Daily Business Report-July 8, 2015
The center will be a key player in the San Diego region’s efforts to be recognized as the National Center of Cyber Security Excellence, a goal the City of San Diego has established.
University of San Diego to Launch
Center to Combat Cyber Threats
Will be key player in the San Diego’s efforts to be recognized as the National Center of Cyber Security Excellence
The University of San Diego on Tuesday announced plans to launch the Center for Cyber Security Engineering and Technology to combat cyber threats through education, training and research.
“What makes our new center unique is its comprehensive focus on all aspects of cyber security,” said Jason Lemon, dean of Professional and Continuing Education at USD. “The center’s activities will encompass education and training through a full range of educational opportunities.
Lemon said the community can access USD’s cyber security expertise through degree and certificate programs, inviting USD’s cyber experts to participate in projects focusing on the evaluation and development of their own systems and strategies to mitigate cyber threats, and developing internal leadership on cyber security IT, cyber security law, forensics and incident response.
“There simply is no other university bringing together this kind of expertise and offering so many different degrees, programs, and access points like USD’s center does,” said Lemon.
A private event to launch the new center is planned for this summer at the university.
Currently in the planning approval stage, the center is preparing to support a Master of Science in Cyber Security Engineering offered by USD’s School of Engineering and a Master of Science in Cyber Security Information Technology Leadership offered by the university. The Cyber IT Leadership degree will be available fully online.
The forthcoming degree programs will be designed for working professionals, and will be taught by USD faculty and cyber professionals who bring decades of current and real-world experience to their students.
The center will also advance research, discovery and development of the tools to assist consumers, corporations, nonprofits, utilities, and the military find the solutions needed to solve the many challenges presented by cyber attacks.
The center will be a key player in the San Diego region’s efforts to be recognized as the National Center of Cyber Security Excellence, a goal the City of San Diego has established. Officials said USD’s center will actively contribute to this segment of the local economy that now accounts for more than $1.6 billion of economic activity each year in San Diego.
Veteran cyber security expert and educator, Winnie Callahan, will lead USD’s new center. John Callahan will be the program director for the new degree programs. Winnie Callahan led the design, build-out, marketing and program development as the executive director of The Peter Kiewit Institute in Nebraska, recognized as one of the most successful collaboration of engineering, information technology and business immersion in the nation.
Construction to Begin on Region’s
First-Ever Freeway-Level Transit Stations
Officials will break ground Wednesday on a $65 million project to improve public transit in the Mid-City area and along the State Route 15/I-15 corridor. The Mid-City Centerline Project will include San Diego’s first-ever freeway-level transit stations at University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard along SR 15.
SANDAG, the Metropolitan Transit System and Caltrans officials will preside at the groundbreaking.
Once the transit stations are complete, rapid transit services will run in northbound and southbound transit-only lanes within the existing SR 15 median, providing fast and reliable travel through one of the region’s key transportation corridors, officials said.
SANDAG and Caltrans will break ground later this year on a bikeway along the SR 15 corridor.
Funding for the Centerline project came from the Federal Transit Administration and TransNet, the regional half-cent sales tax for transportation administered by SANDAG.
A Short Film Made With a Qualcomm-Powered
Smartphone is Finalist in Film Festival Contest
The San Diego Film Festival has selected San Diegan Peter Hulst as one of three finalists in the national Qualcomm Ultra HD 4K Mobile Challenge where competitors were asked to create festival entries by using the not-yet-released Motorola Droid Turbo Ultra HD 4K smartphone powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor.
Hulst created a four-minute film, “Stilling the Mind,” a whirlwind of sharp, decisive images set to the lyrical composition of a retro-styled female guitar player.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Inc.
The finalists’ short films will be featured at a red carpet premiere at the ArcLight Theater in San Diego on July 20, where the first place winner will be announced and awarded $5,000 and a VIP package for this year’s Film Festival.
The other finalists:
• Eva Merz of Los Angeles: “Ars Vivendi (The Art of Living),” a musical tale of a young dancer who must find a way to let go of her unfaithful boyfriend.
• Nathan Garcia of Boise, Idaho: “The Watchman,” a lone Watchman must trek through the elements to deliver a warning after his ship crash lands in the wilderness.
“Our ultimate goal is to promote independent filmmaking,” said Tonya Mantooth, vice president and director of programming for the San Diego Film Festival. “Through this challenge, we encouraged up-and-coming filmmakers to ‘think outside-the-box’ and familiarize themselves with the latest technologies available from Qualcomm Technologies and Motorola.”
