Daily Business Report-Nov. 15, 2017
Aerial view of SDSU’s Love Library (Credit: SDSU Drone Lab)
New Center for Unmanned Systems Technology
Wants to Make SDSU a Drone-Friendly Campus
By Michael Price | SDSU NewsCenter
As drones become more popular and affordable, San Diego State University’s new Center for Unmanned Systems Technologies, or Drone Lab for short, is looking to capitalize on its potential for crowd protection, surveillance and research while heading off potential dangers.
“We want to make SDSU a drone-friendly campus, but we want to do so safely,” said Lamine Secka, director of emergency services and Drone Lab program manager. “The goal of the Drone Lab is to get people thinking about ways to use drones that they may have never imagined before.”
On the campus safety side of things, that means using aerial drones to hover over outdoor concerts or other large gatherings and monitor for signs of violence or people in distress. These UAVs can provide not only eyes in the sky for security personnel but also can shine spotlights or deliver directions or warnings via mounted loudspeakers.
Drones can offer a bird’s-eye view of field sites, ocean patterns, environmental degradation, traffic, crowd size, and many other things that may help researchers answer scholarly questions. Secka hopes the drone lab will be a resource for researchers interested in learning how drones might benefit their work, even if they’ve never flown one before.
The lab currently has access to nine UAVs of various sizes, configurations and specializations, but interested parties are welcome to bring their own personal drones to collaborate on projects.
On the campus safety side of things, that means using aerial drones to hover over outdoor concerts or other large gatherings and monitor for signs of violence or people in distress. These UAVs can provide not only eyes in the sky for security personnel but also can shine spotlights or deliver directions or warnings via mounted loudspeakers.
Drones can offer a bird’s-eye view of field sites, ocean patterns, environmental degradation, traffic, crowd size, and many other things that may help researchers answer scholarly questions. Secka hopes the drone lab will be a resource for researchers interested in learning how drones might benefit their work, even if they’ve never flown one before.
The lab currently has access to nine UAVs of various sizes, configurations and specializations, but interested parties are welcome to bring their own personal drones to collaborate on projects.
According to Secka, students also frequently ask about drone usage on campus. Some use their drones for aerial photography, while others race or just fly them for fun. Too many drones flying around—especially flown by inexperienced pilots—represents a safety hazard, though. So another reason the Drone Lab was created was to provide a centralized hub to connect drone users and ensure that they are using the devices safely.
The university’s Buildings and Grounds Policy stipulates that all drones flown on campus must be registered through Emergency Services or the SDSU Police Department. The lab is currently working to develop an app that students can use to register their drones.
There are two designated “fly zones” on campus: the Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Field and the new Recreation Field located just north of Parking Structure 12. Flying on other parts of campus requires clearance from Emergency Services.
The Drone Lab was made possible by an establishing gift from the Aztec Parents Advisory Board. Efforts to secure funding were led by board member Terry Parisher, who runs an unmanned vehicle engineering and developing company called Straight Up Imaging and whose two daughters attend SDSU.
“San Diego has a national reputation as a hub for drone development so it makes sense for SDSU to have a center dedicated to drone use and research,” said Parisher, who has operated and developed drones for 14 years for both government and commercial applications. “We have dozens of companies that offer services, engineering and research with drones.”
Thanks to the partnership with the local drone industry, students not only gain access to the latest technology, but also to internship and employment opportunities. Through working with the community, SDSU can help fend off the idea that drones are inherently scary and invasive.
“With community involvement, you get community acceptance,” Parisher said. “When you have that, you have a much easier time integrating drones into the airspace.”
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Report: Del Mar Heights Boulevard Has
14th Highest Retail Rents in the Nation
Del Mar Heights Boulevard in San Diego is ranked as having the 14th most expensive retail rents in the nation — a step up from last year’s 16th spot — in Cushman & Wakefield’s “Main Streets Across the World” report, released Tuesday.
Cushman & Wakefield’s managing director, Phil Lyons, based in San Diego, said there’s no other trade area like Del Mar Heights Boulevard in the county — the area attracts the highest rents consistently reaching $100 per square foot.
“The area commands high rents due to the large Class A office supply surrounding the Del Mar Highlands Town Center — which is 4.6 million square feet — in combination with the residential demographic surrounding the shopping center,” Lyons said. “It comes together as the perfect blend of white collar, daytime population in conjunction with highly-educated, high-disposable income residential (boasting an average household income of $170,000). “It’s very unique in the way that this area has the dense day time population adjacent with the residential, and it’s really just one center that’s the dominant one.”
In the Americas, the list’s top five includes: 1. New York’s 5th Avenue (49th – 60th Streets); 2. Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive; 3. San Francisco’s Union Square; 4. Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue; and 5. Miami’s Lincoln Road.
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Rady School’s MBA Program Highly
Ranked for Entrepreneurship
The MBA program at the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego has been ranked 25th in The Princeton Review’s “Top 25 Graduate Schools for Entrepreneurship of 2018.” The ranking recognizes the best programs for students aspiring to launch their own businesses.
