Daily Business Report-March 23, 2017
A CONNECT2Careers job fair sponsored by the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
San Diego Workforce Partnership
Receives $1 Million Grant
for Youth Employment Program
The San Diego Workforce Partnership has received a $1 million grant from The James Irvine Foundation to expand its youth and young adult employment initiative. It’s the largest private grant ever received by the agency.
The initiative — CONNECT2Careers — addresses unemployment for 16-24 year olds throughout San Diego County by aligning the career goals of young adults with businesses that are investing in the future workforce.
“We are very grateful to have The James Irvine Foundation as a partner in connecting young adults in our region to education and employment,” said Peter Callstrom, CEO, SDWP. “More importantly, this provides more life-changing services for the people we serve. Many more young adults will have the opportunity to achieve their career goals as a result of this investment.”
The two-year grant will accelerate C2C’s efforts to serve 12,000 youth and young adults during 2017 and 2018 through SDWP’s custom technology platform that matches young adults with jobs in high-growth sectors. C2C is open to all 16-24 year-olds living in San Diego County, with an emphasis on serving opportunity youth — young adults (16-24) who are not in school or work. In 2016, C2C served over 4,000 youth and young adults through a team of peer job coaches, work-readiness training, and job placement services.
The James Irvine Foundation grant will also support SDWP’s first annual “Flip the Script” youth summit which will focus on developing a community action plan to reconnect the estimated 53,000 opportunity youth to education and employment in San Diego County. Don Howard, president and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation, will be a keynote speaker. The event will be held April 13 at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. For more information on ‘Flip The Script’, go to: workforce.org/summit2017.
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Cubic Mission Solutions Awarded
$20 Million Contract by Navy
Cubic Mission Solutions, a business division of Cubic Corporation, has received a contract award worth more than $20 million from the U.S. Navy’s San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) for the development and delivery of Person-portable Common Data Link (PCDL) systems.
Cubic will deliver these systems for the Navy Tactical Mobile Program, which is managed by the Carrier and Air Integration Program Office, or PMW 750. The TacMobile Program provides expeditionary ground support for Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft, which include the P-3C, P-8A aircraft and the MQ-4C Triton. PMW 750 is responsible for providing integrated Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities in support of these Navy aircraft.
Under the contract, Cubic will be responsible for procuring, producing, assembling, testing, documenting and delivering TacMobile PCDL systems as well as spare suites for installation in Tactical Operation Centers and Mobile Tactical Operation Centers.
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NASA Develops Folding
Robot for Rugged Terrains
ExecutiveGov
NASA has developed an origami-inspired robot designed to fold itself and explore rugged areas deemed “too risky” for rovers.
The agency said the Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot has been tested in various terrains such as the Mojave Desert in California, a ski resort in Colorado and an active volcano in Antartica.
The solar-powered PUFFER robot works to fold its two wheels over the main body to crawl into spaces where rovers cannot fit, NASA added.
PUFFER’s developers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory aim to launch the robot for planetary expeditions such as the Mars mission.
“If Curiosity had a stack of PUFFERs on board, each of them could go to separate spots, and the rover would just go to the most interesting one,” said Kalind Carpenter, a robotics engineer at JPL.
JPL scientists look to add various instruments into PUFFER which could allow the robot to sample water for organic material as well as study the chemical composition of its environment.
PUFFER could also become as large as a breadbox and feature smart technology such as autonomy, NASA said.
JPL manages PUFFER as part of NASA’s Game Changing Development program which aims to explore ideas and approaches that could address technological issues and support future space missions.
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Asimov Ventures Invests in Fabric8Labs,
Innovative Metal 3D Printing Company
Fabric8Labs, a San Diego-based metal 3D printing startup, announced a key investment from Asimov Ventures, a venture capital firm that specializes in early stage investments in 3D printing and robotics. This comes on the heels of Fabric8Labs’ announcements of acceptance into the EvoNexus’ startup incubator and CONNECT’s springboard program. With this investment Fabric8Labs will further refine its prototype to demonstrate the full capabilities of its 3D electroplating process and will begin printing full-scale parts for their industrial partners.
“We’ve looked at a number of metal 3D printing startups, and see Fabric8Labs as potentially the most exciting,” said Tyler Benster, general partner of Asimov Ventures.
Fabric8Labs has developed the world’s first non-thermal metal 3D printer. Its builds 3D objects using a 3D electroplating process, leading to superior part density, grain structure, and surface finish at a reduced total cost of ownership.
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Mayor Pushing Public Vote in November
On Convention Center Expansion
Voters could be asked this November to approve a hike in the hotel room tax to fund a more than $600 million expansion of San Diego’s bayfront convention center, Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office said Wednesday.
