written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . november 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message general atomics type private industry aerospace and defense founded july 18 1955 ; 61 years ago 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 citation needed allowing the company to expand into other fields of research and manufacturing . general atomics develops systems clarification needed ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely operated surveillance aircraft airborne sensors advanced electric electronic wireless and laser technologies citation needed . contents 1 history 2 business groups 3 affiliated companies 4 educational outreach 5 awards 6 government influence 7 see also 8 references 9 bibliography 10 external links history edit 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 harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind . citation needed ga s first offices were in the general dynamics facility on hancock street in san diego . citation needed 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 . citation needed 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 . citation needed the torrey pines facility continues to serve as the company s headquarters today . citation needed general atomics s initial projects were the triga nuclear research reactor 1 and project orion . 2 a brief history of the company 1967 sold to gulf oil and renamed gulf general atomic citation needed . 1973 renamed general atomic company when royal dutch shell group s scallop nuclear inc. became a 50 50 partner citation needed . 1982 renamed ga technologies inc when gulf bought out its partner citation needed . 1984 taken ownership of by chevron following its merger with gulf oil citation needed . 1986 sold to a company owned by neal blue and linden blue when it assumed its current name citation needed . 1987 joined by former u.s. navy rear admiral thomas j. cassidy jr citation needed . 1993 awarded the information services portion of the nsf contract for internic functions 3 and publishes internet scout report . 4 1993 spawned general atomics aeronautical systems inc. ga asi with neal blue as chairman ceo and thomas j. cassidy as president citation needed . 1994 ga asi spun off as an affiliate . 5 1995 ended role as provider of internic information services citation needed . 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 . 6 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 . 7 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 . 8 business groups edit electromagnetic systems group the electromagnetic systems ems group is a supplier of electromagnetic systems and related power equipment for a variety of defense energy and commercial transportation applications . ems has expertise in the design and fabrication of linear motors superconducting and conventional rotating motors power inverters high voltage dc power distribution systems and numerous other energy conversion distribution and storage systems . ems is a major factor in applying electromagnetic technologies to aircraft launch and recovery emals and aag system projectile launch navy rail gun and magnetic levitation transportation systems . energy group 9 controlled fusion power reactors nuclear fuels group affiliated companies edit the predator uav is made by general atomics affiliate general atomics aeronautical systems general atomics aeronautical systems inc. ga asi ga asi s aircraft systems group produces the predator series of remotely piloted aircraft used in the kosovo iraq and afghanistan conflicts . ga asi s reconnaissance systems group provides tactical reconnaissance radars as well as high resolution surveillance systems for both manned and unmanned aircraft . general atomics electronic systems inc. ga esi consists of five product lines involving different aspects of energy . 10 11 terminal automation products tap provides automated distribution inventory control and transaction processing systems to bulk product storage facilities that handle petroleum chemical and agricultural products . radiation monitoring systems rms designs manufactures and supports a full range of radiation monitoring detecting control data collection and display equipment with equipment and systems at over half of the currently operating nuclear plants in the united states and at numerous sites in europe and throughout the far east . general atomics energy products manufactures maxwell high voltage capacitors after acquiring the product line from maxwell technologies in 2000 . 12 the gulftronic separator system is a continuous operation electrostatic on stream separation system currently in use by most major oil companies . since their introduction in 1979 over 30 systems have been installed at petroleum refineries worldwide . triga training research isotopes and general atomics 13 with over 65 facilities in 22 countries is a supplier of nuclear research reactors for university industrial government and medical applications . originally designed to meet requirements for operator training educational programs including nuclear research and fuel development triga s design has allowed its usage to be expanded to meet the requirements of application in medical and agricultural research isotope production and neutron radiography . general atomics systems integration llc ga si provider of military and commercial engineering services . ga si is active in aircraft systems integration technologies reliability improvements and controls system design . ga si provides engineering services for new development and aging system services to military and commercial customers . the company also provides test and evaluation assessment as well as field services . 14 converdyn serves the global nuclear industry offering uf6 . they coordinate and manage all aspects of the conversion process including uranium deliveries uranium sampling materials storage and product delivery . 15 jointly owned by honeywell inc. cotter corporation headquartered in denver colorado . through its various mining and milling operations cotter has produced uranium vanadium molybdenum silver lead zinc copper selenium nickel cobalt tungsten and limestone . originally incorporated in 1956 in new mexico as a uranium production company cotter was purchased by and became a wholly owned subsidiary of commonwealth edison in 1975 . ga acquired cotter in early 2000 . 16 heathgate resources pty. ltd. formed in 1990 heathgate resources is the owner and operator of the beverley uranium mine in northern south australia . beverley is australia s third uranium mine and australia s only operating in situ leach mine . 17 nuclear fuels corporation nfc was formed in 1991 by general atomics ga to market uranium produced from ga mining assets as well as to develop additional uranium projects . nfc is a long term contract supplier to both us and foreign utilities and actively participates in uranium trading . nfc is the marketing representative for other ga affiliates heathgate resources and cotter corporation . the company also has an agreement to purchase all uranium recovered by wismut gmbh from reclamation of the k nigstein mine in eastern germany . 18 rio grande resources corporation controls uranium operations and mineral resources acquired by ga from chevron resources in 1991 . included in this acquisition were mines in south texas and new mexico . in new mexico the mt. taylor project a conventional underground mine that contains the largest uranium resource in the united states is currently on standby . 19 triga international with cerca a subsidiary of areva spezialtechnik dresden gmbh std stands as holding at the head of the spezialtechnik group dresden and renders commercially characterized and marketing sales oriented consulting and support services for the companies of the group . 20 educational outreach edit 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 edit 2013 neal blue ceo of general atomics receives the 29th annual international von karman wings award 21 2008 north american frost & sullivan award for company of the year 22 2008 defense news top 100 ranked 57 23 frost & sullivan 2006 business development strategy leadership award presented for gains in the unmanned aerial systems market 24 shephard press unmanned vehicles 2005 uav design innovation award presented for warrior extended range multi purpose uav aviation week 2005 employer of choice finalist diversity valuing people technological challenge third best us aerospace defense employer usaf association 2004 john r. alison award for the most outstanding contributions to national defense by an industrial leader presented to president ceo thomas j. cassidy jr. 25 auvsi s 2002 pioneer award presented to president ceo thomas j. cassidy jr. 26 usaf s 2001 packard award for development & engineering presented for predator hellfire integration 27 government influence edit since 2005 the center for responsible politics reported general atomics had spent over 1.5 million per year in lobbying efforts from 2005 to 2011 . 28 in april 2002 the company paid for letitia white who was then a top aide to representative jerry lewis and her husband to travel to italy . white left lewis office nine months later to become a lobbyist at copeland lowery . the next day she began representing general atomics . lewis her former boss was at the time chairman of the house defense appropriations subcommittee . 29 see also edit diii d energy multiplier module gas turbine modular helium reactor htgr sequoyah fuels corporation harold agnew references edit introduction to triga reactors . iaea