From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 1 11:09:17 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 07:09:17 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Former PHS student, coach now training dolphins, sea lions Message-ID: <20071001070910.P1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 1 October 2007 ; The Payson Roundup Former PHS student, coach now training dolphins, sea lions http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/30716 --- A former Payson High School honor student and basketball star, who later became a teacher and coach at his alma mater, is living his dream of working as a wild animal trainer. Austin White, 29, resigned his teaching position at PHS last spring to accept a training position at SeaWorld San Diego. In the years leading up to the job offer, White often wondered if it would ever be coming. "There were times, I thought I wouldn't make it," he said. "But I had to keep trying." For the past five months, White has been working as an associate trainer at dolphin stadium at SeaWorld, training two female short-finned Pacific Pilot whales, six female bottlenose dolphins and four male bottlenose dolphins. Last week, however, White turned in his SeaWorld wetsuit for one issued by the U.S. Navy and the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). "SeaWorld is seasonal work, so I took a job with SAIC," White said. "Many of the trainers at SAIC have worked at SeaWorld." SAIC is a technical services company that works hand in hand with the Navy in defense modernization efforts, intelligence collection and homeland security. The corporation's Web site claims it "sends thousands of intelligence solutions to the war fighters." With SAIC, White trains dolphins, but also works with sea lions, at the Point Loma Naval submarine base. There, he trains the animals to retrieve practice bombs dropped from fighter aircraft, inspect the underside of ships and search for divers, which he calls being a "body detective." White calls his work with SAIC and the Navy extremely important in that he and his animals help tackle some of the toughest problems national security faces, "We train dolphins to assist the military to protect our freedom." For White, working with the animals in the open water -- rather than the friendly confines of SeaWorld -- is a huge challenge. "There are so many more distractions," he said. "There is food, other animals and bad weather. "We have to work in all those conditions." To be accepted as a trainer with SAIC, White had to undergo rigorous swim and dive tests. "The swim consisted of a timed swim, an underwater swim and 10 minutes of treading (water)," he said. "The dive test accessed my ability to use SCUBA gear and be able to react to emergency situations above and below the surface." At SAIC, White and other trainers continue to work closely with Sea World and animals are exchanged regularly. "SeaWorld favors the females, so the males are used by the Navy," he said. At SeaWorld While working in dolphin stadium, White found his favorite dolphin to be a 26-year-old, 400-pound mother named Sandi. "She was extremely friendly with really a nice personality," he said. "She was a great mother, has raised five calves and is almost finished with her sixth. "She was also great at retrieving objects in the pool -- the occasional spoon or bone from the restaurant dropped in by the seagulls -- or anything else a little kid threw in." Among the first traits White learned about dolphins after accepting the training position is that they "love to be touched and swam with and they love to eat ice cubes, Jell-O and shaved ice." In swimming with the dolphins, he discovered holding on to their dorsal fins is much more demanding that it appears to spectators. "They are extremely strong animals that can pull you in the water pretty fast," he said. White also learned during his time at SeaWorld that a whale named "Bubbles" had taken a liking to him. "She was partial to men and I was the only male working the show. "She was like working with your grandma because she was blind or deaf when something was hard, or she didn't want to do it. "But she could see and hear just fine when she wanted to." Another characteristic of the animals is that each has a unique personality, much like the students White taught as a biology instructor at Payson High School. "We had sweet ones that loved people and others who could care less," he said. "We also had the mischievous ones who loved to splash unsuspecting park guests. "We had hard workers, lazy ones and stubborn ones; just like at school." One of the highlights of White's summer at SeaWorld was his hosting of hundreds of Payson visitors and family members. "I was able to take many people behind the scenes to see the dolphins up close and personal," he said. Among those he hosted was the David Daniels family, of Payson, who were asked to participate in one of the dolphin shows. Another real treat for White was the summer day that 28 members of his extended family showed up at the park. "It was the largest family group to visit dolphin stadium in years," he said. While White is enjoying his life's goal, he fondly remembers his days in the classroom. "I have one of the most coveted jobs in the world, training dolphins, but I sometimes miss teaching and coaching," he said. "I had a great principal, excellent students and exceptional athletes. Teachers have the ultimate job." White's time at SeaWorld and with SAIC often has him wondering how a small town kid from rural Arizona could end up training wild animals in the waves and currents of the Pacific Ocean. "I guess I've come a long way from the days when I was learning to swim at Taylor Pool," he said. "But, it doesn't seem that long ago." White's fondest wishes for those still in school is that they set their goals high and work hard to achieve them. "If I could tell the students anything, it would be .go for your dreams and never give up'," he said. "The possibilities are endless." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 1 20:31:51 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:31:51 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Treasurer Sells 14,000 Shares Message-ID: <20071001163141.V1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 1 October 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC Treasurer Sells 14,000 Shares http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/01/ap4173795.html --- NEW YORK -- The treasurer and senior vice president for government contractor SAIC Inc. sold 14,000 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC Friday, Steven P. Fisher reported selling the shares Friday for $19.15 to $19.20 apiece. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 1 20:40:43 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:40:43 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Executive VP Sells Shares Message-ID: <20071001164032.Q1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 1 October 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC Executive VP Sells Shares http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/01/ap4173760.html --- NEW YORK -- An executive vice president of government contractor SAIC Inc. sold 82,308 shares of common stock under a prearranged trading plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Joseph P. Walkush reported selling the shares Friday for $19 to $19.07 apiece. The stock sale was conducted under a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan which allows a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed with them even if he or she comes into possession of material nonpublic information. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 2 11:34:07 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 07:34:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC delivers ninth Stryker to U.S. Army Message-ID: <20071002073400.Q1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 2 October 2007 ; United Press International SAIC delivers ninth Stryker to U.S. Army http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Industry/Briefing/2007/10/01/saic_delivers_ninth_stryker_to_us_army/1645/ --- SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- Science Applications International Corp. has handed over a full order of Stryker variants to the U.S. Army. The company said in a statement Sept. 20 it had "delivered the last of nine Stryker Variants of the Common Driver Trainer -- CDT/SV -- to the U.S. Army." "The final unit was delivered to Fort Benning, Ga., where it will be used to instruct soldiers in an immersive 180-degree visual display system and high-fidelity driver's cab that provides a highly realistic environment for Stryker training. Other trainers have been delivered to Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Leonard Wood; Mo.; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The Army has ordered five additional trainers," SAIC said. "The Stryker Variant is the Army's first deployment of a product line of highly flexible, full-motion virtual simulators based on the Common Driver Trainer architecture. The CDT architecture allows driver cabs to be interchanged while using a common motion base, visual display, After Action Review station, and instructor-operator station. Future vehicle cabs may include tanks, tactical wheeled vehicles, or engineering equipment," it said. "The successful development of the CDT and the initial variant for Stryker has validated the CDT concept. This will enable production-only efforts like this order for additional Stryker Trainers and lay the foundation for straightforward extension of the CDT to simulate other vehicles in the future," said Maj. Dan Gamel, CDT project director for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation. "We are pleased that the Stryker Variant program has been so successful and that the customer is highly satisfied," said Beverly Seay, senior vice president and general manager of the Analysis, Simulations, Systems Engineering & Training Business Unit. "This accomplishment validates the fact that we are carving a niche for SAIC as a leading player in world-class virtual simulation." