Daily Business Report: Monday, June 14, 2021
Researchers at General Atomics
plant continue to improve innovative
operating regime for fusion reactors
A key challenge for fusion power plants is finding a way to generate high fusion power while protecting the walls of the magnetic vessel from the intense heat and particle flow created by fusion reactions. Researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have been developing high-performance regimes for years, but new research has demonstrated a path toward practical methods of removing the excess heat and impurities that will be present in future power plants.
The experiments took a previously identified high-performance regime known as Super-H Mode and tested methods to control heat and particle flow at the edge of the fusion reaction. This new approach uses advanced control algorithms and optimized methods of cooling the edge of the plasma without excessively degrading the reaction in the core. The results identify a pathway for increased performance of the ITER fusion experiment under construction in France, as well as fusion power plants that will come after it.
DIII-D is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the U.S. and is operated by San Diego-based General Atomics as a national user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
PHOTO: The plasmas in Super H-mode experiments at the National Fusion Facility are able to reach ion temperatures of more than 150 million degrees in the core plasma (orange area). Recent experiments using advanced control algorithms have demonstrated approaches for cooling the divertor region of the pedestal (bottom of yellow area) to protect the walls of the magnetic vessel, without degrading fusion performance in the core. (Courtesy of General Atomics)
City College Arts and Humanities building
to be named in honor of Chancellor Constance Carroll
The San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees has voted to name San Diego City College’s iconic Arts and Humanities building in honor of retiring Chancellor Constance M. Carroll in recognition of her distinguished service over her 17-year tenure.
The board approved the naming during its June 10 meeting, Chancellor Carroll’s last before she retires on June 30. The $94.6-million building, located on City College’s Downtown San Diego campus, will now be called the “Constance M. Carroll, Ph.D., Arts and Humanities Building.” This action was recommended by the Chancellor’s Cabinet, which includes the four college presidents, and was approved by the City College Governance Council.
The 128,000-square-foot Arts and Humanities building, which opened in 2014, was built using Proposition N bond funds Carroll fought hard to secure voter support for in 2006. It is one of 43 new buildings and 18 building renovations completed as part of the $1.555 billion Propositions S and N bond campaigns across the district’s four colleges.
Sabre Springs offices sell for $68 million,
with almost half of site available for development
Summit Pointe, a corporate office campus on 21 acres in Sabre Springs, has sold for $68.35 million. The site includes 146,626 square-feet of corporate office space, with more than nine acres ready to be developed. The property is entitled for the development of approximately 175,000 additional square feet.
Newport National Corporation, a real estate company based in Carlsbad, sold the property to an undisclosed partnership, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate services firm.
The four-story building, at 10641 Scripps Summit Court, was approximately 68 percent leased at the time of sale to a single tenant, a communications and technology company.
Record number of teens earn Girl Scouting’s highest honor
A record 87 local young women have reached the pinnacle of Girl Scouting by earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. Just five percent of eligible Girl Scouts attain the prestigious designation.
The Gold Award Girl Scouts were honored on Saturday during a socially distanced ceremony at Liberty Station. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan was the keynote speaker. Last April, Stephan was honored as one of Girl Scouts San Diego’s “Cool Women of 2021.”
Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award by demonstrating accomplishments in leadership, community service, career planning, and personal development. Each girl chooses a local or global issue she cared deeply about, thoroughly investigates the issue, creates a detailed plan to address it, recruits others to help her execute it, and take steps to ensure its sustainability.
To overcome the challenges of pandemic restrictions, the 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts had to significantly revise their approaches to executing the projects. Among the awardees and their projects: Laney connected teens with seniors to alleviate isolation during quarantine; Megan recruited registrants for an international bone marrow registry; Shruti educated 5,000+ people in five countries about Type I diabetes; and Carina created an online STEM tutoring network for middle school girls.
The Gold Award gives girls a competitive edge in the college admissions process and job searches. Gold Award Girl Scouts are also eligible for special scholarships and enlist in the military at a higher pay grade.
According to a Girl Scout Research Institute study, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely than other girls their age to have positive attitudes and be optimistic about the future, view themselves as leaders, believe they can achieve their goals, and volunteer and make charitable donations in the future.
UC San Diego Professor Renee Bowen
selected as White House economic adviser
Renee Bowen, the Pastor Faculty Fellow at the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Department of Economics, has been selected to serve in the Biden administration as the senior economist for trade with the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).
The professor of economics and director of the Center for Commerce and Diplomacy(CCD) will share her expertise with the administration, focusing on international economic matters and coordinating with other agencies including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, National Security Council and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
For the past year, Bowen served on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors, where she advised the governor and California’s Department of Finance director Keely Martin Bosler on wide-ranging economic issues.
