MSU, Army sign drone collaboration

Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory is joining forces with the Army’s unmanned aircraft systems unit in Huntsville, Ala., to open a new chapter in the university’s research of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Officials signed paperwork Tuesday to foster collaboration between the Army’s Project Manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and MSU that is to complement the school’s engineering research. The agreement allows MSU to boost its research capabilities and curricula that would allow students and faculty to research UAVs within the national airspace. Source: WVTA, Tupelo, Miss. July 23, 2013.

L-3 Vertex collaboration paying off

The Madison, Miss.-based L-3 Vertex Aerospace has collaborated with Vector Aerospace to produce and have the first-ever Federal Aviation Administration certified cockpit voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR). The CVFDR is being used on the Eurocopter AS332 helicopters. The twin-engine medium-weight passenger transport helicopter’s CVFDR includes a digital flight data acquisition unit. Source: Aviation Today, July 23, 2013.

Mississippi No. 5 in biz start-ups

The Kauffman Foundation, an entrepreneurship non-profit organization, has ranked Mississippi as the fifth best entrepreneurial state in America – ranking ahead of California, Illinois and Texas -- explaining why mostly-rural states top the list. Montana’s major oil-and-gas boom topped the rankings. Louisiana ranked No. 9. Source: Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger blog, July 22, 2013.

Odd biz-jet got its start at MSU

The HondaJet, which defines aviation logic with engines in a “sweet spot” above the wings making it aerodynamically superior, is on the brink of breaking into the American market with a nod from the Federal Aviation Administration. The idea for the odd commercial jet began 27 years ago in a Mississippi airport hangar with then-Mississippi State University aeronautical engineer Michimasa Fujino. If the FAA gives the go-ahead, Fujino’s Honda Aircraft Company will become the first new business to get U.S. approval in the $21 billion business-jet market since 2006. Source: Bloomberg News, July 19, 2013.

Opinion: South winning job-growth war

The South is winning (the economic job-growth wars without firing a shot) … and free men of all colors are voting with their feet to join a rising economic powerhouse. The new competition involves economic growth, technological advancement, jobs and the quality of life. Many (Southerners) have long glimpsed signs that it’s going well for the South, including (Mississippi). But it’s hard not to be impressed by a recent cataloging of the region’s ascendancy by Joel Kotkin, a scholar at Chapman University in California. Some of his findings include: (a) Unemployment is lower than in the West or Northeast; (b) Census data, adjusted for cost of living, shows New York has a higher rate of poverty than Mississippi … and he contends the South’s economic upturn is no coincidence. The region, the Californian reports, simply is more receptive to jobs-growing enterprises. Source: Savannah (Ga.) Morning-News ‘Opinion’, July 11, 2013.

GSG has new Miss. biz development manager

Genesis Systems Group, the largest independent U.S. robotic work cell integrator in North America which produces engineered solution products for aerospace components, has named Oscar Velazquez as its Southeastern U.S. business development manager. Genesis specializes in factory automation with robots for welding, cutting, assembly, and machine tending; and is a recognized leader in robotic systems integration. Velazquez’ territory includes Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Source: Genesis Systems Group, July 10, 2013.

Miss. on possible list for new STEM program

The charitable foundation of the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, Praxair Inc. of Connecticut, announced July 12 it is donating $105,000 to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in support of Tech Savvy, the group’s successful science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program for young women. The plan is to take Tech Savvy to 10 new communities which may well include the states of Mississippi and Connecticut, and the cities of Chicago, Houston and Indianapolis. Source: Business Wire, July 12, 2013. (Mississippi Golden Triangle note: Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi State University are among seven state partner-colleges of the AAUW.)

The Accelerator puts pedal to mettle

Three firms have found new secondary homes at The Accelerator — a 60,000-square-foot incubator that rents space and equipment to fledgling and expanding technology companies and affiliated with the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. GE Aviation, which opened an Ellisville, Miss., plant in May, recently rented laboratory space there to train new employees to make components for jet engines. A second group is Vatican Capital, an investment firm focusing on making growth investments for small Catholic-owned businesses in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. The third firm is Radiance Technologies - established in 1999 in Huntsville, Ala. - develops electronics, polymers and military applications; and provides operational support for the Defense Department, intelligence and other government agencies. Source: Hattiesburg American, July 8, 2013.

Miss. high court to hear Eaton case

The Ohio-based Eaton Corp., which makes hydraulic aircraft pumps at a 600-employee aerospace facility in Jackson, goes before the Mississippi Supreme Court on Aug. 5 seeking reinstatement of its $1 billion trade secrets lawsuit filed against rival Frisby Aerospace, now part of Triumph Group, based near Philadelphia, Pa. In 2010, a Hinds County (Miss.) judge threw out the case, saying Eaton knew about and sanctioned secret actions by a company lawyer to influence case's initial judge in the case. (The judge was removed from the case and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.) Eaton alleges five ex-engineers took the firm’s aerospace information and gave it to their new employer, Frisby, which began competing against Eaton for military and commercial contracts. Source: The Associated Press, July 6, 2013.

Stark looking for engineer specialist

Stark Aerospace is looking for a mechanical or industrial engineer to become its ‘Design to Production Transfer Program Manager’ at its Columbus, Miss., facility. The candidate must have knowledge of project management principles and tools for measuring project/program successes. Stark Aerospace, July 2013.