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 2 11:36:07 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 07:36:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Northrop Grumman And SAIC Pursue MASINT/AGI Contract Message-ID: <20071002073556.H1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 2 October 2007 ; Space War Northrop Grumman And SAIC Pursue MASINT/AGI Contract http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Northrop_Grumman_And_SAIC_Pursue_MASINT_AGI_Contract_999.html --- Reston VA (SPX) -- Defense industry leaders Northrop Grumman Corporation and Science Applications International Corporation announced the formation of an industry-wide team to bid on the Measurement and Signature Intelligence/Advanced Geospatial Intelligence (MASINT/AGI) program competition for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The MASINT/AGI program will provide timely, tailored MASINT and AGI products, services, capabilities, and technical support to the operational, arms control and treaty monitoring, acquisition policy, scientific and technical intelligence communities, and to national defense policy makers. The request for proposals and contract award are expected in 2008. Northrop Grumman will lead the team as a prime integrator with SAIC serving as the principal team partner. "The state-of-the-art and emerging MASINT/AGI capabilities developed by Northrop Grumman, SAIC, and our other team members will help NASIC's growing customer set to execute timely, informed decisions or actions anywhere in the world," said Frank Moore, vice president and general manager of Missile Defense Division for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems sector. "The Northrop Grumman team represents experienced and active members within the Air Force-wide Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance enterprise, including the Distributed Common Ground System, and is well positioned to provide a seamless integration in the National System for Geospatial Intelligence. Together, the Northrop Grumman-led team of highly experienced scientists, engineers, analysts and production specialists will strive to exceed the customer's expectations for MASINT/AGI program production, research and development, phenomenology and support of global operational challenges." If selected, this team would support activities that include the tasking, processing, exploitation, reporting, dissemination, and archiving of all non-nuclear MASINT and AGI data and products. In addition, research and development activities will expand and enhance current capabilities for rapid prototyping and deployment to operational users, as well as investigate phenomena, develop capabilities for advanced systems and identify requirements for future non-nuclear MASINT and AGI systems. "We are pleased to be a key contributor on the Northrop-Grumman-led team. SAIC has a company wide commitment and focus to provide the very best MASINT/AGI expertise, innovative capabilities, products, solutions and services in support of our nation's decision makers, warfighters and the intelligence community," said Jurgen Gobien, Ph.D., senior vice president and business unit general manager in SAIC's Intelligence, Security and Technology Group. "Our combined team offers a strong source of MASINT/AGI tools and skills-taking the most advantage of the data behind the pixel with broad linkages to the intelligence community, military services, joint/combined combatant commands, DARPA and the U.S. Space Program." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 3 11:43:10 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 07:43:10 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to calibrate Navy shipboard instruments Message-ID: <20071003074303.L1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 3 October 2007 ; Washington Technology SAIC to calibrate Navy shipboard instruments http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31551-1.html --- BY David Hubler Science Applications International Corp. will provide programming and engineering support for the Navy's Shipboard Instrumentation and Systems Calibration program. The work will be done under a new $25 million cost-plus-fixed-fee Seaport-e task order from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, in Philadelphia, which has a 19-month base period and three options of varying lengths. The company will perform most of the calibration work in Philadelphia; Norfolk, Va.; Bath, Me.; Pascagoula, Miss.; San Diego; and Mayport, Fla. The calibration work supports ships and submarines primarily in fleet concentration areas, said Hank Giffin, vice president and operations manager at SAIC. The work will include calibration requirements analysis and equipment evaluation, according to SAIC. Also, shipboard instrumentation checks on gauges, pressure switches, thermometers and other maritime instruments. The Carderock Division includes some 3,800 scientists, engineers and support personnel in Philadelphia and Bethesda, Md. It provides a wide range of applied maritime science and technology, including all technical aspects of improving the performance of ships, submarines, military water craft and unmanned vehicles, as well as research for military logistics systems. SAIC of San Diego ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Oct 4 21:56:55 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 17:56:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Director Sells 11,534 Shares Message-ID: <20071004175649.H1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 4 October 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC Director Sells 11,534 Shares http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/04/ap4188159.html --- NEW YORK -- A director of government contractor SAIC Inc. sold 11,534 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Anita Jones reported she sold the shares Tuesday for $19.15 apiece. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Oct 4 21:59:41 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 17:59:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for October 04, 2007 Message-ID: <20071004175913.L1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 4 October 2007 ; United States Department of Defense Contracts for October 04, 2007 http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=3619 --- No. 1187-07 CONTRACTS NAVY [...] Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $5,768,056 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for RDT&E in Corrosion Science. The work will cover a broad range of RDT&E due to the multi-disciplinary interaction of marine engineered systems with the natural mechanisms, electrochemical systems. The emphasis involves around the design and implementation of improved technology for legacy and next generation Naval platforms. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of this contract to $29,842,741. