San Diego’s Hot Companies

ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, has signed a $47-million contract with satellite-based Internet service provider O3b Networks Limited for the production and installation of Ka-band infrastructure.  (Ka-band refers to a specific bandwidth used by communications satellites.)

ViaSat will supply gateway teleports and high speec IP trunking terminals, including full-motion tracking antenna systems for the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, high-speec modems, monitor and control equipment, system development and installation.

John Zlogar is VP and General Manager of Antenna Systems at ViaSat.

Raytheon Co.,  Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, is being awarded a $7.5-million modification to a previously awarded contract in which Raytheon will be responsible for the integration of complex war-fighting improvement, including components associated with the dual-band radar and Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2, into the modular SSDS (Ship Self Defense System). With 90% of the work to be performed in San Diego, Raytheon will integrate, test and provide certification support for the government-furnished equipment / infomation required for the CVN / amphibious ship combat system.

Trinity Biotech, an Ireland-based company, has announced that it is expecting to open a new point-of-care research-and-development facility at its current Carlsbad offices as it shifts its focus away from the coagulation business.  Trinity said on Thursday that it will focus on developing tests for infectious diseases, blood glucose level monitoring and blood clotting, or coagulation. Approximately 320 employees will transfer to San Diego.

General Atomics, San Diego, was one of two teams that won $20-million in grants from the US Department of Energy to create designs and plans for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program. General Atomics will design a helium-cooled reactor.  The other team, Westinghouse Electric, will design a pebble bed reactor, using a different technology.

The result of these design and planning efforts will help determine whether to proceed with detailed efforts toward a next-generation nuclear reactor, replacing existing water-cooled reactors.

San Diego Sports Commission is responsible for bringing major sporting events town, as well as holding a variety of youth programs throughout San Diego County.  President of San Diego Sports Commission is Al Kidd.

The San Diego economy is expected to outperform recoveries at the national and state level due to improvements in the local housing industry and robust spending in military construction, according to Ms. Lynn Reaser, a local economist.

Military Construction Spending is expected to total $1.4-billion (BILLION with a “B”) in 2010, a 40% INCREASE from the year before. 

In addition, Rear Admiral William French, Commander of the Navy Region Southwest announced in a panel discussion that San Diego-defense contractors are expected to sign around $3.1-billion in contracts.

Other economic drivers include:  The San Diego “Green” industry; foreign trade; tourism; health care; biotechnology; and higher education.

Enigma Diagnostics Limited, a company based in the United Kingdom, is a molecular diagnostics company.  It has opened its new regional headquarters in San Diego!!  Joel Centeno is VP of Regulatory Compliance & Quality.  The new 17,000 square foot facility is located on Nancy Ridge Drive in the Sorrento valley area.  It will provide Enigma with access to the deep resource pool of San Diego-based in vitro diagnostics professionals.  Enigma anticipates the US office will grow throughout 2910 to provide experience in sales and marketing, assay development, regulatory and manufacturing activities.

TrovaGene Inc., formerly Xenomics, a transrenal molecular diagnostics company, has relocated to San Diego.  The company has leased a 5,000-square-foot facility in the Sorrento Valley area.  The company is in the process of completing all of the necessary laboratory validations.

Cubic Applications Inc, a division of San Diego-based Cubic Corporation, will provide military training and education support as part of a team assisting the U.S. Army’s human resources programs.  The ICF International team is one of 12 companies to win the 5-year Human Resources Solutions Studies and Analysis Support, or HRSS II, contract, which has a maximum value of $1.27-billion.  That’s billion with a B.

Stemgent Inc, a biotechnology company dually headquartered in San Diego and Boston, announced that it would invest $4.5-million in its first overseas company, Ubiquigent Ltd. in Dundee, Scotland.  Ubiquigent will produce biological products and services generted by the SCottish Institute for ceLL Signalling, or SCILLS, at the University of Dundee.