GE Plant – Auburn
AUBURN — A new GE Aviation plant in Auburn will use Star Wars-like laser technology to help the industry giant produce critical jet engine components at a time when global demand for aircraft is projected to surge.
Inside the GE Aviation plant in Auburn, workers use powerful lasers to drill miniscule cooling holes in jet engine blades made from heat-resistant super alloys. Placed inside a high-pressure turbine, the blades squeeze air to immense pressures prior to ignition.
GE Aviation says these blades must be crafted into flawless aerodynamic shapes, and the tiny laser-drilled cooling holes perform the important function of allowing air to bleed in so the blades can withstand the incredible temperatures they encounter during operation.
“This is one of the critical and sophisticated components in our jet engines,” says GE Aviation CEO David Joyce. “They are perfectly shaped aerodynamically, with laser-drilled cooling holes because they operate at extraordinary temperatures. We consider them a work of art.”
Gov. Robert Bentley and other Alabama officials were meeting with Joyce today at the show, along with executives of other companies including Raytheon and Boeing, both of which have substantial operations in Huntsville.
The Auburn plant, with its powerful lasers, also highlights the advanced approach that GE Aviation is taking to the manufacturing process. GE Aviation has invested $75 million in the Auburn plant. By the end of this year, it should have 50 workers, according to the company. Once it hits full production later this decade, GE Aviation expects to have 300 to 400 workers in Auburn.
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