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Alberta oil sands are going green with nanotechnology

Kristen Brosnan, editor
Ceramic And Metallurgy Technologies
Niskayuna, NY USA
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Hey everybody! I just wanted to put up a quick post to let you know about a new project that one of my colleagues is working on. Anthony Ku, a chemical engineer and friend of mine in the Ceramics & Metallurgy technology organization is working on a really neat project in Canada that is applying some knowledge from Global Research’s work in nanotechnology to help reduce CO2 emissions.

Oil sands are a naturally occurring mixture of sand, water, and a form of petroleum called bitumen. They occur in many countries throughout the world, but Anthony is specifically working with our neighbors to the north in Alberta, Canada. Canada in particular has a large amount of oil sands and this project is leveraging some of our nanotechnology knowledge to tackle both the reduction of CO2 emissions and the treatment of the produced water that is generated during oil recovery from the oil sands. It is definitely a really interesting project and a neat example of some of the collaborations that happen at GE Global Research. We are partnering with both the University of Alberta and Alberta Innovates Technology Futures for the project; as well, the project is supported by the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation.

Anthony will be blogging about this project in the future but for the time being you can read more on the project here.

June 30th, 2010 | Ceramic & Metallurgy Technologies, Energy, Nanotechnology

TAGS: Canada, CO2, Nanotechnology

Stump the Scientist: Zero G

Today we are kicking off another new feature on the blog: “Stump the Scientist”.

Submit your questions to @EdisonsDesk on Twitter with the hashtag #stumpthescientist and we will try and find one of the GE Global Research scientists to answer your science related questions. Check out the first question, answered by Chief Scientist, Jim Bray (who has a reputation around this place for being able to answer ANY question).

Question from Edison’s Desk reader @courouleau:

I’ve heard of zero G, “pullings Gs”, but I have never heard of negative Gs. Is it possible to “pull negative G”?

Response from GE Global Research scientist Jim Bray:

No that is not possible. G refers to the acceleration of gravity, and 1G is 9.8 m/sec2 at the earth’s surface; we have our usual weight with this gravitational acceleration. Acceleration cannot be less than zero, at which value one is weightless (and you can’t have negative weight, no matter what diet you choose).

There is a sense in which someone might use the term. Acceleration is a vector (like force), and so, in any given coordinate system, it may point negatively or positively with respect to a given coordinate axis. In that sense, acceleration can point negatively, but that is not the sense in which I hear the question.

June 29th, 2010 | Global Research

TAGS: physics

Driving change

John F. Kennedy once said, “Leadership and learning are indispensible to one another.”

Such words resonate strongly at GE Global Research, where technology and imagination intersect. At GE Global Research, Project Leaders are responsible for driving the maturation of a technology, keeping a project on schedule and on budget, and working with team members to develop world-class technical talent.

As mentioned in my previous blog, Energy and Propulsion Technologies (EPT) Global Technology Organization has initiated a forum for Project Leaders. This forum, now known as the EPT Project Leadership Forum, had a kick-off meeting in early March 2010 and at least two roundtable discussions since. Project leaders from across the globe are gathering together on a monthly basis to discuss issues they are facing and to share best practices amongst each other. Some concerns are highlighted and addressed directly by our Global Technology Leader, Gary Leonard. The forum is a great way for ideas and best practices in project leadership to be shared from person to person and from site to site.

Central to the EPT Project Leadership Forum is the Core Team, which consists of the following representatives:

Ravi Devi (Bangalore), Matthias Finkenrath (Munich), Mingmin Wang (Shanghai), Vitali Lissianski (Irvine), Yogen Utturkar (Niskayuna), Bill Gerstler (Niskayuna), and me, Eric Ruggiero (Niskayuna). As a team, we meet periodically to share best practices and concerns that affect our teams globally. You will be hard pressed to find a group of greater passion and dedication when it comes to promoting project leader excellence.

I recently asked Bill and Ravi to introduce themselves and to share what they felt the most important aspect of effective project leadership entailed. Here’s what they had to say:

“My name is Bill Gerstler and I have worked in the Thermal Systems Lab at Global Research in Niskayuna for nine years. My research is in thermal management, especially as it relates to More Electric Aircraft off-engine applications, as well as various rotating electric machinery applications. In addition, I currently lead a novel absorption refrigeration project for an Army application.

The most important aspect of effective project leadership is building a unified understanding of the “big picture” project goals amongst all team members. It is challenging because the team members come from various technical backgrounds with differing levels of experience. But the benefit is enormous; each member will constantly consider how their effort is affecting and contributing to other aspects of the project, and ultimately how all aspects come together to meet the “big picture” goal.” — Bill

And Ravi:

“I am in the role of Lead Engineer at Global Research in Bangalore in the Applied Fluid Mechanics Lab. My primary responsibilities include aero design for turbine/seals with domain focus on CFD, aerodynamics and turbulence modeling.

I think the most important aspect of Project Leadership is driving clarity at the beginning of the program, during which every team member understands the big picture and agrees on deliverables – what, when and why they are expected.”

Bill, Ravi, and the entire Core Team are driving change at each global site to ensure that EPT is running as smoothly as possible. The core team draws its strength from its diversity, delivering best practices to EPT’s project leaders around the globe.

June 28th, 2010 | Energy & Propulsion

TAGS: Energy, leadership

Electric cars are in our blood

Charles Theurer, editor
Computing and Decision Sciences
Niskayuna, NY USA
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Hello again! I looked up from my computer today to take a look at the history of one of the major projects we are working on at Global Research– electrification of the world. Here is what I found. What is really interesting is that I believe this video was filmed when the car was being driven to our Global Research campus for the 2008 Battery Symposium that we hosted.

It is a video of a restored Edison Electric car, located in our hometown of Schenectady, NY at the Edison Exploratorium.

It had a 26 volt GE Automobile Motor Patent 1889.

Here is the Charging Station (That is a slate circuit board!!!)

June 25th, 2010 | Computing & Decision Sciences

TAGS: electric cars, schenectady

Sunny side up in Bangalore!

Arvind Tiwari, editor
Power Conversion Systems
Bangalore, India
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I’ve posted before on my blog about the Solar Hybrid Systems Lab here in Bangalore. In this lab, we are working on optimizing the energy generated from wind and solar. We recently had a visit from Mint in Bangalore and they put out a great story I wanted to share. They’ve got a great video featuring my colleague Rajendra Naik talking about the power generated from the solar panels we have on our roof here in Bangalore and the development of thin film solar panels.