Daily Business Report-Oct. 14, 2015
iboss Cybersecurity’s new headquarters building.
Cybersecurity Company Opens New
Global Headquarters in San Diego
iboss Cybersecurity announced the opening of a new global headquarters in San Diego that will include a state-of-the-art threat research center to identify new malware and viruses that threaten computer networks.
The company said the 43,000 square-foot facility incorporates leading amenities and interesting features meant to attract top industry talent, including a 40-foot slide in the center of the building, modern kitchens, indoor putting greens, swings and a spacious outdoor lounge with fire pits and barbeque grills.
iboss invested more than $6 million to completely renovate the building, the former SAIC World Wide Data Center that was closed when that company moved to Washington D.C. in 2009. By focusing on increasing sunlight and open spaces and using raw materials in the construction, the new design is meant to create a positive, natural environment for employees.
With the opening of the new office, iboss is also partnering with UC San Diego to develop an internship program that will provide the company with a rich talent pool of qualified graduates.
“We’re extremely excited to open our new global headquarters in San Diego which demonstrates how far we’ve come since we first launched here more than 10 years ago,” said Paul Martini, CEO and founder of iboss. “San Diego is quickly becoming a hub for cybersecurity companies and that means the infrastructure and talent is in place to enable us to continue to grow here.”
With the new office, iboss expects to add 100-150 jobs in the next 18 months. The company currently employs 120 people in San Diego.
iboss said it provides the only technology that detects suspicious network traffic and stops malicious data transfers before hackers can steal large amounts of sensitive information. While many firms create software protection designed to prevent malware from gaining access to computer networks, iboss has the unique ability to monitor outgoing data traffic and prevent large-scale data breaches, according to the company.
The company was named one of the fastest growing technology companies by Deloitte in 2014. Co-founders Paul and Peter Martini were also recognized with the 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
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Salk Institute Scientist Receives Award
To Further Research on Infection
Salk Institute scientist Janelle Ayres has received an award of $500,000 over two years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to further her research on bolstering a person’s microbiome to help their body overcome an infection. The award comes with the possibility of an additional $500,000 for a third year.
Ayres, assistant professor in Salk’s Nomis Foundation Laboratory for Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis, is one of 24 to receive DARPA’s Young Faculty Award. “There is a disconnect between our methods for treating infectious disease and our understanding of the mechanisms that keep us healthy during infection,” says Ayres. “With DARPA’s support, I hope to develop a better understanding of how the body’s microbiome helps defend it against infections and how these mechanisms might be enhanced to improve disease tolerance.”
Ayres’ award comes as DARPA is proposing a new approach for medical countermeasure against biological threats with a shift away from eradicating pathogens and instead finding therapies for disease tolerance. The agency is part of the U.S. Department of Defense and responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military for national security.
“Support for basic biomedical research that is aimed at identifying new ways to combat infectious diseases rather than the traditional anti-microbial based strategies is important and timely,” Ayres says. “Especially given the rate at which infectious diseases are evolving resistance to our anti-microbial strategies.”
Casa Cornelia to honor Price Philanthropies
Attorney Teodora Purcell, DLA Piper LLP
Price Philanthropies Foundation will receive the 2015 La Mancha Humanitarian Award from Casa Cornelia Law Center during a ceremony from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday. The eighth annual event will be held at USD’s Joan B. Kroc Center for Peace and Justice.
Price Philanthropies’ financial support for Casa Cornelia’s work in City Heights and throughout the county helps the law center serve vulnerable immigrant families.
During the La Mancha Awards, Casa Cornelia will also honor Teodora D. Purcell of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP with the La Mancha Distinguished Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award. Purcell has provided hours of legal representation for Casa Cornelia’s clients, advocated for the organization and mentored other volunteer legal professionals.
DLA Piper LLP will receive the Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award for donating 3,100 hours of pro bono legal assistance to Casa Cornelia clients in the last five years.
Inn of Court Pro Bono Publico Awards will go to Rachel Hunt and Peter Maggiore (DLA Piper LLP); Jae Park (Dentons US LLP); Kevin Kwon (Morrison & Foerster LLP); Kristy Harden and Jessica Weinberg (Qualcomm Inc.); and solo practitioners Pamela Flores, Andrew Nietor, Victor Salazar and Alan Wiener.
Priscilla Askar, Therese Belanger, Anali Cortez, Angelika Dimopoulos, Maty Feldman-Bicas, Marisol Jimenez, Servando Lopez, Alvaro Salazar, Jazmin Vargas and Daniel P. Washle will receive Special Recognition Awards.
Last year, more than 300 volunteers for Casa Cornelia assisted 1,800 abused and abandoned children and adults affected by human trafficking; domestic abuse; and persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Casa Cornelia also assisted 633 unaccompanied children.
The public is invited to attend the event, which includes a reception. For details, visit www.casacornelia.org.
