The GE Brief: September 15, 2020

NUMBERS MAN
 
As young as 6 years old, David Havera was interested in aviation and finance. His father used to bring him the newspaper so Havera could scour the stock tables, and he looked forward to twice-yearly flights to San Antonio, Texas, from the family home in Peoria, Illinois, to visit his grandparents. Planes, he says, represented his hope to discover the world and fly somewhere else. Now he’s helping ensure that all of us might do the same again soon: Havera is leading a team at GE working to make air travel safer in a world changed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Head in the clouds: Fresh out of college, Havera landed at a GE plant in upstate New York — where he met his wife, Ashley, a chemical engineer — before joining GE Aviation in Cincinnati, where he rose to become a senior finance manager. In 2015, the couple’s daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, sparking a shift in Havera’s priorities: “I felt I’d played it too safe,” he said. “I wanted to do something positive for the world.” As his daughter recovered — she is now five years cancer-free — he dove into data science. He became increasingly intrigued with the next-gen record-keeping technology known as blockchain — which is at the heart of the app Havera has worked on this year with TE-FOOD. It monitors whether planes, crews and passengers have cleared specific health and cleanliness checks. “We want to do everything we can to help get passengers safely back in the air as soon as possible,” Havera said.
 
Learn more about David Havera’s journey here.
 
WHERE NATURAL GAS MEETS RENEWABLES
 
Running one of East Asia’s most dynamic economies, Taiwan has historically relied on fossil fuels to power its growth. But now Taiwan is facing a deadline: It’s pledged to generate 20% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2025. Taiwan is making good progress toward that goal, with renewables jumping to nearly 14% of its total installed capacity in 2019, from less than 9% in 2015. And as 2025 approaches, it’ll get a big boost: Together with its local partner, GE has won a tender to build a giant combined-cycle power plant that’s set to begin generation in 2024. The 6,500-megawatt plant will act as an anchor for Taiwan’s fast-growing wind and solar sectors. The award will become an order for GE following contract closure and payment, which is expected within six months.
 
Foot on the gas: Fueled by relatively low-carbon natural gas, the plant will act as a kind of backstop for Taiwan’s renewables, reliably generating large amounts of electricity on demand when, for instance, the sun stops shining or the wind goes still. At its heart will be 10 of GE’s ultraefficient 7HA.03 gas turbines. The project is called a combined-cycle plant because it will also use the heat produced by the gas turbines to generate steam for another five steam turbines. The whopping 6,500 megawatts amounts to an output larger than the total installed power capacity of Puerto Rico. Operated by the Taiwan Power Company in Kaohsiung City, a thriving metropolis on Taiwan’s south coast, the project will be able to meet almost 20% of the island’s electricity at any given time.
 
Learn more about the project here.
 
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
 
1. Eyes And The Prize
A Hungarian ophthalmologist was awarded the prestigious Körber European Science Prize for his work using gene therapy to restore sight to those with vision loss.
 
2. Just One Word: Microfluidics
Researchers at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne designed an electronic chip that integrates its own cooling system — paving the way for more compact and efficient devices.
 
3. Spoiler Alert
Engineers at MIT used silk microneedles in a “Velcro-like” sensor that changes color to indicate if food is spoiled or contaminated.
 
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth.

— QUOTE OF THE DAY —

“We all want COVID to be solved as quickly as possible. And if that means my invention is only successful for a month, that’s a trade I’m happy to make.”
 
— David Havera, general manager of blockchain solutions at GE Aviation

Quote: GE Reports. Images: David Havera.