An expert on international economics, political economy, and microeconomic theory, Bowen will assist CEA by focusing on trade and its national and international impacts, including its influence on supply chains, wages and prices. The appointment is for one year. She has previously worked as a consultant at the World Bank on international trade policy for Sub-Saharan Africa and was an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities.
Carlsbad’s Airspace partners with
Cool Effect to offset carbon emmission
Carlsbad-based Airspace, a shipping company, is partnering with Cool Effect to offset emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of its logistics operations throughout North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
Cool Effect enables Airspace to fund a project that prevents carbon from entering the earth’s atmosphere, offsetting carbon emissions produced by its network of drivers the logistics company uses to deliver time-critical packages around the world for health care, life science, aerospace, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, automotive, construction, and energy industries.
“The Cool Effect partnership gives us a tangible way to offset the emissions of every single delivery we manage. This is only a first step of many we are taking to be carbon neutral,” said Airspace Managing Director Marcel Andriessen.
Airspace will help fund the Cool Effect Cup of the Amazon project, which helps protect the Peruvian Amazon from further deforestation, while helping local communities develop family sustaining jobs outside of the logging industry.
Charlotte Johnson named USD
vice president for student affairs
The University of San Diego has selected Charlotte Johnson to serve as its new vice president for student affairs. She is expected to start her new role on Aug. 1, 2021.
Johnson currently serves as the vice president and dean of students at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. Before joining Scripps, she was the chief student affairs officer at Dartmouth College and Colgate University. Johnson also served on the senior leadership team at the University of Michigan Law School.
With more than two decades of experience in higher education, Johnson has served as a thought leader and change agent for some of the most salient issues in higher education, including inclusion and access, sexual assault on college campuses, campus climate/support of marginalized student populations, experiential learning and strategic integrations between academic and student affairs.
Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Detroit Mercy, earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and has served on various local and national boards throughout her career.
Port Administration Building to reopen to public on Tuesday
The Port of San Diego Administration Building at 3165 Pacific Highway in San Diego will reopen to the public and tenants on Tuesday, June 15. The building will be open during business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and every other Friday (administrative offices work on an alternate workweek schedule and are closed every other Friday per our Alternate Closed Fridays schedule).
Whenever possible, the public and tenants are encouraged to use the Port’s online Service Portal for services, including public records, parks/event permits, reporting trash, graffiti, stormwater pollution and more. Those without computer and/or Internet access may request to use a computer that will be available in the lobby of the Administration Building.
At this time and until further notice, all persons entering any Port facility are required to wear a face covering.
Professionals interior designers offer in-home
design consultations during July and August
During the month of July and August, members of the San Diego chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) will conduct in-home design consultations during the ASID “Summer Spruce Up” fundraiser. The fee of $89 per hour (minimum one hour/maximum two hours) is a donation to the ASID chapter; the designer volunteers his/her time.
“When we spruce-up our homes, it instills fresh energy that has a powerful effect on our mental and emotional state,” said Rachel Villacis, Allied ASID, of Rachel Marie Design, the event chair. Designers are individually selected to meet each client’s specific needs.
For information on the program and to arrange for a designer visit, call 858-566-3345 or email administrator@casd.asid.org. All appointments are prepaid.
E-commerce startup being acquired
by Lightspeed for $500 million
E-commerce technology firm Ecwid, an Encinitas startup that’s developed easy-to-use tools for small businesses to set up online shopping capabilities in minutes, is being acquired by publicly traded Lightspeed for $500 million in cash and stock.
Founded in 2009, Ecwid has lured more than 130,000 customers in 100 countries to its freemium and subscription platform, which helps businesses not only build e-commerce capabilities on their websites but also enables them to sell products through social media partners including Facebook and Instagram.
Tech investment banker Tom Crews
heads England & Co.’s new San Diego office
England & Company, an independent investment bank focused on the middle market, announced the opening of its new San Diego office – the firm’s fourth office in the United States. England’s new office will be led by Tom Crews, a technology investment banker, corporate executive, and entrepreneur with energy technology and health care technology companies.
During his career, Crews has been responsible for raising venture capital and private equity for companies in a variety of industries and at different stages of development, and advising growth-stage technology companies on M&A transactions. He previously served as managing director and head of the energy tech practice for a Boston-based investment banking boutique, and a principal at Skipping Stone, a strategic consulting firm focused exclusively on the energy sector.
SDSU joins White House
COVID-19 College Challenge
San Diego State University has joined about 580 colleges and universities across the United States that have pledged participation in the White House COVID-19 College Challenge, one aimed at helping to end the pandemic.
The challenge, announced by the White House and U.S. Department of Education this month, is part of President Joe Biden’s aim at getting 70 percent of U.S. adults vaccinated with at least a first dose by July 4.
Participating colleges commit to three actions: engaging every student, faculty and staff member; organize campus communities around vaccine efforts; and deliver vaccine access for all.
