GE
One hundred years after it began, GE extended its reach into new markets, online and around the world. In 1999, GE generated over $2 billion in electronic sales alone. India, home of many of the world's brightest technologists, provided the site for a new GE Global Research Center. Meanwhile, the world of medicine saw radical changes thanks to new GE technologies in imaging and diagnostics.
The new LightSpeed™ QX/I CT system is introduced — the world's first scanner enabling doctors to capture multiple images simultaneously and at a speed that is six times faster than traditional single-slice scanners. The system saves precious time in life-or-death traumas. The product is the first Design for Six Sigma product to enter the marketplace. Six Sigma means less than three defects per million opportunities — 99.99999% perfection.
As business loan defaults strained Asian banking systems, massive loan auctions were held to restore liquidity. To win at auction, GE Commercial Finance developed a rapid valuation approach for 30,000 loans from 56 firms: loans with common attributes were underwritten "probabilistically" until a target accuracy was met, then values were inferred. A first in a global opportunity of this size, the methodology paid off with liquidity restoration in Asia, 15 patents, GE growth and hundreds of millions in income.
Following an extensive technical evaluation, GE Aircraft Engines was specified by The Boeing Company to develop a 115,000 pound-thrust GE90 derivative engine for all longer-range 777-200LR and -300ER derivatives. With over 115,000 lbs. of thrust, GE's GE90-115B will become the world's most powerful commercial jet engine.
Another major breakthrough in imaging from GE — functional anatomical mapping — can help give physicians the ability to accurately diagnose patients by providing a clearer picture of the extent and precise location of disease. Meanwhile, a year later, GE is the first to introduce full-field digital mammography, providing greater clarity and easier manipulation of images.
In another demonstration of GE's ability to embrace emergent trends and make the most of them, just 3 years after launching the corporate web site of ge.com, online business is booming. In a watershed year for GE e-business, the company concludes the year with over $2 billion in electronic sales.
After nearly 100 years of innovation in the U.S., GE Global Research opens its first global operations in Bangalore, India, to develop products that matter for this growing market and to recruit even more of the world's brightest technologists.
GE redefined the meaning of portable rental power with its introduction of the TM2500, which is literally a power plant on wheels. At 22.8MW, it is the largest mobile gas turbine generator set available today. The TM2500 can be shipped by land or sea and requires only days to set up once it arrives at a prepared site.
GE unveils the Innova 2000, the world's first all-digital X-ray cardiovascular imaging system. The Innova 2000 provides advanced dynamic imaging for diagnostic and interventional cardiac procedures. It helps physicians view devices such as catheters used during procedures and treat potentional blockages that could cause heart attacks or other serious problems.
GE introduces the world’s first diagnostic agent for objective identification of Parkinson’s Disease, a disease affecting one to two people in every 1,000. The agent, called DaTSCAN, provides a clear visualization of the contrast between a healthy and an afflicted brain, giving physicians the tool they need to make accurate diagnoses.
In yet another application of Lexan, a plastic that GE invented in 1953, GE Plastics develops Lexan SLX, a color-infused resin that can replace paint on cars, greatly improving the ease and results of repair.
The GE Research and Development Center celebrates its Centennial marking 100 years of invention, including many of the products and processes on this timeline. Garnering many of the 67,588 patents issued to GE over the years, two Nobel Prizes and numerous other honors, the work of GE R&D scientists continues to pioneer in as wide an area of science and technology as any industrial laboratory in the world, exploring everything from new and better digital X-ray imaging to artificial intelligence applications.