Most people might still consider the idea of using tides to generate electricity as outlandish as a trip to the moon. But starting this year, the concept is quickly becoming reality. “We went to the moon 46 years ago, and now we are using it to produce energy,” says Frederic Navarro, project director at GE Power Conversion in Belfort, France. “That’s because the moon’s gravity tugs on the ocean and produces predictable tides that run like clockwork, twice a day.”
Few phrases are duller than “corporate restructuring.” So you can be forgiven if your eyes glazed over when, two weeks ago, Jeff Immelt, G.E.’s C.E.O., announced that the company was going to sell off most of G.E. Capital, its financial-services arm, and concentrate on the company’s industrial businesses (which range from aircraft engines and locomotives to medical devices and power generation). But this is a genuinely momentous move. Not only is G.E. reinventing itself; the move from financial services back to industry could herald the close of an entire chapter of American capitalism.
Like an SUV towing a trailer in winter, locomotives can lose their grip on slick rails if they’re pulling too much behind them. Since the weather in mountainous areas can change quickly, railroads play it safe and usually only run trains long enough to pull though all weather conditions.
But shorter trains can get expensive. A single rail car can fit enough grain to bake 258,000 loaves of bread, according to the Association of American Railroads. That’s why GE locomotive engineers developed a software-guided supersonic air blower.
El conglomerado industrial estadounidense General Electric debe esta caída a la venta de parte de sus activos de su financiera inmobiliaria.
El conglomerado industrial estadounidense General Electric (GE) registró en el primer trimestre de 2015 pérdidas netas por importe de 13.573 millones de dólares (12.571 millones de euros) debido a la venta de parte de sus activos de su financiera inmobiliaria, lo que contrasta con los 2.999 millones de dólares (2.778 millones de euros) que ganó en el mismo periodo del año anterior.
GE will sell most of its GE Capital assets by 2018, a move that will reshape the company and further the role of its industrial businesses as the principal source of GE’s earnings.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt, who announced the plan this morning, has said he wants to “profoundly change the company” and “lead the next generation of industrial progress.” By 2018, GE’s industrial businesses will generate at least 90 percent of GE’s operating earnings, according to the CEO, up from 58 percent last year.
El conglomerado industrial negocia con el fondo de inversión Blackstone y con el banco Wells Fargo en su estrategia para reducir su negocio financiero. La operación podría anunciarse pronto.
La multinacional estadounidense General Electric (GE) está cerca de cerrar la venta total o parcial de su negocio inmobiliario, valorado en unos 30.000 millones de dólares, dijeron hoy a Efe Dow Jones fuente cercanas a las negociaciones.
Por el momento se desconocen los términos exactos del acuerdo y a cuánto ascendería el monto total de la operación, pero todo apunta a que sería "elevado" y "muy simbólico", añadieron las misma fuentes.
Digital health is an amorphous category that can encompass everything from electronic health records to fitness apps. It’s been hard to grasp the real value of some of these technologies, as Xconomy’s Alex Lash examined in detail in October.
Engineers at jet engine proving grounds in Ohio are using a jet engine GE developed for Boeing’s Dreamliner to test engine parts made from a new ceramic super-material. The material could help pave the way to more fuel efficient planes.
Is your company ready to compete in a world of smart, connected products? For some time now we’ve been living into a smarter world filled with Big Data and analytics, and a more connected one that’s been described as “the internet of things.” In this world, customers expect their suppliers to surround their products with data services and digitally enhanced experiences. This means that many organizations and their leaders are running as fast as they can to quickly build their software capabilities.
In the century following the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903, planes have gone through three materials revolutions: wood and fabric fuselages gave way to aluminum and, eventually, to light and strong carbon composites used to make the bodies of the latest planes like Boeing’s Dreamliner and the Airbus A350. But a new and unusual material is now changing the industry again: ceramics.