Fifteen filmmakers were selected out of hundreds of applicants to create their short films using the 4K smartphone. The subject and story line of the films were left to the imagination of the creators, in a maximum four minutes length.
Graymark Capital Inc. Purchases
5-Building Campus for $13.5 Million
Graymark Capital Inc. headquartered in San Francisco, in partnership with Chicago-based Blue Vista Capital Management. purchased a 127,287-square-foot, five-building office and R&D property in Carlsbad from an affiliate of Bixby Land Company for $13.5 million.
The property, known as @Palomar, is located at 6349 and 6359 Paseo Del Lago and 1939, 1945 and1949 Palomar Oaks Way and rests on 10.1 acres.
JLL’s Managing Director Bob Prendergast represented the seller. Graymark Capital plans to perform major interior upgrades and minor exterior improvements to elevate the campus to top-tier status within Carlsbad’s tightening market.
Boutique Hotel Z Opens in the Gaslamp Quarter
J Street Hospitality Inc., announced the opening of Hotel Z, a new 96-room select service boutique hotel located in the Gaslamp Quarter.
The hotel was recently acquired by Columbia Properties Inc., a commercial real estate investment company, and will be operated by its sister company, Pineapple Hospitality Company.
The newly opened hotel was an extensive adaptive reuse project completed by J Street Hospitality, which involved the conversion of a four-story, 221-unit multifamily residential building into a limited service boutique hotel with 96 guest rooms. The conversion included the replacement of all mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as a complete renovation of guestrooms, corridors and public areas.
“We are thrilled to unveil the newly transformed Hotel Z in Downtown San Diego and look forward to completing additional development projects in the area,” said Sajan Hansji, president, J Street Hospitality.
Fighting Robots Toy Company Takes
Top Honors at Innorobo 2015
Reach Robotics, a five-person UK startup that makes fighting robots and is working out of the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator in San Diego, was the winner in the “Shark Tank”-style competition at Innorobo 2015 in Lyon, France.
Reach Robotics CEO Silas Adekunle said the toys will revolutionize computer gaming by taking it into the real world. The company aims to sell its Mecha Monster robots for $150 each as well as market extra weapons and other accessories.
Adekunle promised a marketing blitz that includes showing off the systems at Comic-Con and GameCon.
“What we really want to do is make robots fun for everyone,” Adekunle said. “Like it or not, in 2016 the gaming robots are coming.”
Adekunle said the fighting robots would be the hottest toys under Christmas trees in 2016.
Five technology companies went up against each other in the competition,
which included the makers of a shielded unmanned aircraft that can be flown anywhere and a nanobot that can herd tiny protein crystals to help develop new drugs.
A panel of judges from the tech world graded the companies on the strength of their business plan and the skill of their pitches.
Life Science Veteran Bruggeman
Joins Benefunder Board of Trustees
Biotech and business leader Terry Bruggeman has joined the board of trustees of Benefunder, a foundation that connects philanthropists with top research causes across the nation.
Bruggeman currently serves as executive chairman of BioTork LLC, an industrial biotechnology company developing third generation biofuels, renewable chemicals and related co-products; and executive chairman of Evolugate LLC, a developer of advanced evolution technologies.
He has also served on numerous nonprofit boards, including California State University San Marcos and the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and is currently a board member of BIOCOM, Chairman’s Roundtable, and Lincoln Park Zoological Society.
UCSD Health System CEO to Lead
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
By City News Service
The CEO of the UC San Diego Health System will become president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles beginning Aug. 24, the hospital announced Tuesday.
Paul S. Viviano is also associate vice chancellor of UC San Diego Health Sciences. He will replace Richard Cordova, who announced in December that he plans to retire from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“I want to expand on CHLA’s significant contributions in all aspects of pediatric care,” Viviano said. “I look forward to working with the board as well as the faculty and staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to fulfill our mission and achieve our goals.”
Viviano was previously CEO and board chairman of Alliance HealthCare Services and president/CEO of USC’s Keck Medical Center and Norris Cancer Hospital.
Cordova has been president/CEO of Children’s Hospital since 2006.
“It has been an incredible privilege to serve at the helm of the best children’s hospital in the nation, and I wish Paul Viviano well as he continues to build upon CHLA’s history of success as the preeminent pediatric medical facility in the state,” Cordova said.
Software Developers, Teachers
Among UCSD’s ‘Hot Careers’
By the Times of San Diego
UC San Diego Extension released its prediction for the 10 hottest careers in 2015 for new college graduates.