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C. (58 percent); Key West, Fla. (24 percent); and Patuxent, Md. (16 percent), and work is expected to be completed October 2008 (October 2012 with options). Contract funds in the amount of $483,000 will expire at the end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Naval Research Laboratory request for Proposal Number N000173-06-C-SK08, with five offers received. The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N000173-07-2068). [...] From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 10 11:03:08 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:03:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Climbs on Calming Forecast Message-ID: <20071010070301.Y1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 10 October 2007 ; The Street SAIC Climbs on Calming Forecast http://www.thestreet.com/s/saic-climbs-on-calming-forecast/newsanalysis/general/10383586.html --- SAN FRANCISCO -- Shares of SAIC (SAI) rose Tuesday after the company reaffirmed its full-year financial targets, giving investors confidence that it's weathering recent problems. The stock was recently trading up 61 cents, over 3%, to $19.29 after management told analysts that the engineering- and information-technology-services contractor was on track to earn 83 to 88 cents a share from continuing operations for the current fiscal year, in line with prior guidance. Analysts, on average, were expecting SAIC to earn 87 cents a share, excluding one-time items. SAIC also reiterated its earlier annual revenue forecast of $8.7 billion to $9 billion, in line with analyst expectations. That forecast represents growth of 5% to 8.5%. The company also expects cash flow from operations to reach at least $450 million, down from $704 million last year. SAIC's stock has taken several hits this year since it originally issued its fiscal-year financial targets in April. The company has grappled with high employee turnover, pressure on its profit margins and the expiration of the lock-up period preventing employees from selling shares they were granted during the October 2006 initial public offering. Employees hold the majority of SAIC's shares. One of the biggest blows came in May when Congress sharply cut the budget for a military contract that accounted for about 3% of the company's revenue. SAIC draws roughly 40% of its revenue from defense contracts. In July, the company revealed that it had mishandled the addresses, social security numbers and other personal information of military personnel. The information was stored on an unsecured server used for a military health care contract. But in the last quarter, the company topped analysts' revenue and earnings forecasts and management reassured investors with bullish comments on the outlook for government work, which accounts for nearly half of its revenue. SAIC is also moving forward on a GPS contract with the Air Force, a NATO missile defense contract and an IT project for the Navy. Further bolstering its future growth plans, SAIC has about $1.1 billion in cash and recently extended a line of credit at previous terms, giving it ample firepower for the $300 million in acquisitions that management has planned. Management is targeting companies in intelligence, logistics and health care. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 10 11:04:30 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:04:30 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Program Puts Far-Out Technology Into Use Today Message-ID: <20071010070408.W1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 10 October 2007 ; CNN Money Program Puts Far-Out Technology Into Use Today http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-20132112.htm --- To get better robots off the drawing board and onto the battlefield, grease their wheels. Adapting small robots to do more on their own, such as find bombs, is one project in a Congress-backed tech transfer program called CCAT. The program finds new ideas and funds them. The point 19 to fast-track useful technology. CCAT looks to commercially spin out what's built in government labs and also to "spin in" commercial inventions for Department of Defense use. "We realized a lot of innovation these days is often going on in these very small companies," said Stephen Lieberman, head of tech transfer at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, or SPAWAR, in San Diego. "We're trying, in a sense, to grease the skids so these companies can better interface ... with people in the DOD." Lieberman is the Defense liaison for the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology in San Diego and San Bernardino, Calif. CCAT got started with a Congressional earmark of about $5 million in 2001 and has now received about $28 million in all. CCAT is an industry, government and academic partnership that also works with outside investor groups. It backs promising technologies -- so far 145 of them -- and mentors their makers. CCAT members include San Diego State University's research foundation and its entrepreneurial center; California State University, San Bernardino's office of tech transfer; the University of California, San Diego's engineering school and its entrepreneurship center; tech nonprofit Connect; and the Navy's SPAWAR program. To date, 131 companies and organizations have received CCAT funding for their technologies. "A pretty high percentage, considering risk level, have been successful," said tech investor and consultant Mike Elconin, a CCAT board member. As the military has sought to sharpen its cutting edge, programs similar to CCAT have sprung up in Hawaii, Illinois and elsewhere, says Barry Janov, CCAT founder and program manager. Getting Research To Market Commercializing new ideas can be tough. Small tech firms are often research-focused. They might lack expertise in operations, finance and marketing, Janov says. "By fast-tracking, we address many of those shortfalls," he said. "We help them more rapidly develop marketing plans, business models and strategies that make them more attractive for third-party funding." Janov says at least half of the smaller firms CCAT works with are backed by sources other than federal dollars, such as angel investments and venture capital. Pacific Microwave Research, in Vista, Calif., got $150,000 to help it develop digital microwave systems that can send clearer, cleaner surveillance pictures than can analog gear. "What CCAT did was validate with our customer base that this technology was what they were looking for," said Christopher Durso, president of the 12-person firm. "They are just really, truly interested in promoting technology and solving problems." Pacific Microwave sells to law enforcement. Durso says his systems also have plenty of military uses. One is sending images from unmanned aerial or ground vehicles. Robots have lately been a big theme at CCAT. "We decided a year ago to work with the (Navy's SPAWAR) SSC San Diego robotics program to identify technologies which would advance to the next generation of robots," Janov said. Robots Helping Soldiers Thousands of robots are in use in Afghanistan and Iraq, he says, but they're not autonomous. They're "tele-operated." "You've got some guy hiding behind a truck somewhere, or a wall, who needs other people to protect him because he's got to sit there focused on this tiny little screen with a joystick ... ." Elconin said. "It's still not a particularly sophisticated kind of operation. It's dangerous and it's a pain." Soldiers could more easily stay out of harm's way if robots were better at telling their own position, where to go and what to search for, Janov says. With that in mind, CCAT teamed up the SPAWAR robotics lab with several firms to develop enhanced technology suited to small robots made by iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) IRBT and Foster-Miller. The firms include iRobot, tech contractor SAIC (SAI), sensing specialist AETC (now owned by SAIC), radiation-hardened microprocessor developer Space Micro, video enhancement firm DigiVision and sensor developer CornerTurn. Together they've worked on technologies for the military to use. IRobot got a $165,000 development award for two things: a way to tell a robot's position and a computer upgrade that lets small robots map areas by themselves. SAIC got $75,000 to work on human-robot interaction. AETC got $75,000 for ultrasound sensing sensitive enough to detect a gun being taken out of a holster. DigiVision got $75,000 for improving video clarity in the field. And Space Micro got $105,000 for a small sensor system that can detect and locate different kinds of radiation fields. "If there's a dirty bomb, it can triangulate and find it," Janov said. "The robot does it by itself." Also in the works is a way for robots to leave behind different kinds of sensors. CornerTurn is developing these "botdrops," and it has received $75,000 to aid its efforts. "Robotics systems, they've been around for a long time. Actually they had some use in World War II," Lieberman said. "But the technologies themselves, like operator interfaces and the smartness, really haven't evolved." Besides spinning in robot technologies, Lieberman says his lab has had success spinning out discoveries made there, such as in toxin detection. "It's one thing to invent something. It's another thing to have it be produced and affordable for the government," Elconin said. "So a key to a lot of the success of those types of technologies is to have a private company license the invention from the inventor, whether at a university or government lab, and turn it into a business. Then sell the product back to the government, among others." