The GE Brief: August 4, 2021
GOING FOR GOLD
After the Summer Olympics wind down in Tokyo this weekend, the city will start preparing for the delayed 2020 Paralympic Games, which begin Aug. 24. And Ahalya Lettenberger will be there. Lettenberger is studying bioengineering at Rice University and just completed an internship with GE Healthcare through GE’s Edison Engineering Development Program, where she worked on a project to refine ventilators. The 20-year-old Chicago native is already an international swimming champion, and in Tokyo she’ll take to the pool for Team USA in hopes of winning a medal in the 400-meter freestyle and the 200-meter individual medley.
At home in the water: Lettenberger was born with arthrogryposis amyoplasia, a musculoskeletal disorder that affects her movement from the hips down. Though she grew up playing soccer and softball, it was through swimming — and the friendships she struck with other Paralympic athletes — that she found her identity. “The freedom that the pool gave me just felt like a second home,” she says.
Read more about Ahalya Lettenberger here and check out our video below.
ENGINE OF CHANGE
At last week’s EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, GE displayed the mock-up of a new turboprop engine that is expected to radically change how pilots fly turboprops and aims to deliver double-digit fuel savings while reducing CO2 emissions. Called the GE Catalyst, the engine borrows concepts from GE’s large commercial jet engines and adds state-of-the-art digital engine controls to produce a unique flying experience in the business and general aviation market.
Faster, higher, cleaner: Developed by a team of 400 aviation engineers throughout Europe, the Catalyst engine employs advanced technologies never before used in GE turboprops, such as the variable-geometry turbine vanes originally developed for supersonic engines. The Catalyst also boasts an advanced computer system called a FADEC that will give turboprop pilots more of the autonomy enjoyed by jet pilots. “The pilot will no longer need to consult a chart to optimize the flight around the correct parameters with four separate levers,” says Paul Corkery, general manager for turboprop engines at GE Aviation. “The pilot will just have a single lever. It will be like flying a jet.” Oh yeah, and it can fly on sustainable aviation fuel.
Discover more of the advances in the GE Catalyst here.
THE WORLD RETURNS TO OSHKOSH
Every summer since 1953, with the exception of 2020, Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has turned into the world’s busiest airfield for one week as the site of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture Oshkosh airshow. Last week, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh reopened for pilots and aviation enthusiasts — 600,000 visitors in all — showcasing a wide gamut of planes ranging from home-built experimental aircraft and replicas of the earliest planes to the latest jets and mock-ups of aircraft that will soon enter service. “This place has a special spirit. There is a sense of liberation and self-direction about Oshkosh,” says Brad Mottier, president and CEO of GE Aviation Systems, who made his 40th trip to the airshow this year. “It’s both inspirational and aspirational.”
High flyer: GE Aviation has been coming to Oshkosh for many years, and there’s no better place to see its products — past and future — up close. GE’s biggest draw this year was the GE Catalyst engine, the first clean-sheet engine for the general aviation turboprop market in 50 years. The engine combines technology and know-how from GE’s large commercial jet engines with digital engine controls in a way that opens new design options for plane makers. It is expected to radically change how pilots fly turboprops.
GE Reports paid a visit to Oshkosh last week. Take a look.
THE COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. Power Trip
Purdue University and the state of Indiana are developing a section of highway with special magnetic concrete that charges electric vehicles as they drive.
2. Metal-Winning Performance
Czech scientists created conductive “metallic water,” a feat that was previously considered impossible on Earth.
3. The Fast And The Curious
Oregon State University scientists used artificial intelligence to teach a two-legged robot named Cassie how to run — then saw her complete a 5K on campus.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things On Earth.
Rice University bioengineering student Ahalya Lettenberger spent much of this summer interning at GE Healthcare through GE’s Edison Engineering Development Program. Now she’s on her way to Tokyo to swim for Team USA in the Paralympic Games.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“If anybody asked me now if I could go back and not have a disability, or, if there was a cure, would I take it, I would say no way, because I wouldn't be the person I am, and I wouldn't be where I am, without it.”
— Ahalya Lettenberger, GE Edison Engineering intern and U.S. Paralympian
Quote: GE Reports. Images: Daniel Koeth for GE Reports, Avio Aero, Alex Schroff for GE Reports. Video: GE Reports.