. Air Force Association. The award was presented to Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., president of General Atomics’ Aircraft Systems Group. The award recognizes the company for developing and producing the multi-mission MQ-9 Reaper UAS (the Predator B) as a significant military contributor to the country’s national defense interests. “Since its first flight in 2001, the multi-mission Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper has demonstrated superior reliability, affordability, and surveillance capabilities,” said Cassidy. In 2004, General Atomics was presented with the John R. Alison Award for industrial leadership for MQ-1 Predator’s contributions to U.S. national security interests. USAF MQ-9 Reapers have amassed nearly 50,000 flight hours, accounting for over half of the more than 75,000 Predator B hours accumulated to date. Including Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper contributions, total flight hours for the Predator-series number more than 800,000.
Cubic to provide GPS-airborne pods
Cubic Defense Applications Inc., the defense systems business of Cubic Corp., announced a new application for its airborne instrumentation pods used during air combat training. Under a new contract, Cubic will furnish GPS-based airborne pods to The Boeing Co. for use in flight-testing Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits. The guidance kit is used to convert unguided free-fall bombs into precision guided “smart” weapons. Several international customers have purchased Boeing’s JDAM equipment, creating a need for a deployable test and evaluation tool. Cubic will develop an independent Time Space Position Information system as a truth source for fighter test aircraft. The TSPI system will initially be used in JDAM/aircraft integration efforts on the Republic of Korea Air Force’s KF-16 and the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15S, as well as other international integration programs. Cubic will adapt its current-generation airborne instrumentation pods for the TSPI system and add capability to its ground system hardware and software. Cubic expects to complete deliveries by early 2010.
Best Best & Krieger partner gets League post
Shawn Hagerty, partner with Best Best & Krieger, has been appointed to the League of California Cities’ Legal Advocacy Committee as a representative of the San Diego County division. The committee is comprised of city attorneys throughout the state and provides counsel to the League of California Cities on cases posing significant legal issues for cities. Hagerty’s two-year term began this month. Hagerty serves as both general and special counsel for numerous municipalities and redevelopment agencies throughout California, including the cities of Oceanside, Chula Vista, Lake Forest and San Diego. He also serves as the city attorney for the city of Santee, where he represents the city on a variety of issues such as municipal governance and election issues, as well as land use and planning issues.
Port program reduces air pollution in the bay and tidelands
The Port of San Diego’s voluntary vessel speed reduction program, a part of a clean air program aimed at reducing air pollution around San Diego Bay and the tidelands, has resulted in an estimated 10 percent reduction in emissions during the first quarter (April through June), according to Port officials. During this period, 27 cruise and cargo vessels called on the Port and 69 percent of these traveled within the voluntary speed limits during both inbound and outbound trips, the Port said. In the program, cruise and cargo vessel operators are asked to reduce their speed when traveling to and from San Diego Bay. The voluntary limits are 12 knots for cargo ships and 15 knots for cruise ships. Vessel operators are asked to observe these speed limits when traveling in an area that extends 20 nautical miles seaward from Point Loma. The difference in the speed limits is based on differing engine fuel efficiencies. Of all the cruise ships that visited the Port during this quarter, 86 percent were compliant with the speed limit. Cargo vessels were 53 percent compliant.
During this first reporting period, three cruise operators and six cargo operators achieved 90 percent compliance. Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., Wilhelmsen Ship Management Ltd.-USA, Grieg Star Shipping AS, Magsaysay Maritime Corp. and Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. were the vessel operators that were compliant.
Federal contracts awarded to San Diego County companies
• UCSD won a $250,000 federal contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., for enhancements to the Neuroscience Information Framework under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Place of performance will be in San Diego.
• Marcon Engineering Inc. of Escondido won a federal contract modification valued at up to $968,147.80 from the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Seal Beach for the repair and modernization of administration and warehouse buildings under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
(Source: Targeted News Service: www.targetednews.com)
4 new members join Campanile Foundation board
Four new board members have been named to The Campanile Foundation, the philanthropic auxiliary for SDSU. The new board members are:
• Terry L. Atkinson, former managing director for UBS PaineWebber Inc.’s municipal securities group. Atkinson graduated from SDSU in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in public administration. He also holds a law degree from USD.
• Alan D. Gold, chairman and CEO for Biomed Realty Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust. Gold received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master of business administration with an emphasis in real estate finance from SDSU.
• Greg T. Lucier, chairman and CEO of Life Technologies (formerly Invitrogen), a global biotechnology tools company. Lucier received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Penn State University and a master of business administration from Harvard University.
• Kenneth McCain, executive vice president and founding principle of Wall Street Associates, an investment management company based in La Jolla. McCain received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master of business administration with an emphasis in finance from SDSU.
The Campanile Foundation is currently leading the university in its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign to raise money for student scholarships, endowed faculty chairs and several other university-wide initiatives. During the 2008-09 fiscal year, the foundation received more than $65 million in philanthropic gifts to support the university.
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