August 1, 2002

Mountain View, CA -- CSA Engineering Inc. was recently named the 2002 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) National Small Business Contractor of the Year. The company was recognized May 13 at the 35th annual Industry/SBA Procurement Conference in Washington, DC. The conference recognizes outstanding government contracting officials, private sector companies and small businesses involved with federal government contracts.

Among all small businesses that have contracts with federal government agencies, CSA was one of just over 1000 nominated for the national honor. There were 10 regional award winners, and CSA was named the single national winner. Companies were judged in such categories as management, financial stamina and controls, labor relations, customer interface, technical capabilities, resource utilization of capital assets and cash flow, and cost, delivery and quality performance. CSA Engineering scored the highest grades possible in all qualities.

“This is a fitting way to end National Small Business Week: by honoring CSA Engineering, a company that has done so much for its employees, the local community and the federal agencies that contract with them,” said SBA Administrator Hector Barreto. “The depth, experience and capabilities consistently exhibited by CSA make them stand far and above their peers and certainly make them a national asset for developing vibration and noise mitigation technologies which have become critical to the success of military and scientific exploration missions. The fact that this also comes at a reasonable cost with exceptional customer service and dependability makes CSA’s many achievements even more impressive and worthy of top recognition.”

CSA’s exhibit at the Small Sats Conference will feature SoftRide, one of the products cited in the small business award. SoftRide whole-spacecraft vibration isolation systems are inserted between a launch vehicle and spacecraft and serve to attenuate launch dynamic loads imparted to the spacecraft. To date, SoftRide has protected seven satellites, reducing vibration to levels two-thirds less than those experienced with traditional payload interfaces. This technology has saved the government millions of dollars (on one program SoftRide saved over $6 million in spacecraft redesign and a 6-9 month schedule slip). The SoftRide systems are now being considered for broad application to the U.S. launch vehicle fleet and could produce savings, realized from improved spacecraft design and avoided failures, that extend into the billions of dollars.

CSA Engineering provides products and services based on the technologies of vibration suppression, precision motion and noise control. CSA applies established methods, adapts the most recent developments, and creates new ways of solving problems for a diverse set of customers, who have interests that include space, aircraft, semiconductors, life sciences, and industrial automation. Located in Mountain View, California, with a major facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, CSA is celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2002. To learn more visit CSA’s website at www.csaengineering.com or email info@csaengineering.com.