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Oct 12 19:18:32 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:18:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Soliloquy Message-ID: <20071012151823.K1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 12 October 2007 ; The Motley Fool SAIC Soliloquy http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/10/12/saic-soliloquoy.aspx --- Shares of government contractor SAIC (NYSE: SAI) rebounded Tuesday, in response to news that management would reaffirm guidance at its investor conference later in the day (which it did). Most of the mainstream media focused on the guidance angle of the story, attributing the shares' 4.6% rise in price to management's renewed promise to deliver: * $8.7 billion to $9 billion in sales this fiscal year * $0.83 to $0.88 per share in profits * And $450 million or more in operating cash flow Here at the Fool, we agree that no news is good news at SAIC. Still, management has been repeating these same numbers for months, over and over. More interesting than the company keeping its word, I think, is what SAIC had to tell us at the conference itself. The details revealed there went far beyond the sales/earnings/cash flow story that you've already read about in Reuters and the AP. The rest of the story For example, we've read a lot about consolidation among government contractors lately. Textron's (NYSE: TXT) decision to buy out United Industrial, for instance. Or BAE Systems swallowing Armor Holdings whole. Or the persistent rumors that General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) will eventually decide to buy out Force Protection (Nasdaq: FRPT). It seems that much of the industry is intent on "buying growth," and while that tactic's often successful (see L-3 Communications' (NYSE: LLL) stock chart), it carries the ever-present risk of overpaying for inorganic growth. In that regard, investors should be especially interested in SAIC's own plans for future growth. The company intends to accelerate organic growth, improving its revenue by 6% to 9% this year. Combined with a planned 20-30-basis-point improvement in operating margins, the company might even be able to halt the three-quarters-long slide in its profits. The rest of the rest of the story Looking even further down the road, SAIC outlined its strategies for the next three to five years' worth of growth, with the firm once again looking inward. SAIC aims to maintain a consistent level of organic sales growth in the 6%-9% per annum range, supplementing that with about 2%-4% inorganic growth as its rolls up "midsized strategic acquisitions" and makes opportunistic purchases of larger enterprises. I must say that I like the proportions here. SAIC's plans to build most of its growth internally will limit the risks inherent in buyouts. That includes both the actual risk of overpaying, and the risk that shares of a company perceived to be overpaying will get battered when it announces an acquisition. Like its plans for the current fiscal year, however, sales growth is only half the equation in profit growth. To truly turbocharge a sales-growth story, a company must improve the profits it squeezes from new revenue streams. That won't be easy, because SAIC also warned that "fierce" competition among industry rivals such as Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) is putting the squeeze on margins for all players. "But assume SAIC succeeds in its intention to improve operating margins by as much as 100 basis points," the company stated. "If sales rise between 8% and 13% per year, adding a full percent of operating profit margin could generate annual profits growth in the low-to-mid-20s over the next half decade." The between-the-lines story Of course, SAIC itself is promising only "15% on average" growth in earnings per share -- several notches below my estimate. Which tells me that we need to monitor at least two more variables going forward: * Stock dilution. The difference between 25%-ish net profit growth and 15% per-share growth could lie in additional shares issued, whether in the form of stock options gifted to workers, or paid-in-stock purchases of inorganic growth. * Margins. If I read SAIC's report correctly, it seems to be promising that the 100-basis point improvement in operating margins will come over the course of a three-to-five year growth period. The longer it takes to improve operating margins from the current 7% level to the hoped-for 8%, the more slowly profits will grow. My advice: In future quarters, watch these two statistics like a hawk. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Oct 12 21:56:26 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:56:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Senior Vice President Sells Shares Message-ID: <20071012175614.N1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 12 October 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC Senior Vice President Sells Shares http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/12/ap4215645.html --- NEW YORK -- The senior vice president and controller of government contractor SAIC Inc. sold 5,923 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC Thursday, John Robert Hartley reported he sold the shares Thursday for $19.98 to $20 apiece. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction. SAIC (nyse: SAI) is based in San Diego. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 15 22:30:27 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:30:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Awarded DoD Business Transformation Agency Contract Message-ID: <20071015183020.A1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 15 October 2007 ; SAIC SAIC Awarded DoD Business Transformation Agency Contract http://investors.saic.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=193857&p=NewsArticle&id=1062771 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., Oct 15, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) today announced that it won a contract from the Department of Defense (DoD), Business Transformation Agency (BTA) in Arlington, Va., to support their Transformation Planning and Performance (TP&P) Directorate. The new single-award, firm fixed price/time and materials contract has a one-year base term, four one-year options and a value of more than $76 million if all options are exercised. It was awarded by the Army Contract Agency Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center under SAIC's Information Technology Enterprise Solutions Two Services master contract. Through the contract, SAIC will help the directorate's Business Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Transition Plan evolve to drive business transformation in support of the warfighter. The TP&P Directorate is responsible for maintaining and updating the architecture, transition plan, and related deliverables to ensure they are consistent with the strategic goals and objectives of the department. "We are extremely pleased to have been selected by BTA to provide support to their mission of evolving the business practices of DoD," said Peter Dube, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. "We look forward to building on this new relationship with the BTA in support of our men and women serving throughout the world." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 17 00:11:39 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:11:39 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to reform DOD business practices Message-ID: <20071016201132.R1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 16 October 2007 ; Washington Technology SAIC to reform DOD business practices http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31644-1.html --- BY Doug Bezier Science Applications International Corp. will help the agency in charge of transforming the business practices at the Defense Department under a new $76 million contract. SAIC will support the Business Transformation Agency's Transformation Planning and Performance Directorate. The Transformation Planning and Performance Directorate is responsible for maintaining and updating the architecture and transition plan to ensure they are consistent with the goals and objectives of the department. The single-award contract has one base year and four one-year options. It was awarded by the Army Contract Agency Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center under SAIC's Information Technology Enterprise Solutions Two Services master contract. SAIC of San Diego ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 17 00:14:24 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:14:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Awarded NASA Moon Mission Facilities Contract Message-ID: <20071016201416.V1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 16 October 2007 ; PRNewswire SAIC Awarded NASA Moon Mission Facilities Contract http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-16-2007/0004682750 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) announced today that its subsidiary, Benham Companies LLC, has been awarded a $51.4 million cost-plus- incentive-fee contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to design, engineer and build two testing facilities. Both facilities will support development of the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station and the moon in the next decade, and will be among the largest such facilities ever built. The period of performance of the contract is 18 months, with an additional six months of post-commissioning technical support. The two projects will be developed at the Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, which is operated by NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. As part of the contract, Benham also will design and deliver a new high-speed data acquisition system to collect, correlate and analyze testing data from these two facilities. The contract includes the following: -- The design and construction of a reverberant acoustic test facility to generate the sound levels