General Electric [GE] this week said its Aviation division will establish a research and development center that will focus on advanced technologies for military and civil hybrid electric vehicles and more electric aircraft applications.
The Electrical Power Integrated Systems Research & Development Center (EPISCENTER) will be located near Dayton, Ohio, and direct its activities at various markets including on and off-highway hybrid and electric vehicles, marine applications, and more electric aircraft. Operations are expected to begin in 2012.
GE says its way forward with electrical power technology supports coming generations of commercial aircraft, business and regional jets, and strategic and tactical future programs such as ground combat vehicles, the joint light tactical vehicle, unmanned air vehicles, and the miniaturization effort of electrical power on naval vessels.
“GE’s EPISCENTER will focus on advanced energy management involving electric power systems research and development including electric power generation, distribution and management, conversion and energy storage equipment,” Vic Bonneau, president of Electric Power for GE Aviation Systems, said in a statement. “This center of excellence will be used to design optimized systems that deliver electric power efficiently and robustly for our military and commercial customers.”
Bonneau said that “Electrification in transportation is a growth area. This center will yield system-level benefits so our customers can more rapidly benefit from this trend in energy management, climate control, radars and sensors, silicon carbide-based power conversion and electric actuation, to name a few.”
Locating the center in Dayton will put it near the Air Force’s Research Lab and Wright-Patterson AFB. GE will be assisted by researchers from the Univ. of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) in the development and deployment of computer modeling, simulation and analysis of advanced, dynamic electric power systems design and controls.
GE is receiving upwards of $7.6 million in capital grants from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission in support of the center.
“This center will allow us to build on long-standing capabilities in modeling and simulation that may eventually be applied to other complex electrical systems such as smart utility grids and electric vehicles,” John Leland, director of UDRI, said in a statement.