News Release

“The benefits of joining the Jacobs School’s Corporate Affiliates Program (CAP) continue to unfold,” says Dr. Jim Rohr of San Diego’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SCC San Diego). SSC San Diego provides much of the information management technology required by the Navy to complete its operational missions. “We initially took advantage of the program’s recruiting opportunities, but now we are realizing its value in encouraging collaboration with Jacobs School faculty and researchers, and helping us develop technology roadmaps for tomorrow.”

2002 marked SSC San Diego’s most successful UCSD recruitment year in recent history with 20 new hires. “This more than three-fold increase than the previous year can be largely attributed to the fact that we took advantage of CAP’s ‘Day @ UCSD’ benefit, conducting information sessions that consistently drew over 100 interested students,” explains Rohr. “Now for 2003, we have turned our attention to CAP’s ability to facilitate dialogue between our engineers and Jacobs School faculty for mutually beneficial research collaborations.”

“One of the prime selling points of CAP, in addition to the effective student recruiting resources, is that it provides government scientists and engineers with access to some of the best researchers in the world,” says Rohr. SSC San Diego has been working with the Jacobs School and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology [Cal-(IT)²] to develop joint research proposals. “I am very excited to see what ensues from these relationships.”

In addition to recruiting students and cultivating research partnerships with faculty, SSC San Diego has participated in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering senior design project courses (MAE 156), taught by Dr. Nate Delson. The latest project, titled “How Dark Is the Ocean at Night Or Assessing Flow-Induced Bioluminescence Potential,” required a group of students to develop a bioluminescence potential indicator to estimate bioluminescent signatures. Things underwater, such as seals, dolphins, divers, and submarines create flow fields that are energetic enough to excite luminescent plankton.

Bioluminescence

According to Rohr, “The students put in a tremendous amount of time, continuing over the summer even after the project had ended. They did a fabulous job and presented us with some very valuable results. They gained valuable experience and we gained valuable insight.” Because of their contributions, SSC San Diego was able to get additional funding for more in-depth research.

Since joining CAP two years ago, SSC San Diego’s level of satisfaction with the program has been tremendous as it explores the various membership facets, and word has spread to others in the high-tech community. “After talking to us about CAP and its benefits, and hearing about our great experience, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has also decided to join,” says Rohr. NAVAIR is one of the navy’s major three acquisition commands; developing new technology, air frames and weapon systems for Navy airplanes and helicopters. “I think we definitely played a role in bringing NAVAIR onboard. But when you have a great product it’s much easier to sell. And CAP truly is a great product.”