GE Research Website Timeline

GE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website TimelineGE Research Website Timeline

No other company can claim a heritage of innovation as deep and broad as GE Research. From Thomas Edison’s first commercially viable light bulb to the introduction of bioelectronic medicine in healthcare, GE Research has a history of turning research into reality to redefine industries. Our breadth of expertise and experience gives us the ability to disrupt industries with exponential innovations in multiple technical realms. As we remind ourselves of our commitment to progress and research, we continue to leverage our multidisciplinary core capabilities to design and develop the next generation of technology to address the world’s most complex and challenging problems. We’ve encapsulated GE Research’s global impact in five different industries, ranging from healthcare to electronics to aviation. With breakthrough technologies across multiple sectors, GE Research turns cutting-edge research into impactful realities.

Flight

Our innovative mindset has been the driving force in many of our aerospace

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Energy

Since Thomas Edison’s demonstration of the first commercial power station

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Healthcare

As the origin of many world-first discoveries in healthcare ranging from X-rays

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Manufacturing

From the assembly line to lean manufacturing

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Security

As our world slowly becomes more digitized, we have applied our considerable

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1941

GE builds the first U.

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1949

GE introduces what will become the world’s most-produced jet engine in history, the J47.

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1971

GE moves into the civil market for high-bypass turbofan engines, making the CF6 the most popular engine family for wide-body aircraft, including Air Force One.

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1999

With more than 115,000 lbs.

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2010

The next-generation jet engine with ceramic components and 3-D printed parts takes its first flight.

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1919

The GE supercharger makes its maiden flight over McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio.

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1921

Lt. John Macready sets a new world altitude record with a GE Supercharger.

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1929

GE develops the innovative magneto compass.

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1937

Howard Hughes sets a transcontinental air record.

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1941

GE builds the first US jet engine, the I-A.

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1943

US military aircraft equipped with approximately 100,000 GE turbo superchargers for the war effort.

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1944

The US Army Air Corps flies its first operational jet fighter, powered by a GE J33.

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1949

GE introduces the J47, which becomes the world’s most-produced jet engine.

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1954

GE’s Small Aircraft Engine Division in Lynn, Massachusetts, designs the T58 “baby gas turbine.”

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1957

GE develops the J93, the first engine to operate at three times the speed of sound.

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1965

GE unveils the TF39 turbofan.

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1970

GE’s first afterburning turbofan, the F101, is selected to power the US Air Force’s new B-1 Bomber.

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1978

GE delivers its first T700 to power Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters.

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1982

The CFM56 Engine is introduced.

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2002

The GE90-115B engine sets a world record for thrust.

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2004

GE begins development of the GEnx engine.

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2008

GE and Safran Aircraft Engines unveil the LEAP-X next-generation engine program.

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2013

Boeing selects the GE9X as the sole engine for its 777X commercial planes.

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2018

The initial architecture of GE’s Affinity, the first commercial supersonic engine in 55 years, is introduced.

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1895

GE puts electricity to work on a large scale in 96-ton electric locomotives.

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1906

The world’s first voice radio broadcast is made possible by Ernst Frederick Werner Alexanderson’s high-frequency alternator.

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1906

The world’s first voice radio broadcast is made possible by Ernst Frederick Werner Alexanderson’s high-frequency alternator.

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1910

GE improves life in the kitchen with the first electric range.

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1914

Charles Steinmetz develops an electric vehicle, which is able to reach a top speed of 40 miles per hour, powered by 14 six-volt batteries.

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1927

The first home television reception takes place in Schenectady, NY with a signal from GE’s WGY.

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2003

GE introduces the new fuel-efficient Evolution Series locomotives.

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1930

GE develops moldable plastic, a foundational technology in the advance of modern mass production.

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1944

GE introduces silicone for commercial use.

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1962

GE researchers achieve two laser breakthroughs that will have profound effects on manufacturing.

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1995

GE revolutionizes its manufacturing by adopting Six Sigma.

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2012

GE acquires 3D-printing pioneer Morris Technologies, whose sophisticated techniques allow the creation of lightweight, streamlined versions of complex items like fuel nozzles for jet engines.