The ranking places the Rady School’s MBA program among the elite programs for entrepreneurship in the U.S. The Rady School is the only business school ranked for entrepreneurship by the Princeton Review in San Diego and California.
The Rady School was recognized for its commitment to entrepreneurial education in its MBA programs. Since the school’s first MBA class graduated in 2006, students and alumni have started over 150 operational companies. The rapid success of startups originating at the school can be attributed to the unique structure of the Rady School’s MBA program, which integrates entrepreneurial education into the program through its capstone Lab to Market course sequence.
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San Diego Chinese Historial Museum
Hires Interim Executive Director
The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, embroiled in a wrongful termination suit filed by its former executive director, Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres, announced Tuesday that it has hired a long-time leader in the Asian-American community as interim executive director.
Yen Tu’s selection as interim executive director may transition into her becoming executive director, according to a museum spokeswoman.
Yen Tu, president of Yen C. Tu Consulting, was the first executive director of the Asian Business Association, was executive director of the Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair and worked at Viejas Casino as its community relations manager. In her consulting business, she specializes in community outeach, special events and marketing services to private and public organizations.
“Throughout my 40 years of living in San Diego, I have grown to value the museum’s work in preserving Chinese and Chinese American history. I am impressed by the work the museum has accomplished over the decades with such a small group of volunteers,” said Yen Tu.
Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres was hired as associate director two years ago and promoted to executive director last year. She alleged in a wrongful termination claim that the museum was awarded fraudulent tax benefits by inflating the value of donated artifacts, a charge that was denied by attorney Michael Aguirre, who represents the museum.
Tu’s path crossed with the museum earlier this year when she was the chair of the Chinese New Year Food and Cultural Fair, and worked alongside museum staff for educational and family programs.
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Hepatitis A Outbreak
Showing Signs of Slowing
The hepatitis A outbreak appears to be slowing as the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency announced Tuesday it had topped 100,000 vaccinations in the effort to bring the outbreak under control.
The County and community partners have given 100,147 vaccinations, including 84,895 to at-risk populations, as part of the County’s vaccination, sanitation and education strategy.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday extended the local health emergency for another two weeks. The board is required to review the need for continuing the emergency, which was declared on Sept. 1, every 14 days.
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UC San Diego Innovation Events
Check out UC San Diego’s Innovation Events calendar. Click here.
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Chelsea Unveils 210 New Affordable
Rental Apartments for Seniors and Families
The city of Chula Vista on Tuesday commemorated the addition of 210 new affordable apartments to the city’s housing stock, thanks to a collaboration between the Chula Vista Housing Authority and Chelsea Investment Corporation, one of the region’s largest developers of affordable housing.
Situated within the Millenia master planned community in Otay Ranch, the 2.86-acre project features two neighborhoods adjacent to Stylus Park: 123 one- and two-bedroom rentals for seniors at Volta, and 87 one-, two- and three-bedroom units for families at Duetta.
Apartments at Duetta and Volta are affordable to households with income at 50 – 60 percent of San Diego County’s Area Median Income (AMI). Rents for low income seniors range from $759 to $1,093 at Volta (up to a 54 percent discount from market rate rents in the area); rents for low income families range from $759 to $1,263 at Duetta (up to a 51 percent discount from market rate rents in the area). Apartments at Volta (seniors) range from 557-764 square feet and apartments at Duetta (families) range from 550-1000 square feet.
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San Diego-based Chassis Plans
Acquired by Aeronautics Ltd of Israel
San Diego-based Chassis Plans, a manufacturer of computers and LCD displays for military and industrial applications, has been acquired by Aeronautics Ltd of Israel.
“This acquisition gives Chassis Plans access to Aeronautics’ global markets and to leverage their supply chain so that Chassis Plans can provide better coverage and value to its customers,” said Michael McCormack, CEO and president of Chassis Plans, “Chassis Plans will be staying in our San Diego offices and we plan on adding to our existing work force.”
Aeronautics provides innovative solutions to the defense products markets through its Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) solutions. As one of the largest defense companies in Israel, Aeronautics sees its acquisition of Chassis Plans as a perfect fit to its portfolio of companies. “The acquisition of Chassis Plans enables us to operate in the U.S. and get combined orders from both Israel and U.S. customers,” according to Aeronautics CEO Amos Matan. “Aeronautics plans to utilize its global marketing and sales infrastructure for the acquired company’s products, and also to expand Chassis Plans’ activity.”
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Qualcomm Gets FDA Clearance
for Capsule Vitals Plus
Qualcomm reported today that the second-generation of its Capsule Vitals Plus patient monitoring system has been granted granted 501(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and is now available for purchase. Through accurate and timely capture of medical device data and continuous monitoring of key vital signs, Capsule Vitals Plus enables integrated surveillance that moves beyond spot monitoring by capturing and analyzing data right at the bedside to support treatment decisions and care coordination, the company said.
Capsule Vitals Plus is a patient monitoring system that integrates vital signs monitoring, clinical doc and device connectivity into one.
