On this day 116 years ago, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, wrote their names in history as the first people to achieve controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight.

August 19 marks National Aviation Day in the United States, celebrating the development of flight. First proclaimed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, the annual observation falls every year on Orville Wright’s birthday – born Aug. 19, 1871. We have received questions why GE Aviation’s blog, telling our ongoing story of innovative work with state-of-the-art jet engines and integrated systems, is called The Bike Shop. That too is a hat tip to the founding fathers of flight and the innovative work they did.

The celebration of National Engineers Week is an opportune time to reflect on the role of engineering in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education.

GE unveiled a new advanced turboprop engine yesterday that produces 10 percent more power than its peers and burns 20 percent less fuel.