The 10 careers, identified in the free “2015 Hot Careers Report,” offer a combination of strong employment growth, competitive salaries and high-quality work environments. Here’s the list:
Software Developers: Applications
Software Developers: Systems Software
Accountants and Auditors
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
Cost Estimators
Computer Network Architects
Management Analysts
Personal Financial Advisors
Elementary School Teachers, except for Special Education
Financial Analysts
Mary Walshok, associate vice chancellor of public programs and dean of UC San Diego Extension, said the hot careers for 2015 reflect the evolution of the U.S. economy and its increased focus on globalization and technology.
“Global markets, the rise of big data and the continued reach and influence of the digital world, all helped propel jobs for software developers, computer network architects and marketing analysts to the top of the list,” Walshok said.
Shifting demographics are also fueling growth in such careers as personal financial advisors and elementary school teachers.
“Aging Baby Boomers and the decline in pensions are increasing the need for professionals who can help people properly prepare for retirement,” Walshok added. “On the other hand, more elementary school teachers are reaching retirement age and creating a real demand for new teachers to fill that void.”
UC San Diego Extension serves some 33,000 students annually.
Rare Scholarship Coup
St. Augustine High Produces Two
Gates Scholars from Class of 2015
St. Augustine, the small all-boys high school on Nutmeg Street in North Park, came up big this spring when two of its students earned the Nobel Prize of college scholarships.
Graduating seniors Julio Serrano and Andres Bustos are both winners of the highly prized Gates Millennium Scholarship, an award that will cover all their academic costs from college through graduate school.
Only 1,000 of these scholarships are awarded across the nation each year, and it is rare that two are given to students at the same school. Both boys obtained nominations and recommendations from teachers and counselors, and filled out lengthy applications.
“The accomplishments of both Andres and Julio are evidence of their hard work and guidance from a superior faculty,” said school Principal James Horne, “We are so very proud of them and wish them the best in their continued studies.”
This is not the first time Saints has produced Gates Scholars.
The Gates Millennium Scholars Program, established in 1999, was initially funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. To date, a dozen St. Augustine High School scholars have earned Gates Scholarship in recent years.
They were evaluated on the strength of their applications, transcripts, and activities/service records. The Gates Scholarship can be used at any college or university in the United States.
Julio plans to use his at Harvard where he plans to study government and leadership. Andres is still deciding on a college but he plans to study engineering. Both students are active in IRC, World Link (part of USD’s Peace and Justice Center), and Saint’s math tutoring, among their many activities.
The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential by:
• Reducing financial barriers for African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American and Hispanic American students with high academic and leadership promise who have significant financial need.
• Increasing the representation of these target groups in the disciplines of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and the sciences, where these groups are severely underrepresented.
• Developing a diversified cadre of future leaders for America by facilitating successful completion of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
• Providing seamless support from undergraduate through doctoral programs, for students selected as Gates Millennium Scholars entering target disciplines.
— By Thomas Shess
Preparations Begin for
Comic-Con International
By City News Service
Preparations for Comic-Con International were in the final stretch as workers readied the San Diego Convention Center for the annual Preview Night tonight.
On their “Toucan Blog,” organizers of the celebration of the popular arts wrote that exhibitors were putting together their booths and program rooms were being built.
Around 130,000 people are expected to attend the largest annual trade show in San Diego through Sunday. Many are visitors from out of town, and some are from out of the country.
The first event associated with Comic-Con is set for this evening, when graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier, the best-selling author of “Smile, Sisters, and Drama,” is scheduled to appear at the San Diego Central Library.
The free event begins at 6 p.m., and is presented by Comic-Con International, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the San Diego Public Library. The library will also host a workshop for teachers on how to use comic books in classrooms, beginning today at 5 p.m.
Preview Night, which begins at 6 p.m. today, will feature world premiere screenings of pilot episodes of four series for the 2015-16 television season, including:
• “Supergirl,” about a preteen who escapes from the doomed planet Krypton but arrives on Earth long after Superman, starring Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Mehcad Brooks and Calista Flockhart — it will appear Mondays on CBS.
• “Blindspot,” a one-hour action thriller about an FBI agent played by Sullivan Stapleton who has to unravel the mysterious discovery of a naked, amnesiac woman covered in a series of cryptic tattoos, including his name on her back — set for Mondays on NBC.
• “Containment,” a CW show about the fight against a mysterious and deadly epidemic that forces a vast quarantine of Atlanta, starring David Gyasi, Christina Moses and Chris Wood.
• “Lucifer,” about the reawakening of the fallen angel in Los Angeles, with Tom Ellis and Lauren German in the cast — scheduled for a mid-season run on Fox.
The Preview Night slate also includes a new episode of “Teen Titans Go!”
The main part of Comic-Con International gets underway on Thursday.
