Daily Business Report-April 25, 2016
The next generation of ticket vending machine: NextAgent by Cubic. (Courtesy Cubic Corp.)
Cubic and Abellio Win Product
Award for Virtual Ticket Office
Cubic Transportation System, a business unit of Cubic Corp., and Abellio Greater Anglia, a subsidiary of transport provider Abellio Group, have been awarded “Product Innovation of the Year” at the SmartRail Europe Innovation Awards 2016.
The award, announced April 19 in Amsterdam, recognizes the best and most innovative products in the rail and metro industry
Cubic Transportation System created NextAgent, an innovative hybrid between a virtual walk-up ticket office, a ticket vending machine and a video-linked call center, which has been trialed at Stansted Airport in partnership with Abellio Group.
Since the introduction of NextAgent in October 2015, it has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from users, citing the ease of use and a secure and service-oriented customer experience.
Not only does the NextAgent technology provide a virtual ticket office in remote locations and areas where there is limited space for a full ticket office, it is also an important customer information point. The NextAgent operators are on hand to remotely answer customer questions, provide advice about best fares and reassure passengers about their onward travel. The ability to provide this service is fundamental to the high importance that Abellio places on customer experience. An additional benefit of introducing NextAgent technology is that it can help ease congestion at stations.
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Chargers Reach Labor Agreement
With San Diego Trades Council
By City News Service
The Chargers and leaders of the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council announced Friday that they’ve reached a project labor agreement for a proposed Downtown stadium and convention center annex.
Project labor agreements spell out terms for employing workers on a major project, such as compensation and hiring local tradesmen.
Supporters of such arrangements say project labor agreements ensure quality work and labor peace, usually meaning a job will be completed on time. Opponents contend they effectively shut out non-union shops and increase a project’s price tag.
The council, an umbrella group for construction unions, also announced its endorsement of the team’s proposed ballot measure, which would help fund the project. The Chargers launch a signature-gathering drive Saturday to qualify their initiative for the November ballot.
“It’s not just about building — we all build — it’s about the community,” said Tom Lemmon, the council’s business manager. “We have the highly trained, skilled workforce that is going to do this project right, on-time and on-budget.”
Publishing Giant Gannett Offering
To Buy San Diego Union-Tribune Owner
Times of San Diego
Consolidation in the newspaper industry continued Monday with news that Washington-based publishing giant Gannett is offering to buy the owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times for $815 million.
The all-cash offer for Tribune Publishing of $12.25 a share, a 63 percent premium over Friday’s $7.52 a share closing price, was initially reported by the Chicago Tribune, flagship property of the company, which owns 11 major newspapers.
Gannett said in a news release on Monday morning that the all-cash value of the transaction meant it could be completed quickly, and in a letter addressed to Tribune Publishing Chief Executive Justin Dearborn said it was “disappointed by the response” in a Friday letter from Dearborn regarding Gannett’s proposal.
Gannett noted that it first made overtures to Tribune Publishing’s board on April 12 and followed up several times in phone calls to Chairman Michael Ferro.
“We believe the financial and strategic logic of a combination of our two companies is clear,” Gannett said today in a letter to Dearborn from Robert Dickey, its president and CEO.
“The challenges for our industry in the digital age continue. Tribune has itself faced numerous challenges and leadership changes over the last few years. We believe Gannett is uniquely willing and able to propel Tribune into the position of strength that will allow its beloved and historic publications and other assets to survive and thrive in this challenging environment. By combining, we would create a company with the financial stability and flexibility equipped to preserve journalistic integrity, high standards and excellence for years to come. We would be able to both empower our journalists and facilitate the creation of exceptional content while delivering stockholder value.”
In an email to Tribune Publishing employees this morning, Dearborn said the company did not seek or encourage Gannett’s proposal and has not been trying to sell, the Tribune article reported.
— City News Service contributed to this article.
Scientists’ Molecule-Building Method
Seen Having Major Impact on Industry
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have devised a new molecule-building method that is likely to have a major impact on the pharmaceutical industry and many other chemistry-based enterprises.
The method, published as an online First Release paper in Science on April 21, allows chemists to construct novel, complex and potentially very valuable molecules, starting from a large class of compounds known as carboxylic acids, which are relatively cheap and non-toxic. Carboxylic acids include the amino acids that make proteins, fatty acids found in animals and plants, citric acid, acetic acid (vinegar) and many other substances that are already produced in industrial quantities.
“This is one of the most useful methods we have ever worked with, and it mostly involves materials that every chemist has access to already, so I think the interest in it will expand rapidly,” said principal investigator Phil S. Baran, Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry at TSRI.
SDSU Named One of Nation’s
Top Grad Schools for Hispanics
San Diego State University has been named one of the nation’s top graduate schools for Hispanics, according to the April 2016 edition of the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education.
Besting thousands of graduate schools across the nation, SDSU ranked No. 14 for the number of masters degrees granted to Hispanics with a total of 1,746.
“SDSU is excited to be among the leaders in graduate degrees awarded to Hispanic students across the country,” said Aaron Bruce, SDSU’s chief diversity officer. “As a Hispanic Serving Institution, we are pleased to play an important role in educating the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. The contributions of our graduates will be important to research, to our society and the regional, national and global economies.”
This is the first time that SDSU has been included in Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education’s annual index of the Top 25 Graduate Schools for Hispanics, which is compiled from Department of Education lists, including total graduate degrees granted and graduate student enrollment.
SDSU was ranked No. 11 in the nation and No. 4 in California for bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics, according to the May 2012 Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education.
Personnel Announcements
Construction Veteran Joins BNBuilders
Construction industry veteran Kevin E. Thompson has joined the leadership team at BNBuilders as project executive.
Thompson has three decades of construction experience, and is one of several personnel additions to the company’s San Diego office due to growing demand.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in finance from Indiana University in 1986, Thompson entered the construction field and has stayed in the industry ever since. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for constructing or acquiring millions of square feet of space, and for construction projects costing tens of millions of dollars.
Prior to joining BNBuilders, Thompson worked for Phase 3 Real Estate Partners, DPR Construction, and Metropolitan Contracting.
Salk Institute Recruits Award-Winning Neurobiologist
The Salk Institute announced the appointment of Eiman Azim as an assistant professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. He will join the Institute in May.
“Eiman is an innovative scientist who is making exciting discoveries to expand our knowledge of neural circuits and movement,” says Elizabeth Blackburn, president of the Salk Institute. “His research will ultimately enable us to better understand the brain and potentially help generate new treatments for neural and spinal cord dysfunction.”
Azim was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University Medical Center, where he investigated neural circuits in the spinal cord and brain to find out how skilled movements work — in particular, actions like reacting quickly to catch a ball or throw a dart. He used genetic, molecular, electrophysiological and behavioral techniques in mouse models to study how the brain directs limbs to reach for and grab objects with speed and precision. He identified two genetically distinct spinal circuits crucial to achieving this goal: one class of neurons responsible for the stability of the limb during movement and another responsible for providing rapid feedback to help the brain monitor and correct movements.
