The GE Brief: October 13, 2020

LOFTY AMBITIONS
 
In terms of fuel efficiency, commercial aviation has come a long way: The amount of fuel used per passenger has dropped 80% since 1960. Still, those savings have been offset by the skyrocketing growth of passenger aviation in the same period, leading aircraft and engine designers to search for new ways to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment in the decades to come. “We need something fundamentally different to take the next leap,” said John Yagielski, senior principal engineer at GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York. Yagielski and his colleagues are at work on something fundamentally different indeed: an electrically driven propulsion system powerful and light enough to keep aloft a 175,000-pound commercial airliner and its 175 passengers.
 
2050 vision: That goal is being backed up by $4.8 million in new research grants from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) — and it will be no small feat. The challenge is figuring out how to convert a cleaner-burning biofuel into megawatts of electricity, and then how to turn that electrical energy into enough thrust to fly a Boeing 737-class jet. But that challenge is also an invitation for the GE engineers to reimagine what an aircraft engine looks like, drawing up new designs that might be more efficient for flight than the traditional model of engines beneath each wing. “It’s about proving the feasibility of a number of these technologies and convincing ARPA-E to invest in building a complete prototype and testing it,” Yagielski said. “This is for aircraft in the 2050s.”
 
Learn more here about the technologies that could go into this futuristic engine.
 
NO TIME TO LOSE
 
As a mother and a grandmother, Dr. Rachel Brem counts family among her blessings — but this year she has something else to be thankful for, too. Brem and her husband, Henry, are survivors of COVID-19, which they became infected with in March. Brem knows the disease intimately, but she also knows better than most how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting healthcare: As the director of breast imaging and intervention and a professor of radiology at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C, she’s made it her life’s work to spread the word on routine breast screening, which can increase women’s chances of successful treatment. The onset of the pandemic led some patients to postpone screenings, but Brem says they’re more important than ever — and is encouraging patients to reschedule now that new safety regimens are in place. Her story is especially relevant now, with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
 
In the family: Brem’s life is a profound testimony to the benefits of early screening. When Brem was 12, her own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Given six months to live, her mother enjoyed another 43 years. Brem diagnosed her own breast cancer while evaluating a new piece of equipment for her practice. Now, with her daughter Andrea Wolf, she’s creating new ways to empower women through the Brem Foundation, a charitable organization that works to ensure that breast cancer is caught in the early stages. There are links to the coronavirus pandemic, Brem said: “We want to remind people that there are similarities between breast cancer and COVID-19, both of which involve knowing the risks and being proactive, which can have a significant and life-saving impact.”
 
Learn more here about Rachel Brem’s remarkable life — and life’s work.
  
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
 
1. Big Shot
An influenza vaccine that could be administered once and offer broad protection against the disease has been a “long-standing dream” of immunologists — and researchers at MIT and Harvard are taking steps toward achieving it.
 
2. Net Gains
Researchers at Northwestern University devised a self-assembling nanoscale polymer “net” that could have uses in drug delivery, water purification and medical diagnostics.
 
3. Why Not Both?
An international team of researchers created a trippy quantum device that behaves like a heat engine and a refrigerator — simultaneously.
 
Read more about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth here.

— QUOTE OF THE DAY —

“I’ve known Dr. Brem for many years and what defines her is that she really goes out of her way to help patients. Even during the current circumstances, she continues to encourage patients to manage their risks and keep themselves healthy.”
 
— Jill Spear, U.S. commercial manager for Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) at GE Healthcare

Quote: GE Reports. Images: Getty Images