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2015

GE introduces the Catalyst turboprop engine.

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2018

GE’s Distributed Power facility in Jenbach, Austria, is named Factory of the Year by the trade magazine Produktion.

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1983

GE scientists develop the Signa Magnetic Resonance Imaging System, which produces images of “soft” tissues difficult to image by X-ray methods.

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1896

GE's Elihu Thomson builds electrical equipment for the production of X-rays.

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1913

GE researcher William Coolidge develops the hot-cathode, high-vacuum X-ray tube.

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1932

Associate Director of GE Research Laboratory Irving Langmuir wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

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1959

The world’s first commercial size exclusion chromatography resin, Sephadex, launches.

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1974

The first non-ionic X-ray contrast media is introduced.

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1978

The first routine total-body computed tomography (CT) scanner is made widely available.

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1983

The first high-field 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is introduced.

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1999

The first commercial SPECT/CT combination designed as a single unit is introduced.

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2000

The first 4D high-res ultrasound system for women’s health enables visualization of fetal movement in utero.

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2011

The first single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging agent is released.

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2012

The world’s first modular biopharmaceutical facility, KUBio™, is opened.

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2015

The first NASA-style clinical hospital “command center” launches.

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2016

A mammography system featuring the world’s first patient-assisted compression remote control debuts.

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2017

Cell therapy enterprise offering launches with the acquisition of Asymptote Limited.

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2019

The first deep learning-based CT image reconstruction technology gains FDA clearance.

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1879

Edison invents the first commercially practical incandescent lamp.

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1896

A rich tradition of GE breakthroughs in medical imaging begins with the demonstration of stereoscopic Roentgen pictures.

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1908

Developed by William D.

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1912

Drs.

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1920

GE develops a new X-ray machine suitable for dental and portable use.

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1932

Irving Langmuir becomes the first US industrial scientist to win the Nobel Prize, received for his research in the field of surface chemistry.

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1938

GE invents the first practical low-pressure discharge lamp to provide white light.

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1939

Katharine B.

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1940

GE invents a new silicones chemistry, marking the start of the silicones business.

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1953

Daniel W.

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1955

GE Research Laboratory announces the invention of the first reproducible process for making industrial-use diamonds.

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1962

The laser light is invented, making possible many of today’s most popular technologies such as DVD players.

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1969

GE supplies a variety of technologies for the first landing on the moon, including engineering support, test facilities, and the silicone for Neil Armstrong’s boots.

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1992

GE builds the Mars Observer for NASA, which will study Martian geology and climate while mapping the planet’s surface.

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1998

This scanner is the first to capture multiple images simultaneously and is six times faster than traditional single-slice scanners.

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2004

GE launches the UltraScanTM Duo, the first liquid pipeline inspection tool to utilize Phased Array Ultrasound Technology.

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2009

Vscan, a handheld, pocket-sized ultrasound technology, helps doctors deliver expanded care to more people, including in rural regions.

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2010

The WattStation charges electric vehicles at home or on the road, with an upgradable design that allows customers to stay current with the latest technology.

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2013

GE is developing the next evolution of power devices with Silicon Carbide technology.

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1879

Thomas Edison and his researchers create a lightbulb filament that can incandesce for 1,200 hours.

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1908

GE Research Lab’s William Coolidge creates the tungsten filament.

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1927

Coolidge develops the first enclosed X-ray source, the inspiration for many X-ray devices that are used to determine the physical makeup of materials.

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1939

GE researcher Katharine Blodgett invents non-reflective glass.

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1942

Researchers from GE and RCA demonstrate the first commercial TEM (transmission electron microscope).

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1947

Synchrotron radiation is first demonstrated at General Electric Research Laboratory.

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1953

GE chemist Dr. Daniel Fox is the co-discoverer of polycarbonate resin.

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1955

GE researcher H. Tracy Hall creates the first synthetic diamonds.

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1969

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon wearing boots made from silicon rubber developed by GE.

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1995

GE introduces the first jet engine to include components made of lightweight carbon fiber composites.

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2017

The LEAP jet engine is the first widely deployed product to feature ceramic matrix composites.

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2020
1990
1960
1930
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1870