The GE Brief: November 10, 2020

THOSE WHO SERVE
 
Tony Mathis has always been fascinated with aviation and engineering. When he was in high school, he participated in a summer program for aspiring African American engineers. He then joined the Air Force after college as a flight-test and propulsion-project engineer. But Mathis’ fascination with flight didn’t end with the conclusion of his military service. In 1997, he joined GE Aviation, and by 2016 had worked his way up to GE Aviation’s president and CEO of military systems. But he never forgot where he came from.

A role to play: GE didn’t forget it either. The company employs thousands of military veterans and continues to hire more. The U.S. celebrates Veterans Day on Nov. 11, a day chosen to coincide with the anniversary of Armistice Day, which in 1918 signaled the end of World War I. To mark the day, GE Reports has rounded up a series of profiles of veterans in the company that we’ve published over the last year, from military systems experts like Mathis to pioneering test pilots.

Read them here.
 
CALL TO SERVICE
 
What do helicopter pilots and renewable energy experts have in common? They both pay close attention to how strong the wind is blowing — among many other skills. Jamie Pierce, for instance, spent three decades in the U.S. Navy, including 13 years of active duty as a helicopter pilot, before becoming involved in some of the world’s most complex wind projects as an executive in GE Renewable Energy’s Project Management Office. “I could draw a very direct line between what I do at GE Renewable Energy and my military service,” Pierce said. “Both make me feel like I'm part of something big that is really changing the world.” He’s endeavoring to connect those two worlds, too, by advocating for the recruitment and hiring of veterans. He recently shared his story with GE Reports.
 
Mission possible: Pierce is part of a Navy family, stretching back to his grandfather and continuing on to his own sons — both of whom enlisted. After 13 years of active duty, Pierce went into the reserves and joined GE, working for the company during the week and then flying on the weekends, only to be called back to active duty again to serve as a senior adviser to the Afghan Air Force in Kabul. There’s another way in which those dual roles complement each other, Pierce said: “Whether it’s at GE or in the military, we need to accomplish the mission.” Veterans have an important role to play in both places, entering wind-related jobs at a rate 67% higher than any other industry. “This is a growing industry and the unique skill sets and training veterans bring are highly valued,” Pierce said.
 
Learn more about Pierce’s story — and about the importance of vets to GE’s success — here and in a video here.
 
PEDAL TO THE METAL
 
Whether he’s on his bike or at the gym, just about every day finds Stevin Creeggan training hard. The Australian vet was wounded in 2010 in a crash, which required doctors to rebuild his body and Creeggan to adjust to a new way of living. Last year he applied to the Invictus Games, an international competition for wounded, injured or sick military service personnel and veterans. But while practicing cycling, he encountered a challenge: With his right leg nearly an inch shorter than his left following reconstructive surgery, Creeggan had a hard time getting into a pedaling rhythm. Using a puttylike substance, he created a stopgap way to fill the space between his shorter leg and the pedal. But then Creeggan was introduced to a more durable solution: a titanium spacer, created via 3D printing.

Small part, big impact: That part came courtesy of engineers at New Zealand Defence Force, which turned to Auckland-based Zenith Tecnica to help with the printing. Zenith Tecnica specializes in a form of additive manufacturing called electron beam melting, which builds up an object by melting layer upon layer of titanium powder, using printers created by Arcam EBM, a company that’s part of GE Additive. The 3D-printed version of Creeggan’s pedal spacer? It weighs only a tenth of a pound and is designed to conform to Creeggan’s cleat. Now Creeggan is back on his bike, peeling minutes off his previous cycling time and training hard for next year’s Invictus Games at The Hague. “You can wrap yourself in cotton wool and stay at home and do nothing,” he said, “or you can try and get out there and live life and make the most of it.”
 
Learn more here about Creeggan and his 3D-printed biking gear.
 
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
 
1. Waste Not
Researchers at Australia’s RMIT University developed a low-cost method for turning used cooking oil and agricultural waste into biodiesel and other high-value products.
 
2. Chilling Effect
Engineers at Purdue University developed a new white paint that can keep surfaces 18 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the air around them — possibly eliminating the need for air conditioning and cooling the planet a bit, too.
 
3. Fired Up
An experimental machine to produce fusion power has just been switched on in the U.K. for the first time.
 
Read more here about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth.

— QUOTE OF THE DAY —

“What I treasure most about the military are the bonds that I formed, the friendships that I made, they've lasted forever. I’m so privileged to have become friends with tremendous people, and those friendships have lasted a lifetime.”
 
— Jamie Pierce, senior executive for project management at GE Renewable Energy

Quote: GE Reports. Images: GE Aviation.