Daily Business Report-July 23, 2019
Image: Ben Tolo, San Diego Supercomputer Center
San Diego Supercomputer Center awarded
$10 million to deploy ‘Expanse’ supercomputer
The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California San Diego, has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) valued at $10 million to deploy Expanse, a new supercomputer designed to advance research that is increasingly dependent upon heterogeneous and distributed resources.
The NSF award, which runs from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2025, is valued at $10 million for acquisition and deployment of Expanse. An additional award will be made in the coming months to support Expanse operations and user support.
Like SDSC’s Comet supercomputer, which is slated to remain in operation through March 2021, Expanse will continue to serve what is referred to as the ‘long tail’ of science. Virtually every discipline, from multi-messenger astronomy, genomics, and the social sciences, as well as more traditional ones such as earth sciences and biology, depend upon these medium-scale, innovative systems for much of their productive computing.
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SDSU alumni score big with colorful
braided bracelets and moneyed investor
By Lainie Fraser
San Diego State University alumni Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman have been selling colorful braided bracelets since 2010, and they now have a million-dollar brand name behind them.
Friends since high school, Thall and Goodman founded their company, Pura Vida, after a surfing trip to Costa Rica. They spent years designing and developing their brand while spreading the name at parties and local events. As of this year, the two ship more than one million products per month.
As their success continued to grow, the two ambitious entrepreneurs acknowledged they needed a little guidance. Thall and Goodman met with more than 25 different private equity groups and strategic buyers before they settled on Vera Bradley – a company with similar morals and history to their own brand but with a wealth of knowledge they wanted to tap.
This past month, Vera Bradley, a leading American bag and luggage company and iconic lifestyle brand, entered into an agreement to purchase 75 percent of Pura Vida, valuing the company at $130 million. The remaining 25 percent is retained by Goodman and Thall for the future growth of the brand.
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Proposed T-Mobile and Sprint merger
would reshape the wireless industry
By Dan Morain | CALmatters
California is about to take center stage in the proposed $26.5 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, a deal that would reshape the wireless industry and the San Joaquin town of Kingsburg.
If the merger goes forward, there’d be three, not four, major wireless companies. The new entity could compete with AT&T and Verizon, and would have 127 million customers.
The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to rule as soon as this week on the merger. Federal regulators have approved it.
But wait: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra last month sued in New York to block the merger, saying it would “result in a compressed market with fewer choices and higher prices.”
The California Public Utilities Commission also must rule. Similar commissions in other states have approved the merger.
T-Mobile and Sprint promise:
- Expanded 5G service.
- Upgraded service to fairgrounds that serve as evacuation centers in disasters.
Free internet for low-income people.
- A 1,000-employee customer service center in Kingsburg, 30 miles south of Fresno.
Lenny Mendonca, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief economic adviser, issued a statement when the center was announced: “It is exciting to see the growing trend of employers taking advantage of the workforce opportunities in the Central Valley.”
The Communications Workers of America opposes the merger. T-Mobile is a nonunion operation.
Money matters:
- AT&T, not a fan of the merger, has contributed $413,000 to California politics this year, including $125,000 to the California Democratic Party on July 15.
- Verizon gave $40,000 to the Democratic Party in July
- T-Mobile gave $20,000 to the Democratic Party in April.
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General Atomics teams with Cobham
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has reaffirmed its collaboration with Cobham Aviation Services UK for through-life support strategies for the Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). First delivery of the GA-ASI-developed RPA to the Royal Air Force (RAF) is expected in the early 2020s.
Cobham has been providing technical and maintenance support for the RAF Reaper Ground Control Stations at RAF Waddington since 2015 and was involved in the historic trans-Atlantic flight of GA-ASI’s SkyGuardian, which landed at RAF Fairford in July 2018. Protector RG Mk1 is based on SkyGuardian.
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Cubic’s Trafficware introduces
next-generation traffic signal software
Cubic Corporation announced that Trafficware, which operates within its Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) business division, is rolling out its latest and most advanced controller software SCOUT, responding to communities demand for more smart intersection technology, functionality and ease of use. The system will be on display July 21–23 at the Institute of Transportation Engineers Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.
While motorists rarely think about the complex systems that run a traffic signal, the controller is the intelligence behind connected and autonomous vehicle technology, adaptive traffic control systems, vehicle detection, pedestrian cross walks, emergency vehicle preemption, coordination with transit systems and ultimately mobility through any urban corridor.
Building upon the highly acclaimed Version 76 controller software, the new SCOUT controller software provides significant enhancements to address the increasing complexity of today’s signalized intersections.
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Northrop Grumman announces new orders
for its optionally piloted Firebird
Northrop Grumman said it has signed agreements with Tenax Aerospace and Grand Sky Development Company LLC for rights to purchase Firebird, the company’s new, optionally piloted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft system.
“Flexibility, whether in cockpit configuration, payloads, or in owning and purchasing Firebird, is at the core of what makes this aircraft such an attractive ISR option for government partners and private industry,” said Brian Chappel, vice president, autonomous systems, Northrop Grumman. “Having flown over two dozen sensors on Firebird’s proven architecture, we are ready to offer Firebird to a wide range of nations, U.S. government and civilian agencies, and businesses with critical data collection needs.”
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CaseyGerry partner David S. Casey Jr.
honored as a Top Plaintiff’s Lawyer
CaseyGerry partner David S. Casey Jr. has been recognized as among California’s “Top 30 Plaintiff’s Lawyers” for 2019 by The Daily Journal – California’s leading legal publication. He is the only San Diego attorney to be featured.
In this annual list of the state’s top plaintiff lawyers, The Journal honors leading lawyers bringing single cases and multi-party actions – acknowledging their involvement in key cases making an important difference in California and beyond.
Casey, known for taking on high-profile, complex cases, was lauded by The Journal for his recent Witkin Award for Excellence in the Practice of Law, bestowed for his work related to raising awareness about football head injuries and concussion safety. These issues arose while he represented the family of deceased NFL hero Junior Seau, a case in which he achieved a confidential settlement. In addition, he represented the family of baseball legend Tony Gwynn – the Padres player who died of salivary gland cancer following a lifetime addiction to smokeless tobacco – in a case against U.S. Tobacco which also settled for a confidential amount.
Additionally, Casey Jr. served on the plaintiffs’ steering committee for the Fiat Chrysler Jeep Dodge diesel emissions fraud litigation, helping to achieve a $307 million settlement. And as liaison counsel, he helped achieve a $390 million settlement with Wells Fargo in 2019 over insurance marketing.
A past president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now the American Association for Justice), Casey has received more than 80 professional awards throughout his career.