a spacecraft will be exposed to during launch and during reentry. The 67,400 cubic foot chamber will be able to generate 163 decibels of sound power - the highest intensity acoustic facility of its size ever built. The Orion spacecraft will sit inside the enclosed chamber during testing. -- The design and construction of a 20-foot diameter mechanical vibration platform to test the spacecraft for physical vibration capabilities during Earth launch, orbit and during reentry. Once completed it will be the largest and most powerful vibration test facility every built. -- The design of a high-speed data acquisition system that will be used to collect and analyze data from the two testing facilities. -- The design and delivery of all control systems for both testing facilities. These two new testing facilities and the other facilities being readied under separate efforts will allow the Orion spacecraft, consisting of the launch abort system and the crew and service modules, to undergo thermal-vacuum, acoustic, mechanical vibration and electromagnetic compatibility evaluations within the confines of the SPF during development and qualification. These new testing facilities also will support NASA's Constellation Program's future spacecraft and other systems required for exploration missions to the moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system. "We look forward to leading the design-build effort to deliver one of the world's largest high-intensity acoustic test chamber and the world's largest and most powerful spacecraft vibration test system for NASA and the Orion Program," said Bill Steen, Benham project director for the NASA contract. Benham, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC, provides integrated architectural design, engineering, procurement and construction services for a broad spectrum of industries and facilities, delivering end-to-end solutions for government and private customers. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Oct 18 11:38:46 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:38:46 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Wins $41 Million Navy Contract Message-ID: <20071018073840.P1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 October 2007 ; Houston Chronicle SAIC Wins $41 Million Navy Contract http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5221507.html --- SAN DIEGO -- Science Applications International Corp., which provides scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services to the U.S. government, said Wednesday it received a follow-on contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command worth $41 million. Under terms of the three-year contract, SAIC will provide software development, maintenance, fleet support and training for mine warfare command and control software to the Naval Sea Systems Command's Office of Littoral and Mine Warfare. Work will be performed primarily in McLean, Va., and other concentrated fleet locations, the company said. SAIC shares rose 2 cents to $19.45 in morning trading. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 22 11:31:13 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:31:13 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to Collaborate with UK Biometrics Institute Message-ID: <20071022073104.P1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 22 October 2007 ; CNN Money SAIC to Collaborate with UK Biometrics Institute http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEM02022102007-1.htm --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation today announced that it signed an agreement with the University of Kent on behalf of the United Kingdom Biometrics Institute (UKBI) to collaborate on biometric and identity projects. Fostered by efforts of the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the agreement aims to maximize cooperation from academia, industry and government in collaborative research and development. One facet of the agreement establishes an SAIC student sponsorship program to help enhance students' professional skill sets in the increasingly important area of biometrics. "This program demonstrates SAIC's commitment to working with academia and the government to bring science to solutions quickly," said John Christensen, SAIC business development. "With this agreement, we're reaching back to our scientific roots to help mentor the next generation of scientist in the UK." As part of the sponsorship program, the team will establish the 'SAIC University Challenge,' a contest designed to encourage bold and innovative biometric ideas. During the contest, teams from UKBI universities will develop product ideas, form virtual companies and compete against each other for an award. "This challenge will encourage university students to work with industry to adopt innovative and creative solutions, solve complex problems, think strategically and use project management skills," said Carole Barron, director of Enterprise at the University of Kent. "It will help position these students to pursue careers in the biometrics and leverage their abilities to help solve some of the world's most complex problems." Andrew Cahn, chief executive of UK Trade & Investment, said, "I am delighted that SAIC and the UK Biometrics Institute have formed such an effective relationship resulting from introductions made by UKTI. The SAIC University Challenge is a pragmatic initiative to help develop the next generation of industry-ready students from UK universities. UK Trade & Investment works to foster collaborations of this kind in key sectors worldwide." About UKBI Initiated by the Department of Electronics at the University of Kent and supported by Kent Enterprise, UKBI aims to enhance the productive exchange of knowledge and expertise in the UK across all stakeholders (including University researchers, the biometrics industrial sector, government agencies and potential end-users) and to provide leading-edge solutions to emerging and future market needs. Its members include the University of Kent, the International Association for Biometrics, the Security Knowledge Innovation Network, Cranfield University, and the European Biometrics Forum. About UKTI UK Trade & Investment is the Government's international business development organisation, supporting businesses seeking to establish in the UK and helping UK companies grow internationally. The services offered by UK Trade & Investment bring together a network of business sector specialists and support teams in British embassies and Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts all around the world, as well as key experts in government departments across the UK. About SAIC SAIC is a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to all branches of the U.S. military, agencies of the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. Government civil agencies, as well as to customers in selected commercial markets. With more than 44,000 employees in over 150 cities worldwide, SAIC engineers and scientists solve complex technical challenges requiring innovative solutions for customers' mission-critical functions. SAIC had annual revenues of $8.3 billion for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2007. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Oct 22 20:08:22 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:08:22 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Wins IRS Contract to Support Infrastructure Strategy and Investment Planning Program Message-ID: <20071022160815.H1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 22 October 2007 ; CNN Money SAIC Wins IRS Contract to Support Infrastructure Strategy and Investment Planning Program http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEM01822102007-1.htm --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a task order contract to support the Infrastructure Strategy and Investment Planning (ISIP) program at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The new single-award, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a one-year base period of performance, three one-year options and one, one-month option. The ceiling value of the contract is $26 million if all options are exercised. The IRS infrastructure vision will define the plan for the next three to five years and help implement high-quality information technology (IT) to enhance and modernize the infrastructure as a strategic investment. The scope of the three- to five-year infrastructure vision and roadmap covers the breadth of technologies, systems, and services identified by the IRS infrastructure taxonomy including security services; systems management; platforms and platform services; communications services; and physical infrastructure. The task order builds on current IRS infrastructure strategies and initiatives by identifying new opportunities for infrastructure improvements. After the initial vision and planning work, the team will support projects identified in the roadmap. "SAIC is pleased to continue more than a decade of support for the Department of Treasury and specifically, the IRS. We look forward to providing the IRS with industry best practices along with SAIC's breadth of experience within the federal, civilian, and commercial marketplace," said Randy Cash, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. "This type of consulting and thought leadership work is one of our core capabilities and complements our other traditional IT offerings such as data management, software development and infrastructure operations." