The GE Brief: February 4, 2021
ON THE FRONTLINES
Mikey Kay, a multimedia journalist, filmmaker and former helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force, has reported on climate change, access to energy and other urgent issues facing the world. In early 2020, he teamed up with GE Healthcare to tell the story of how the healthcare industry has met the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in the U.S. last March, he traveled the world solo — by plane, car, motorbike and even an RV he nicknamed “Matilda” — to shoot video and interview the front-line doctors, nurses, paramedics and ventilator engineers who have helped provide crucial relief during the pandemic. The result is “On The Frontlines,” a series of videos divided into three parts — so far — that follow Kay on his travels from the U.S. to Italy and then India.
Healthcare globetrotter: Whether he’s visiting a ventilator factory in Madison, Wisconsin, or making rounds with a doctor in a neonatal intensive care unit at a hospital in Kerala, India, Kay’s dispatches are always deeply personal. He takes viewers inside the healthcare industry, illustrates the challenges clinicians have been facing and also the advances they continue to make. “What has struck me hard is the resilience of the professionals working not just on the frontlines but behind the scenes to make healthcare happen,” Kay says in his final report from India. “The fundamental need to access quality healthcare, it transcends us all.”
Read more about Mikey Kay and “On The Frontlines” here.
A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER
Kay’s series shows how COVID-19 touched nearly every corner of the healthcare industry. But the pandemic also presented a chance to innovate and point healthcare into the future. GE Healthcare President and CEO Kieran Murphy echoed those thoughts in a recent post on LinkedIn. He said in 2020, GE launched new products and digital solutions utilizing artificial intelligence and data analytics that are designed to help hospitals maximize their resources, manage capacity, and provide more effective, efficient patient treatment. GE’s Edison intelligence platform and other digital technologies, for example, can help doctors quickly access critical data and reduce the time it takes to image a patient. Another AI-enabled system can help doctors assess the placement of endotracheal tubes — potentially helping patients who are suffering from COVID-19.
The future is now: In 2020, GE also stepped into the future of radiology by announcing plans to acquire Prismatic Sensors AB, a Swedish startup whose development of photon-counting technology has the potential to enhance image quality in CT scans and could lead to diagnostic benefits. But of course, that’s not all. “In 2021, the circumstances in healthcare will change once again,“ Murphy says. “But our commitment and drive to innovate for clinicians and their patients will not. We will continue investing in the research and development of new product platforms to help health systems integrate data and apply analytics to enhance operational efficiency, clinical productivity, and improve value capture.”
Read Murphy's post here.
COMING HOME
Great fighter jets rely on great engines. And when it comes to the twin-engine F-15 fighter jet, originally made by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing), GE long believed one of its greatest military jet engines — the F110 — would make the perfect match. The F110 already powers F-15s operated by South Korean, Singaporean and Saudi Arabian air forces, and the combo is now coming home. The Boeing F-15EX, the most advanced version of the plane, includes a pair of the latest model of the F110 jet engines. It successfully completed its maiden flight this week and even added a special flourish — the Viking takeoff.
Built for speed: The Air Force awarded Boeing a contract to build eight F-15EX jets and future plans call for as many as 144 aircraft, according to Boeing. But long before GE was awarded the engine contract for those eight jets, GE engineers tapped into the company’s deep expertise — GE built the first U.S. jet engine — and spent years evolving the F110 engine with the latest military and commercial technologies at their disposal. The updates include advanced design features and software that enhance the F110’s performance and durability and translate to a 25% improvement in cost-per-flight hour, a 50% increase in engine cycle life, and a threefold increase in average time-on-wing. “The ongoing demand for this engine is a testament to the value of its upgraded technology and will keep the production line open for years to come,” says Shawn Warren, general manager for GE large combat and mobility engines. GE will supply a total of 19 engines for the first lot contract, to be delivered to the Air Force by 2022.
Read about the F110 and the F-15EX program here.
GE Renewable Energy is using lean management principles to overhaul how it maintains its network of onshore wind turbines in Europe and Asia.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“The logistics were really hard. In a country that is shutting down rapidly, you just don't know what's going to happen from one day to the next.”
—Mikey Kay, multimedia journalist and filmmaker, “On The Frontlines”
Quote: GE Reports. Images: Mikey Kay, GE Healthcare, GE Aviation.