Contract: EADS, $12.9M

EADS North America, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $12,921,227 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, option-filled contract for contractor logistics support for the Army's aviation assets. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $2,265,423,694. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/01/13)

Columbus, Meridian commissary closures

Sequestration will force military and retiree families to revise weekday food shopping routines at military-base commissaries in the Gulf Coast region because of forced defense civilian furloughs beginning the week of July 8. In Mississippi, the commissary at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi will be closed Mondays. About 148 others will close Tuesdays as well. That list includes Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Naval Air Station Meridian and Columbus AFB, all in Mississippi, plus NAS Whiting Field, Hurlburt Field and Tyndall AFB in Florida; and Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in Belle Chasse, La. Commissaries employ 14,000 U.S.-based civilian employees who will be affected by the furloughs. The changes will remain at least through Sept. 30. Source: Defense Commissary Agency.

Sequestration coming to Meridian NAS

Some 300 Defense Department civilian workers at Naval Air Station Meridian will begin to feel the sting of sequestration July 8 when mandatory furloughs arrive for 200,000 Navy-civilian employees. Workers will be required to take one unpaid day over an 11-week period ending Sept. 30. All services or facilities which employ civilian personnel will be affected to some degree including: Commissary closure on Tuesdays and reduced hours for the base’s Fitness, Aquatics and Liberty centers and library. Some essential civilian personnel are exempt. Some 700 contractors who provide aircraft maintenance, instruction, administration, medical and dental services, and IT support are exempt. Statewide sequestration cuts could “save” DoD $25 million in unpaid salaries over the 11 weeks, according to base estimates. Source: Meridian Star, June 30, 2013.

Navistar plant closing next month

WEST POINT, Miss. -- Navistar Defense will suspend production at the plant it opened five years ago that assembled mine resistant vehicles. The 80 workers were told last week that the plant will be idled July 5. The company said the decision came in response to across-the-board federal budget reductions known as the sequester that went into effect on March 1. The plant also produced other related vehicles like armored tow trucks and ambulances for the military. Navistar is headquartered in Warrenville, Ill. (Sources: multiple, including Clarion-Ledger, 06/20/13, Zacks, 06/25/13)

Thailand proposing Lakota buys from AE

Mississippi’s two United States Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker urged the U.S. government to approve a proposed $77 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of six UH-72A Lakota Helicopters – built at the Columbus, Miss., Golden Triangle Regional Airport by American Eurocopter -- to Thailand. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on June 7 of the proposed FMS. The AE-built Lakota’s are primarily used by the Army for non-combat missions including emergency response, border security, and light transport. DSCA reports no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of the proposed sale. The principal contractor will be EADS North America, in Herndon, Va. AE is a subsidiary of EADS North America Holdings. Sources: The Associated Press, June 22, 2013; and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency media release, June 20, 2013.

Contract: Raytheon, $22.4M

Raytheon Co., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded a $22,361,773 order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for the procurement of 53 ECP-6279 retrofit kits in support of F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in Forest, Miss. (80 percent), and El Segundo, Calif. (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in July 2015. Fiscal 2013 Aircraft Procurement Navy contract funds in the amount of $22,361,773 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/13/13)

GEA on the upswing globally

GE Aviation, the world’s largest jet-engine maker and with a pair of jet-engine component manufacturing plants in Mississippi, expects to build 3,800 commercial and military aircraft engines in 2014, according to HQ officials in Cincinnati. Next week, GEA is hosting an analysts meeting in conjunction with the 50th International Paris Air Show. The firm also opened a new engine component plant near Auburn, Ala., in April. Source: Cincinnati.com, June 13, 2013.

State’s aerospace contract teams tight-lipped

Mississippi’s Defense Department contract-rich industry has gone tight-lipped following the revelation that a former government contractor blew the whistle on the National Security Agency for collecting telephone and Internet data on hundreds of millions of Americans. Many worry about privacy, while others are anxious about the ramifications on nation security and the state’s aerospace industry. The Magnolia State has 115 aerospace service contractors and 69 in manufacturing and engineering. The state’s largest include Lockheed-Martin, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, Eaton Aerospace DuPoint DeLisle and L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace. Source: Jackson Clarion-Ledger, June 11, 2013.

MSU aerospace student vying for Miss USA

Mississippi State University aerospace engineering student Paromita Mitra, who will represent the state in the Miss USA Pageant, wants to be the first competitor to explore the universe. Mitra moved with her family to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 1992. At MSU, she is a member of the school’s Space Cowboys Rocket Design Team and is also involved in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She recently worked as a researcher for a NASA-funded program at MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems. The Miss USA Pageant will air Sunday on NBC-TV. Source: Jackson Clarion-Ledger, June 11, 2013.

Magnolia biz delegation heading to Paris

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Development Authority will lead a contingent of seven to next week’s Paris Air Show. The delegation has meetings set up with dozens of high-ranking executives to discuss expansion opportunities in the Magnolia State – including some firms that will help supply EADS North America’s Airbus jet assembly line currently under construction in Mobile, Ala. The Aerospace Alliance, an organization that helps market Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi aviation industries to the region, will be hosting a Sunday reception for the delegation on the Seine River in Paris. Source: The Associated Press, June 11, 2013.