August 31, 2000 The San Diego Regional Technology Alliance says that the state is awarding $1.4 million in seed capital to San Diego firms as part of the California Technology Investment Partnership program. The award is the largest amount awarded in San Diego since the program’s inception. The program is designed to provide funds for California companies to commercialize innovative technology. CalTIP provides up to $250,000 in state funds to companies to match federal technology awards. The RTA manages this program on behalf of the state, assisting in the selection process and overseeing the winners. “San Diego clearly demonstrated its technology strength in this highly competitive program,” says Cliff Numark, the RTA’s president and CEO. “This funding will help bring new technologies to the market.” The nine firms competed against 100 other firms from around the state. The winners are as follows: • Advanced Brain Monitoring, awarded $175,000, is developing a product that can detect drowsiness in pilots, truck drivers and others — which costs an estimated $77 billion each year in accidents and reduced productivity. • Advance Tissue Sciences, awarded $165,000, is a leading tissue engineering company developing artificial tissue to be used in heart transplants and surgery. • Aguila Technologies, awarded $175,000, is developing a patented technology for fabrication and assembly of low-cost flip chip and ball grid array devices; their technology will significantly reduce size and power requirements of computing devices. • Gene Therapy Systems, awarded $150,000, has invented and patented a revolutionary platform technology, which incorporates a safe, non-viral gene delivery approach for the treatment of inherited and acquired diseases, with applications ranging from cancer to malaria to AIDs. The technology has been shown to be safe, convenient to administer, easy to manufacture and cost effective. • Glysens, awarded $175,000, is developing a new system for diabetics, enabling them to detect their glucose levels without “pricking” themselves. The system will automatically measure glucose through an implanted enzyme-electrode sensor and transmit the reading to an external display. • Hi-Z Technology, awarded $70,000, is developing thermoelectric devices for the conversion of waste heat to electricity, increasing energy efficiency by four times and lowering costs by 10 times in applications as varied as cars, heaters, stoves, and portable appliances. • LightPointe Communications, awarded $165,000, solves the last mile challenge of broadband communications with optical laser systems, with a microwave backup, that can deliver information at speeds up to 2.5 gigabits per second — nearly a 20-fold increase over existing technologies. • Quantum Magnetics, awarded $150,000, is developing a new strain sensor with a unique market niche for non-destructive evaluation of composites. The sensor has applications in construction, aerospace, automobile, and in the sporting goods industries. • SABIA, awarded $175,000, develops, manufactures, and services nuclear instruments that are used for industrial measurements and material analysis — a process that is present in many manufacturing endeavors ranging from steel to production of concrete. SABIA is developing a new generation of nuclear analyzer that has been recently enabled by technology developed for wireless communications. *** San Diego-based Berryman & Henigar says its Tampa, Fla., office has been awarded a two-year engineering services contract, with an option to renew for another two years, with Hillsborough County. The contract is worth up to $1.2 million for the engineering firm. Berryman & Henigar will provide storm water management, watershed management, lake restoration, water quality modeling, and environmental permitting on an ongoing basis for the county. "Together with Hillsborough County staff, we are expecting to have about 10 professionals assigned to this ongoing initiative," says Elie Araj, district manager for Berryman & Henigar. "Our well-rounded expertise positions us well to handle the different kinds of projects that fall under a miscellaneous services contract such as this one." Hillsborough County is located midway along the west coast of Florida and includes the cities of Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace. Berryman & Henigar is a municipal professional services firm headquartered in San Diego with 13 offices nationwide. The firm provides municipal engineering, public finance, asset management, community development, construction management and e-government services to public agencies nationwide. With a staff of more than 300, it is ranked as one of the top 260 consulting engineering companies by Engineering News-Record. *** Chapparone Auto Body, a collision repair chain in San Diego County with eight locations and a ninth planned to open early next year, has been acquired by Caliber Collision Centers in Irvine. The acquisition positions Caliber as the largest collision repair provider in California with 26 centers throughout Southern California. It further extends Caliber’s position as the largest independently operated collision repair organization in the U.S. with annual revenues exceeding $145 million. “Caliber’s expansion into Southern California is a direct response to the needs of our insurance partners and their insureds,” says Shawn Hezar, senior v.p., client services an operations for Caliber. “The geographic coverage and scale of this acquisition will provide Califber with a significant platform to build out the remainder of the San Diego marketplace.” Former owner of Chapperone Body and Paint, Mark Chapperone, will assist in the integration of the businesses. Caliber owns and operates 48 facilities and plans to continue acquiring and developing collision repair centers. ***  Click Below to View Previous Daily Business Reports August 1 August 10 August 21 August 30 August 2 August 11 August 22 August 3 August 14 August 23 August 4 August 15 August 24 August 7 August 16 August 25 August 8 August 17 August 28 August 9 August 18 August 29

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