City and County Prepping
For El Niño Emergencies
City News Service
The county of San Diego announced Tuesday that it has placed storm preparation information on its ReadySanDiego.org website and its Spanish-language counterpart, ListoSanDiego.org.
By clicking the “El Niño Ready” banner at the top of the page, readers can learn about the status of El Niño — which is expected to bring more rain than usual to Southern California this winter, creating a family disaster plan, obtaining sandbags and checking insurance policies.
Residents can also sign up for Alert San Diego, which provides phone and email emergency notifications.
The websites include a link to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’sflood maps, which can be searched by addresses, place names or coordinates.
A study released last week by the National University System Institute for Policy Research found that nearly 54,600 San Diegans, or 1.75 percent of county residents, live in areas that could be subject to flooding during El Niño-fueled rainstorms. County emergency officials said residents shouldn’t solely base risk on their neighborhood’s flood history, but take into account the conditions of hillsides and storm drains around their house. Erosion can be prevented or eased on slopes by planting groundcovers and shrubs, .
At a meeting at the county Office of Emergency Management, Alex Tardy of the National Weather Service said the current El Niño could be the strongest on record. The storms might or might not be stronger than usual, but they could be more frequent and last until April, Tardy told around 100 first responders and government officials.
USS Theodore Roosevelt
Coming Home to San Diego
City News Service
After more than six months of duty in the Middle East, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Tuesday began the voyage to San Diego — its new home port, according to the Navy.
As part of the journey, the “Big Stick” this week will take part in an exercise with Japanese and Indian forces in the Bay of Bengal.
During the Middle East deployment, air squadrons aboard the Roosevelt conducted more than 1,800 combat sorties against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, racking up 10,600 flight hours for the crews.
“The entire Big Stick and Carrier Air Wing 1 team did a phenomenal job throughout this deployment,” said Capt. Craig Clapperton, the Roosevelt’s commanding officer.
“They exceeded every expectation, but I think the most impressive accomplishments were their lethality and effectiveness in combat operations and their impressive ability to operate at the very edge of human performance in a brutal environment with such precision day in and day out,” Clapperton said.
Since most of each crew will remain at their home base, not with their ship, the Navy expects to save around $41 million in personnel transfer costs.
With the Roosevelt gone, the U.S. will experience a rare gap of two or three months without a flattop in the Middle East. The USS Harry Truman is the next aircraft carrier scheduled to go to the region, but it just recently completed exercises that certified the vessel as ready to deploy, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
The Big Stick left its previous home port of Norfolk, Va., March 11.
It’s the final piece of the puzzle as the Navy shifts around three flattops. The USS Ronald Reagan left San Diego after 11 years for a new home in Japan, and the USS George Washington was sent to Virginia, where its nuclear power plant will be refueled.
Retired Navy Captain to Lead
San Diego Military Advisory Council
The San Diego Military Advisory Council today named Capt. Randy Bogle (USN, Ret.) as the nonprofit organization’s newest executive director, relieving Capt. Larry Blumberg (USN, Ret.),who will retire at the end of this year.
The announcement comes after a nationwide search to replace Blumberg, its founding executive director of 10 years.
“We knew it was going to be very difficult to find someone to replace Larry.
He has been a strong and long-standing leader in our defense and military communities — everyone knows him,” said Jamie Moraga, immediate past president of the organization and chair of the committee charged with finding Blumberg’s replacement. “Randy is more than qualified and well positioned to begin where Larry will leave his legacy — and continue to grow SDMAC.”
The transition period will begin immediately, with Bogle expected to fully take the reins in mid-December.
Earlier this month, SDMAC’s board of directors voted on next year’s slate of officers:
Ward Wilson of Boeing, 2016 president; Capt. Dennis DuBard (USN, Ret.) of General Dynamics NASSCO, vice president/2017 president-elect; Rear Adm. Mark Balmert (USN, Ret.) of BAE Systems, secretary; and Dan Adams of Wells Fargo, treasurer.
La Jolla Institute Appoints
New Faculty Member
Pandurangan Vijayanand (Vijay), M.D., has been appointed to the position of associate professor in the Division of Vaccine Discovery at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, the institute announced today.
The institute said Vijayanand brings to bear the full power of new and innovative genomics tools to understand, diagnose and treat pulmonary disease such as asthma, lung cancer and infectious disease. His laboratory has developed a number of techniques to study the molecular profiles of circulating and airway immune cells from patients with asthma and other diseases, using fewer cells than was possible previously. This makes it easier to obtain sufficient material for detailed genetic studies.
“With landmark funding for his work, we are delighted to secure Vijay’s appointment here at the La Jolla Institute,” says Mitch Kronenberg, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of the La Jolla Institute. “Vijay is a very accomplished physician-scientist who, in addition to a distinct and powerful skill set, brings a unique perspective to biomedical research that is inspired by his frontline experience caring for patients. We are fortunate to have him as a member of our faculty.”
