Scientists working in GE labs have developed tiny electrical switches thinner than a human hair that can transmit kilowatts of power. They are called micro-electro-mechanical systems, or MEMS.
The technology’s DNA is built around industrial applications, and MEMS could help reduce waste heat and power consumption in medical devices, aviation systems and other GE products.
The first Industrial Revolution was about machines, the second about technology, and the third will take place inside the “Brilliant Factory,” says Christine Furstoss, global technology director at GE Global Research.
2014年2月26日，上海------昨晚，GE发电设备和水处理集团中国区技术总经理李枫荣膺中国知名财经媒体《第一财经周刊》颁发的"中国商业创新50人"之技术创新者的称号。这已经是GE中国研发中心高管连续第三年获得这一奖项。
《第一财经周刊》给出的获奖理由如下：李枫领导团队进行的高炉煤气联合循环电厂的优化设计可将高炉煤气的能效提高到40%以上；同时开发出新一代膜生物反应器，极大地提高了炼油石化污水处理的效率、水的回收率和整个工艺系统的稳定性。
不仅如此，李枫多年来带领团队攻克了一系列技术难关，先后参与了多项中国主要基础设施项目，包括燃气轮机电站的建设、北京2008年奥运会、分布式能源和可再生能源等，为中国能源工业的发展做出了积极贡献。
Henry Ford was fond of saying that “nothing was particularly hard if you divided it into small jobs.” He followed his own advice, built world’s first assembly lines that cranked out 15 million Model Ts, and left his competitors in the dust. Engineers are now taking Ford’s advice to the extreme and breaking down the factory to bits and bytes.
2014年2月11日，美国拉科尼亚------GE携手世界领先的热能管理解决方案提供商爱美达（Aavid Thermalloy），将双重压电冷却喷射（DCJ）技术近日推向市场。爱美达将向一系列终端市场提供先进的散热解决方案，包括消费电子、高端计算、工业系统、交通运输和可再生能源等。
GE与爱美达紧密合作，将基于DCJ技术的产品推向市场。GE的一系列工业业务对先进而可靠的电子产品都有很高的要求，这进而推动了对更先进散热系统的需求，以确保系统性能。
由GE全球研发中心开发的DCJ技术成果是一台能在2毫米高度的狭小空间内工作的纤薄空气对流设备，可以有效提高目前很多主动式及被动式散热系统的性能。相较于目前市场上的传统散热系统，DCJ技术所需空间更小、能耗更低、且具有更高的可靠性。
"我们很高兴将GE的DCJ技术融入我们的产品系列，"爱美达副总裁Norm Soucy说："作为GE长期的重要供应商，我们很兴奋能有机会与GE合作研发最新技术。DCJ技术为我们的设计师提供了更多可能，从而能为所有客户提供新型创新散热解决方案。"
A few years ago, Ileana Hancu, a young physicist at GE Global Research, left her lab for a routine physical exam and came back with troubling news: the doctor apparently felt a lump in Hancu’s breast. What followed was an odyssey through the achievements of modern medicine, from mammography, to ultrasound and near biopsy.
MEMS are the Cinderellas of the electronic world. They do a lot of hard work, but get very little recognition.
The tiny chips, their full name is micro-electro-mechanical systems, can sense mechanical motion and convert that motion into electrical signals. “Just about everybody has them in their cellphones,” says Nicholas Yost, electronics technician at GE Global Research. These sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes can detect the right screen orientation in smartphones, sense motion in Wii controllers, and even deploy airbags in cars.
The cooling fan is one of the bulkiest, noisiest and power hungry components in laptops. It’s also indispensable. The computers need them to jettison heat generated by powerful processors, or their brains would quickly fry up. But scientists at GE Global Research have recently developed a small device as thin as two stacked credit cards that could do the job, save space, reduce noise, and improve laptop battery life by as much as 30 percent.
2013年11月26日，上海------GE研发人员宣布开始使用一项称之为"冷喷涂"的技术，这也被誉为让金属"永葆青春的活力之泉"。在这项技术中，技术人员能够通过高速喷射金属粉末方式，生产零部件，或者逐层添加材料修复现有部件。"冷喷涂"是GE扩充增材制造技术（俗称3D打印）领域的又一技术手段。
GE全球研发中心涂层及表面技术实验室经理Anteneh Kebbede说："3D冷喷涂技术之所以让人期待，其创新之处不仅仅在于它无需焊接或车床加工生产新部件，更在于它能使用原材料无缝修复并还原原部件性能的能力，这将延长产品生命周期好几年，甚至十几年，最终能为客户提升价值。"
