R&D Center Will Focus On Advanced Power Generation,
Distribution, & Avionic Control Technologies For Military And
Civil Aerospace
A
new Electrical Power Integration Center (EPIC) has been opened by
GE Aviation in Cheltenham, UK. The 30,000 sq. ft. facility is
located on the GE Aviation campus in Bishops Cleeve,
Cheltenham.
“Electrical power engineers and technicians at the center
will develop some of the latest end-to-end power generation,
distribution, load and avionic control technologies,” said
Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE Aviation Systems.
“GE is focused on innovation. GE’s employees worldwide
are dedicated to turning innovative ideas into leading products and
services that solve some of the world’s toughest
problems.”
The center has a substantial electrical infrastructure, designed
with flexibility and configurability in mind. Industry leading
laboratory design techniques have been adopted to ensure it is a
highly expandable and adaptable facility. The center has
state-of-the-art power sources, data acquisition and electrical
load equipment.
“In keeping up with the demands of More Electric Aircraft,
this facility will provide the resources to test complete aircraft
electrical systems,” said Simon Linacre, European Power
business executive for GE Aviation Systems. “By expanding our
electrical power modeling and simulation capability, we are better
able to serve our customers by predicting how aircraft and hybrid
vehicle electrical systems will perform. This enables us to correct
problems before hardware is even built, decreasing development time
and improving on-time delivery of new aircraft and
vehicles.”
The EPIC laboratory will benefit the wider aerospace supply
chain by ensuring third-party access to world-class facilities,
while engaging with leading researchers based in the region's
universities. The South West Regional Development Agency is
providing a capital grant of £3 million in support of the
center. This grant is part of a collaborative R&D project
through the South West RDA and the Technical Strategy Board.
Users of the center will have access to 3MWatts of input power
to run their applications. The facility will enable the development
of the latest end-to-end power generation, distribution, load and
avionic control technologies for military and civil aerospace
applications. GE’s electrical power technology path supports
coming generations of commercial air transports, business and
regional jets and future military strategic and tactical programs
for both manned and unmanned applications.
In April this year, GE Aviation broke ground on an Electrical
Power Integrated Systems Research & Development Center near
Dayton, Ohio. GE expects operations in the U.S. to begin in 2013.
Both of these new facilities will add to GE Aviation’s
leading research and development capabilities, which are focused on
finding solutions to some of the world’s toughest
challenges.
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