Work of CSSI Inc. in Northfield to make air traffic control safer is in high...
By ERIK ORTIZ Staff Writer | Posted: Saturday, June 26, 2010
NORTHFIELD — In an office where wake-vortex research and trajectory-based operations are part
of everyday conversations, demystifying CSSI Inc. to a nonemployee can take a few minutes.
But Bob Miller, a vice president of the company’s aerospace division in Northfield, is a patient man.
After all, he was just as flustered discussing his job to his children when they were younger.
“It was hard. It took some explaining,” said Miller, 55, of Surf City.
But Miller says CSSI’s mission is simple: “We help the (Federal Aviation Administration) in the safety
of air traffic control.”
And it’s work that’s in high demand these days. Two months ago, the company was awarded its
biggest contract ever — for $280 million — to do engineering and program planning under the FAA’s
Next Generation Air Transportation System.
Known as NextGen, the project requires the federal government to hire firms that will help develop
new technologies over the next 10 years to modernize the nation’s air traffic system, focusing on
satellite-based programs instead of the older radar technology. A $300 million Next Generation
Aviation Research and Technology Park is under construction in Egg Harbor Township adjacent to the
William J. Hughes Technical Center, the FAA’s central research site.
The tech center already has helped southern New Jersey become fertile ground for aviation research.
Besides CSSI, other local firms will have the opportunity to do work on NextGen thanks to $4.4 billion
worth of contracts announced last month. They include Hi-Tec Systems Inc. and Spectrum Software &
Technology, both located in Egg Harbor Township.
“Given the amount of work that needs to be done and the existing resources, I would expect that we
will see work here associated with NextGen that may only come along once in a generation,” Miller
said.
It is an overwhelming project, but CSSI has been doing research in bit-sized pieces all along.
The company, founded in 1990, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and remains a family-owned
business. CEO Cynthia Castillo took over CSSI in 1993, after her father, Frank, was killed in a
motorcycle accident not long after signing his first contract with the FAA. The company had just 10
employees and less than $250,000 in annual revenue.
Castillo has grown the company to more than 250 employees, with about 29 based in New Jersey, and
more than $30 million in annual revenue. About 60 percent of its business is generated by the FAA,
with the Navy its second-biggest client.
While other industries have struggled during this economic downturn, Castillo says government
contracting is reliable work.
“I think our greatest challenge is being an unknown commodity breaking into new markets,” she told
Washington SmartCEO magazine in September.
Southern New Jersey was a new market for CSSI when it opened an office in Egg Harbor Township
15 years ago. It later moved to its current location on New Road in Northfield in late 2008, although
most of its area employees are based out of the tech center.
Over the years, the company has been working on different facets of aviation research.
For instance, it has looked at air traffic control concepts that makes tracking aircraft more efficient and
can help airlines save fuel. It also has been involved with wake-vortex research — or the airflow
created from the back of a plane while it’s flying. The resulting turbulence can be dangerous and
requires planes to keep safe separation distances.
CSSI also is doing data analysis on trajectory-based operations, which would allow airlines and pilots to
plan and predict how to get somewhere more accurately.
“If you know there’s bad weather, you’d perhaps be able to fly an alternate route or a different
altitude,” Miller said.
Airlines and the FAA currently have programs that evaluate aircraft trajectories, he added, but part of
the project now will be to actually demonstrate it.
All the intricacies of the work — and the problem-solving nature of it — continues to drive CSSI
employees, Miller said. In 2005, the Washington Business Journal cited the company as one of the 50
best places to work in the D.C. region.
Contact Erik Ortiz:
609-272-7253
EOrtiz@pressofac.com
NORTHFIELD — In an office where wake-vortex research and trajectory-based operations are part
of everyday conversations, demystifying CSSI Inc. to a nonemployee can take a few minutes.
But Bob Miller, a vice president of the company’s aerospace division in Northfield, is a patient man.
After all, he was just as flustered discussing his job to his children when they were younger.
“It was hard. It took some explaining,” said Miller, 55, of Surf City.
But Miller says CSSI’s mission is simple: “We help the (Federal Aviation Administration) in the safety
of air traffic control.”
And it’s work that’s in high demand these days. Two months ago, the company was awarded its
biggest contract ever — for $280 million — to do engineering and program planning under the FAA’s
Next Generation Air Transportation System.
Known as NextGen, the project requires the federal government to hire firms that will help develop
new technologies over the next 10 years to modernize the nation’s air traffic system, focusing on
satellite-based programs instead of the older radar technology. A $300 million Next Generation
Aviation Research and Technology Park is under construction in Egg Harbor Township adjacent to the
William J. Hughes Technical Center, the FAA’s central research site.
The tech center already has helped southern New Jersey become fertile ground for aviation research.
Besides CSSI, other local firms will have the opportunity to do work on NextGen thanks to $4.4 billion
worth of contracts announced last month. They include Hi-Tec Systems Inc. and Spectrum Software &
Technology, both located in Egg Harbor Township.
“Given the amount of work that needs to be done and the existing resources, I would expect that we
will see work here associated with NextGen that may only come along once in a generation,” Miller
said.
It is an overwhelming project, but CSSI has been doing research in bit-sized pieces all along.
The company, founded in 1990, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and remains a family-owned
business. CEO Cynthia Castillo took over CSSI in 1993, after her father, Frank, was killed in a
motorcycle accident not long after signing his first contract with the FAA. The company had just 10
employees and less than $250,000 in annual revenue.
Castillo has grown the company to more than 250 employees, with about 29 based in New Jersey, and
more than $30 million in annual revenue. About 60 percent of its business is generated by the FAA,
with the Navy its second-biggest client.
While other industries have struggled during this economic downturn, Castillo says government
contracting is reliable work.
“I think our greatest challenge is being an unknown commodity breaking into new markets,” she told
Washington SmartCEO magazine in September.
Southern New Jersey was a new market for CSSI when it opened an office in Egg Harbor Township
15 years ago. It later moved to its current location on New Road in Northfield in late 2008, although
most of its area employees are based out of the tech center.
Over the years, the company has been working on different facets of aviation research.
For instance, it has looked at air traffic control concepts that makes tracking aircraft more efficient and
can help airlines save fuel. It also has been involved with wake-vortex research — or the airflow
created from the back of a plane while it’s flying. The resulting turbulence can be dangerous and
requires planes to keep safe separation distances.
CSSI also is doing data analysis on trajectory-based operations, which would allow airlines and pilots to
plan and predict how to get somewhere more accurately.
“If you know there’s bad weather, you’d perhaps be able to fly an alternate route or a different
altitude,” Miller said.
Airlines and the FAA currently have programs that evaluate aircraft trajectories, he added, but part of
the project now will be to actually demonstrate it.
All the intricacies of the work — and the problem-solving nature of it — continues to drive CSSI
employees, Miller said. In 2005, the Washington Business Journal cited the company as one of the 50
best places to work in the D.C. region.
Contact Erik Ortiz:
609-272-7253
EOrtiz@pressofac.com