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 23 01:28:06 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:28:06 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Lone Pine Capital Discloses 5.7% SAIC (SAI) Message-ID: <20071022212759.A1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 22 October 2007 ; StreetInsider.com Lone Pine Capital Discloses 5.7% SAIC (SAI) http://www.streetinsider.com/13Gs/Lone+Pine+Capital+Discloses+5.7%25+SAIC+(SAI)/3046557.html --- In a 13G filing after the close on SAIC (NYSE: SAI), Lone Pine Capital/Stephen Mandel, Jr. (NYSE: SAI) disclosed a 5.7% stake (7,315,071 shares) in the company. The firm did not show a stake in SAI at the quarter ended June 30, 2007. A 13G indicates a 'passive investment'. Saic, Inc. is a provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to all branches of the United States military, agencies of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the intelligence community, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other United States Government civil agencies, as well as to customers in commercial markets. According to Stockpickr.com, "Lone Pine Capital was started in 1997 by Steven Mandel, formerly a managing director and analyst at Tiger Management for a period of 7 years. According to the December 4, 2006 issue of Barron's, Mandel now manages $8 Billion and has returned over 25% annually since his fund's inception. At the end of November 2006 the fund was up 11% year-to-date. In 2005 the fund was up 32%." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 23 20:56:56 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:56:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Georgia Tech-SAIC Sting Racing Team Departs for DARPA Urban Challenge Message-ID: <20071023165650.J1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 23 October 2007 ; Business Wire Georgia Tech-SAIC Sting Racing Team Departs for DARPA Urban Challenge http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071023005271&newsLang=en --- ATLANTA -- The College of Computing at Georgia Tech today announced that the Sting Racing team, a collaboration between Georgia Tech and Science Applications International Corporation [NYSE: SAI], has left for Victorville, Calif. to compete in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Urban Challenge semifinals and finals events with their fully autonomous vehicle entry, Sting 1. The semifinal National Qualifying Event (NQE) is scheduled to begin October 26, with the final event on November 3 on the site of the former George Air Force Base. Georgia Tech-SAIC Sting Racing, composed of researchers from Georgia Tech's Colleges of Computing, Engineering, the Georgia Tech Research Institute, and SAIC, is one of only 35 semifinalist teams from across the country. "We invite the public to join us in applauding the members of the Sting Racing team and their inspiring enthusiasm and commitment," said Dr. Henrik Christensen, KUKA chair of Robotics for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and principal investigator for Sting Racing. "With support from Georgia Tech, SAIC, and the local community, we are ready to compete among the world's best robotics programs and drive our way into the Urban Challenge finals." For more than a year the members of the Sting Racing team have been working to prepare and program Sting 1, a Porsche Cayenne, to compete autonomously in this high-profile, national challenge. Combining the leadership and broad technological expertise in robotics at Georgia Tech and complemented by SAIC's capabilities in robot vision and sensor fusion, the team has risen to the challenge of programming the vehicle to operate without a driver, stay on course, and deal with obstacles in its way, such as fellow cars, while maintaining realistic speeds. "Sting 1 illustrates the seamless collaboration the Georgia Tech-SAIC team members have demonstrated in preparing for the Urban Challenge this past year," said Karl Kluge, SAIC senior scientist -- perception researcher. "With Georgia Tech as one of the nation's foremost robotics research institutions and SAIC as a seasoned, two-time DARPA Grand Challenge contender, the Sting Racing entry is a strong contender in this Challenge." The Urban Challenge is the third in a series of DARPA-sponsored competitions to foster the development of robotic ground vehicle technology without a human operator, designed for use on the battlefield. The Urban Challenge will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. DARPA will award $2 million, $1 million and $500,000 awards to the top three finishers that complete the course within the six-hour time limit. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 24 11:14:36 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:14:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC GeoRover(R) Software Products Selected for NGA Workstation Message-ID: <20071024071426.A1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 October 2007 ; CNN Money SAIC GeoRover(R) Software Products Selected for NGA Workstation http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NETU01423102007-1.htm --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation announced today that its GeoRover(R) geospatial software was selected by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA) as part of the NGA Integrated Exploitation Capability (IEC) workstations baseline, Version 6.1. GeoRover software products provide flexible user interfaces ideal for use in a fast-paced geospatial intelligence environment. Additionally, many of the products provide optimized capabilities for NGA analysts deployed in operational and "disconnected" situations. There are more than 4,200 licensed GeoRover software product users within the DoD and intelligence community, many in support of ongoing efforts within Iraq and Afghanistan. The IEC is an NGA capability that procures, delivers and integrates National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) imagery exploitation and information production capabilities within the geospatial intelligence community. The system is deployed on more than 2,600 workstations at 84 sites worldwide within the Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence community. "We are excited to provide our GeoRover products to such an important and large-scale program," said John Thomas, SAIC business unit general manager. "This demonstrates SAIC's capability to design and produce world-class software products to complement our technical services." GeoRover products are a suite of geospatial software extensions developed to work with the ESRI(R) ArcGIS(R) Desktop software, specifically the ArcMap(TM) component of ArcGIS. The extensions provide robust geospatial data creation and fusion capabilities, powerful map and image data management and display tools, and much more. The GeoRover software extensions selected for the IEC workstations include Locus Track, RPF Tools, Coordinate Viewer, and Zoom Tools. Please visit georover.com to learn more about GeoRover software products. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 24 11:16:37 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:16:37 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Wildfires Shutter San Diego Defense Facilities Message-ID: <20071024071619.A1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 October 2007 ; DefenseNews.com Wildfires Shutter San Diego Defense Facilities http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3132099&C=america --- Wildfires that have ravaged vast areas surrounding San Diego have forced the closure of major defense facilities around the city as firms consider the impact of the fires on production schedules and employees. Since the weekend, fires ranging from Santa Barbara south to the Mexican border have consumed some 300,000 acres, destroying more than 1,000 homes and businesses, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands, some 300,000 of from San Diego county, which is home to major defense contractors. "It's too early to tell what the impact is going to be," said Randy Belote, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman, which has three facilities in the region. "Our primary concern is for our employees and the fires are still burning, fueled buy high winds, so it's not over yet." Northrop, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, SAIC and BAE Systems facilities in the region were closed Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, some because of road closures, spokesmen said. Northrop employs more than 3,500 in the region, performing key engineering and program management work on their Global Hawk, Fire Scout and combat UAVs, but production in Palmdale remains ongoing, Belote said. The company also manages the 911 Emergency Response Computer-Aided Dispatch System for San Diego Police Department. Across from one of the