General Atomics

General Atomics
Private
Industry Aerospace and defense
Founded July 18, 1955 (1955-07-18)
Headquarters San Diego, California, U.S.
Key people
J. Neal Blue
Linden S. Blue
Subsidiaries General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
Website www.ga.com

General Atomics is a defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California, specializing in nuclear physics. General Atomics' research into nuclear fission and nuclear fusion has also had bearing on related technologies, allowing the company to expand into other fields of research and manufacturing. General Atomics develops systems ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely operated surveillance aircraft, airborne sensors, advanced electric, electronic, wireless, and laser technologies.

History

The TRIGA nuclear reactor was one of the first General Atomics projects

General Atomics (GA) was founded on July 18, 1955, in San Diego, California as the General Atomic division of General Dynamics "for the purpose of harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind".

GA's first offices were in the General Dynamics facility on Hancock Street in San Diego. GA also used a schoolhouse on San Diego's Barnard Street as its temporary headquarters, which it would later "adopt" as part of its Education Outreach program. In 1956 San Diego voters approved the transfer of land to GA for permanent facilities in Torrey Pines and the John Jay Hopkins Laboratory for Pure and Applied Science was formally dedicated there on June 25, 1959. The Torrey Pines facility continues to serve as the company's headquarters today.

The initial projects were the TRIGA nuclear research reactor and Project Orion. A brief history of the company follows:

On March 15, 2010, Rear Adm. Thomas J. Cassidy stepped down as President of GA-ASI’s Aircraft Systems Group, staying on as non-executive chairman of the company's management committee. Frank Pace, the executive vice president of Aircraft Systems Group, succeeded Cassidy as President of GA-ASI.[4]

General Atomics is also developing a Generation IV reactor design, the Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR). In 2010, General Atomics presented a new version of the GT-MHR, the Energy Multiplier Module (EM2), which uses fast neutrons and is a Gas-cooled fast reactor.[5]

General Atomics, including its affiliate, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, is San Diego County’s largest defense contractor, according to a September 2013 report by the San Diego Military Affairs Council. The top five contractors, ranked by defense-generated revenue in fiscal year 2013, were General Atomics, followed by Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics-NASSCO, BAE Systems, and SAIC. A separate October 2013 report by the San Diego Business Journal ranked contractors by the number of local employees. The top three contractors were General Atomics (7,668 local employees), Northrop Grumman (3,847), and SAIC (2,778).[6]

Business groups

Affiliated companies

The Predator UAV is made by General Atomics affiliate General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Educational outreach

Since 1992, the General Atomics Science Education Outreach Program, a volunteer effort of GA employees and San Diego science teachers, has worked with Science Coordinators for the San Diego Schools to bring the business and research side of science into the classroom. The goal is both to improve the quality of science education and to encourage more students to pursue science careers. In addition, the teachers' interactions with the scientists and exposure to everyday uses of their disciplines help them to be better educators.

In 1995, the program was expanded, and the General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation [501(c) (3)] was established. The General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation's goal is to play a major role in enhancing pre-college education in science, engineering and new technologies. To attain this goal, four areas of core competency at General Atomics were initially selected to form the basis for the development of inquiry-based education modules and associated workshops. Scientist/teacher teams wrote these modules, which fuse the content and methodology of industrial research and development with the teaching skills of experienced science teachers.

Awards

See also

References

  1. FYI: US NIC changes or non-changes (mailing list message), Ripe, archived from the original on Feb 7, 2012.
  2. Scout, Wisc.
  3. Profile: General Atomics, Answers.
  4. Unmanned aircraft pioneer Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. retires, 2010 Mar 16 newspaper = The Los Angeles Times, retrieved 16 March 2010 Check date values in: |date= (help).
  5. EM2, General Atomics, retrieved 18 Oct 2010.
  6. "Mlitary economic report SDMAC", The San Diego Union Tribune, September 26, 2013.
  7. Energy Group, GA.
  8. General Atomics Electronic Systems (Web site), retrieved 19 Jan 2010.
  9. About, General Atomics Electronic Systems, retrieved 2 Feb 2010.
  10. General Atomics Energy Products (Web site), retrieved 22 Feb 2010.
  11. TRIGA, University of Utah, retrieved 7 May 2010.
  12. GA-SI (Website), retrieved 1 May 2010.
  13. ConverDyn (Web site), retrieved 19 Jan 2010.
  14. Cotter Corporation (Web site), US, retrieved 19 Jan 2010.
  15. Beverley mine, AU: Heathgate Resources, retrieved 19 Jan 2010.
  16. Nuclear Fuels Corporation, GA, retrieved 9 Jul 2013.
  17. Rio Grande Resources Corporation, GA, retrieved 9 Jul 2013.
  18. Dresden and Subsidiaries, DE: Spezialtechnik, retrieved 9 Jul 2013.
  19. 29th Annual International von Karman Wings Award, California Institute of Technology.
  20. Frost & Sullivan Recognizes GA-ASI as the Outstanding Provider of Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Tactical Reconnaissance Radars for the US Armed Forces (press release), Frost.
  21. "Firms Seek Strategies for Riding Out Downturn", Defense news.
  22. GA-ASI Earns Frost & Sullivan's Recognition for Business Development Strategy Leadership for Gains in Unmanned Aerial Systems Market (press release), Frost.
  23. Aerospace Award Recipients, Air Force Association, 2004.
  24. Awards Program, AUVSI Foundation.
  25. General Atomics ASI (PDF) (media information), AUVSI.

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 32°53′37″N 117°14′04″W / 32.893721°N 117.234550°W / 32.893721; -117.234550

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