Loren Finnerty manages more than 300 shop floor workers and engineers at GE Aerospace’s giant Asheville plant in North Carolina, where thousands of advanced composite components are produced every year for GE jet engines. Finnerty’s ability to grasp fine detail and never lose sight of the bigger picture has earned her a reputation as one of GE’s shop floor gurus. She’s chalked off nearly 20 years at GE businesses, using her engineering, people, and project management skills to enhance safety, motivate teams, and boost production and efficiency everywhere she goes.

After conceiving and leading the development of ceramics matrix composites (CMCs) technology at GE Research through the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, GE Aviation made a bet few could have foreseen... to turn a half century dream of the ceramics industry into a commercial reality.

Ceramic matrix composites (CMC) technology is a centerpiece of GE’s jet propulsion strategy for the 21st century.

The end users of GE Aviation's products have a unique job. They are serving in their country’s military to protect its citizens. As the number of threats in the world increase, pilots need to fly farther while carrying more cargo and using less fuel. The engines they use need to be reliable and easy to maintain. It sounds like a tall order, but GE has a long history of providing our warfighters with the capability they need!

Certification testing is underway on GE Aviation’s latest engine in development—the GE9X that will power Boeing’s 777X aircraft. Combine the technologies of the GE9X engine and you have an engine that will be 5% better in fuel efficiency versus any engine in its class. With almost 700 engines on order, the GE9X engine has quickly gained a following among airline customers around the world. For the GE Aviation team, we can’t wait to see the first GE9X engine tucked under wing of our flying testbed later this year.

The second phase of GE9X CMC (ceramic matrix composite) component testing in a GEnx demonstrator engine is complete, with the CMCs continuing to be the clear cool winner. The demonstrator engine accumulated 1,800 cycles in the latest round of tests, which included exposure to harsh environmental conditions of dust and debris. The level of debris exposure was equivalent to about 3,000 take-off and landing operation cycles. The GE9X engine will power Boeing's 777X aircraft.