Northrop facilities in Rancho Bernardo sits the headquarters of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, where the company builds and refurbishes such UAVs as its signature Predator line. The company employs more than 2,000 in the area for engineering, composite manufacturing and integration. "The fires are a few miles of our headquarters and we couldn't get here Monday because the freeways were closed and possible gas leaks," said Kimberly Kasitz, a spokeswoman for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. "We had a few essential staff in today, but while the plant has been closed we are still flying aircraft out in the desert every day. We expect to be back at work tomorrow." BAE facilities in Rancho Bernardo, Vista and National City, which employ some 3,000, were shuttered for two days. Other BAE facilities, including ship repair yards remained open, but employees were affected by the fire, the company said in an internal memo from Walt Havenstein, president of BAE's North American operation. With many workers in affected areas, the company is gearing up a support program. "We are determining the immediate needs colleagues and families may have, and developing a response plan to meet these requirements as efficiently and effectively as possible," Havenstein wrote. "We will announce the details of this recovery campaign as soon as a process to administer contributions and in-kind donations is established." Lockheed Martin is assessing the impact of the fires as well. "The corporation has several thousand employees who live and work in the impacted areas," said Jeff Adams, a Lockheed spokesman. "At this time we are assessing the needs of our employees and the impacted communities and how we might be able to best provide assistance." Raytheon spokeswoman Sabrina Steele said no company facilities have been closed. Raytheon employs 12,500 across the state of which 8,500 work for the company's Space and Airborne Systems unit, headquartered in El Segundo. "We have been in crisis mode since the weekend to monitor the situation, but so far we have been fortunate in that we haven't had to shut any facilities down," Steele said. "We have asked our employees to report any home or other personal loss, but so far we haven't received any reports. We do have an employee disaster relief fund that is ready to be activated if needed to care for those who have experienced loss." SAIC has seen more than 1,600 of its 5,000 local area workers evacuated as of late Oct. 23, said Arnold Punaro, SAIC's executive vice president and corporate crisis manager. The company's San Diego facilities will remain closed Wednesday, except for essential personnel. "We are working to account for all our employees in both the fire-threatened areas as well as greater San Diego area," Punaro said in a statement. "We have activated our Emergency Operations Center and will staff it 24 hours a day for the duration of this crisis with a toll-free number that employees may call for assistance and information. Our corporate travel office is working to find lodging for SAIC employees who have had to evacuate. We know a number of our employees have already lost their homes and we are working to assist them. San Diego employees who are in safe areas have already begun volunteering lodging to their colleagues and families." The company also has launched its contingency plan for "business continuity" that includes special data protection and recovery measures, while also meeting customer requirements, Punaro added. Although the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company has seen its workers evacuated from their homes and ash descending on its San Diego yard, the company plans to launch a new auxiliary ship for the Navy over the weekend as scheduled. "We'll have a better sense of the situation tomorrow morning," said Kendell Pease, a spokesman for NASSCO's parent company, General Dynamics. "Our No. 1 priority is the safety of our folks, but the yard itself is not in danger and our current plan is to launch the Robert E. Perry at high tide on Saturday." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 24 21:23:56 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:23:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Awarded Contract to Support Center for Corrosion Science and Engineering Message-ID: <20071024172349.S1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 October 2007 ; PRNewswire SAIC Awarded Contract to Support Center for Corrosion Science and Engineering http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-24-2007/0004688777 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) announced today that it has won a follow-on contract from the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Center for Corrosion Science and Engineering (CCSE) to support its program on research, development, test and engineering in corrosion mechanisms on various systems and materials. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a one-year base period with four one-year options and a total value of more than $29 million if all options are exercised. SAIC will support the NRL's CCSE in assessing the effects of the interaction of marine engineered systems with the natural environment. Focus areas include marine corrosion, materials, engineering, electrochemistry, coatings, biofouling remediation and environmental effects as related to Navy surface ships, submarines and aircraft. Work will be performed primarily in Washington, D.C. and Key West, Fla. "Our people have supported the NRL for 29 years, and SAIC is committed to NRL's success as the Navy's full-spectrum corporate laboratory," said John Ferriter, SAIC business unit senior vice president and general manager. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Oct 26 20:36:59 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:36:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to help Navy explore maritime corrosion problems Message-ID: <20071026163651.K1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 26 October 2007 ; Washington Technology SAIC to help Navy explore maritime corrosion problems http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31697-1.html --- By David Hubler Science Applications International Corp. has won a $29 million contract to support research efforts at the Naval Research Laboratory's Center for Corrosion Science and Engineering. SAIC will work with the Navy center to assess the effects of marine-engineered systems on the natural environment. Areas to be examined include marine corrosion, materials, engineering, electrochemistry, coatings, biofouling remediation and the environmental effects on surface ships, submarines and aircraft. The center is responsible for conducting broad scientific and engineering programs intended to lessen the damage that salt water and marine life can do to naval systems. Its Corrosion Engineering Section operates the Marine Corrosion Facility in Key West, Fla., where corrosion control problems are studied and engineering solutions are created to resolve them. The support work under the contract will be performed primarily in Key West and Washington, D.C. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a one-year base period and four one-year options. SAIC, based in San Diego, ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 30 11:32:49 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 06:32:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] NASA Awards Environmental Management, Safety Service Contract Message-ID: <20071030063241.I1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 29 October 2007 ; SpaceRef NASA Awards Environmental Management, Safety Service Contract http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=23905 --- NASA has selected Science Applications International Corp., known as SAIC, of Harrisburg, Pa., to provide environmental management and safety office support at NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland. This is an indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity, time and materials contract, effective Nov 1. The maximum value of the contract is $46 million during a possible five-year period, consisting of a three-year base period, followed by a two-year option. SAIC will provide on-site support to various organizations at Glenn and its Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. The types of services include industrial hygiene, environmental management, environmental compliance, environmental engineering, chemical management, chemical compliance, waste management, safety compliance and construction safety. