ASHEVILLE, NC—GE Aviation celebrated the opening of its new advanced composites factory here. The new 170,000-square-foot facility will be the first in the world to mass-produce engine components made of advanced ceramic matrix composite materials.
EVENDALE, OH—GE is utilizing a next-generation carbon fiber composite for the fan blades that will debut in the GE9X jet engine, which will drive Boeing’s upcoming 777X passenger aircraft.
FAIRFIELD, CT—Scientists at GE are experimenting with a technology, called Direct Write, that uses special “inks” to print miniature sensors directly inside jet engines, gas turbines and other hot, harsh and hard-to-reach places.
AUBURN, AL—GE Aviation is investing $50 million to bring 3D printing technology to its assembly plant here. The company plans to use high volume 3D printing to mass-produce components for jet engines.
ASHEVILLE, NC—GE Aviation’s assembly plant here is the first in the world to make jet engine parts with new materials, called ceramic matrix composites, that will revolutionize flight in the years ahead.
LONGUEUIL, QC—Pratt & Whitney Canada will invest $275 million during the next five years to build a new facility here to make complex components for jet engines.
HARTFORD, CT—In the opening salvo of contract talks, Pratt & Whitney management is asking the Machinist union to give up 252 jobs at its East Hartford, CT, and Middletown, CT, plants, clearing the way for the company to bring in outside contractors for material handling work.
PITTSBURGH—A 12-year study by the University of Pittsburgh has found no statistically significant elevations in overall cancer rates among the workforce at the Pratt & Whitney jet engine assembly plant in North Haven, CT. The investigation was begun in 2000 after several workers were diagnosed with brain cancer.