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Oct 30 20:19:30 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:19:30 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] SAIC Awarded Contracts from U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Implement Cargo Scanning Technology Message-ID: <20071030151922.F1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 30 October 2007 ; Shipping Guru SAIC Awarded Contracts from U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Implement Cargo Scanning Technology http://shippingguru.org/index.php?itemid=915 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation today announced orders totaling $33 million received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement cargo scanning technology in the U.S. and abroad. The technology, which includes SAIC's vanguard VACIS(R) P7500 X-ray inspection system, will help DHS authorities scan high volumes of cargo containers for weapons, explosives and other threats before they enter U.S. borders in support of the Secure Freight Initiative. SAIC's VACIS(R) P7500 system produces high-resolution digital images of the contents of containers for online analysis. A single system can scan up to 150 containers per hour with minimal impact on the flow of commerce. "We are very pleased that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has once again chosen SAIC's VACIS(R) inspection systems to support the goals of the Secure Freight Initiative -- helping to protect our borders and aid in the fight against terrorism," said Alex Preston, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. SAIC will manufacture the technology at its new Security and Transportation Technology Business Unit facility near San Diego, and deliver it throughout 2007 and 2008. SAIC has installed hundreds of VACIS(R) systems in fixed and mobile configurations for customs agencies, military forces and other security organizations around the world. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 31 02:15:45 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:15:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] Six teams eliminated from the DARPA Urban Challenge Message-ID: <20071030211537.M1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 30 October 2007 ; TG Daily Six teams eliminated from the DARPA Urban Challenge http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34619/113/ --- Victorville (CA) -- There are still two days left at the DARPA Urban Challenge qualifications, but officials are already eliminating teams because of poor performance. DARPA has just told us that six teams have been eliminated and will no longer participate in any more qualification runs. The eliminations will free up slots for the other more capable teams. "DARPA has determined that the following teams are not ready to compete in the Final Event, and will no longer participate in the NQE," DARPA states in a press release. The eliminated teams include: 1) George Tech/SAIC Sting Racing, 2) Ody-Era, 3) SciAutonics/Auburn Engineering, 4) Team Berlin, 5) University of Utah and 6) Princeton University. The eliminated teams undoubtedly spent hundreds, if not thousands, of man-hours in preparing for the qualifications and that effort does not go unnoticed, especially with DARPA officials. "DARPA congratulates these teams for making it to the semifinals, and salutes them for their contributions to developing autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology that will someday save lives on the battlefield," said DARPA. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 31 11:25:07 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:25:07 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] Portal port project in progress Message-ID: <20071031062453.M1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 October 2007 ; Minot Daily News Portal port project in progress http://www.minotdailynews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=15721 --- By DAVE CALDWELL PORTAL -- As the old saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. But it's doubtful that Brad Beeter would agree with that assessment. Beeter is the port director at the U.S. port of entry at Portal. And with a new project currently under construction and an even larger one on the drawing board, the safe money is on the American side of the border to hold Beeter's interest. A new building under construction at the Portal entry port will house the Customs and Border Protection Mobile VACIS (vehicle and cargo inspection system) unit. "You see the truck out here?" Beeter asked, motioning to a large semitrailer with a crew inside. "It will house that truck in there, and also allow us to do some secondary inspections inside." Beeter said the goal is not necessarily to make things less complicated at the port, but to provide a more workable environment come the winter months. "In January and February when we're searching things outside, we can have people inside a building (instead)," Beeter said. Beeter said a whole new port of entry at Portal is in the works, but he's not sure at this point what the time frame will be for its construction. "We're kind of at a standstill with that right now," he said. "But we are hoping to get a brand new port of entry, hopefully within the next three or four years." People who have never crossed the border into Canada might not know exactly what types of missions these officers are under. "Under Homeland Security, our No. 1 job is to protect us from terrorists and terrorist weapons," Beeter said. "After that, our second mission is our traditional mission, which would be customs, immigration and agriculture all merged into one. We stop illegal products from coming in, we stop illegal people from coming in. That's our main job with the agriculture to keep illegal chemicals and pests from coming in." Some prohibited items commonly handled by the department are surprising to many people, Beeter said. "From some of the stuff in agriculture, bringing citrus fruits and some of the beef products that have bans on them, that kind of stuff they bring across," he said. Others are not such surprising no-nos. "Narcotics and that kind of stuff we catch people with that," Beeter said. "There are also people who come down to move illegally into our country." Beeter said that his department is constantly on the lookout for suspicious people and possible abducted children. "You're always on the lookout for that," he said. "So if you see something outside of the ordinary then you'll go into that situation to make sure that the kid is who they say they are, that they're with their parents or something like that." Beeter was asked if there was a big bulletin board with posters of missing children handy nearby for quick reference. "We don't really have a bulletin board," he said. "If there's questions on that, we'll start getting ahold of the proper authorities to say, .Is this person who they say they are?' But the majority of the time we don't have to go into it that far. We can usually get the story from the people that are there." Beeter is in charge of several ports of entry in North Dakota. "I've got from the Fortuna port of entry, which is next to Montana, to Antler, N.D.," he said. Beeter said his charge includes seven ports as well as Williston and Minot. Occasionally, Beeter said, his officers will request assistance from other agencies. "Burke County Sheriff's Department has been fantastic for us," he said. "In other situations, we've also got ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, another federal law enforcement arm) out of Minot that will help out, and BCI (North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation) will help us out." Beeter was asked if there are a lot of dramatic incidents involving people "running the border," and what his agency does to respond in the cases where it does happen. "If somebody runs across the border, we notify the Border Patrol agents that are here and they will go apprehend them," he said. Any attempts to shoot out the tires of a suspect's vehicle on Beeter's watch? "No," he chuckled. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Oct 31 21:13:43 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:13:43 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] SAIC to Upgrade USAF Air Traffic Control Radio System Message-ID: <20071031161337.U1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 October 2007 ; PRNewswire SAIC to Upgrade USAF Air Traffic Control Radio System http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-31-2007/0004694123 --- SAN DIEGO, and MCLEAN, Va., /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) announced today that it has won a new single-award contract from the General Services Administration to upgrade air traffic control radio systems for the U.S. Air Force. The initial phase of contract performance will be performed on a time-and- materials basis, while later phases will be firm-fixed-price. The contract has a one-year base period, four one-year options and a ceiling value of more than $80 million if all options are exercised. SAIC will provide engineering services to include recommending new radios and hardware, and procuring and installing equipment as required. The contract will allow the Air Force to completely upgrade its air traffic control radio systems with new technology that will help improve overall system availability and reduce long-term maintenance costs. Work will be performed primarily in San Diego, with installations at USAF locations worldwide. "The Air Force air traffic control radio upgrade is a very important contract, further establishing SAIC as a leading systems integrator for the transformation and modernization of legacy air traffic control hardware," said Jim Cuff, SAIC business unit general manager.