CINCINNATI, Ohio, 24 Sept. 2014. Neil R. Garrigan, executive manager - advanced integrated products at GE Aviation opened the SAE 2014 Aerospace Systems and Technology Conference (ASTC) this week in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a discussion of propulsion, power, and avionics technologies and systems integration. He stressed the need to “intelligently integrate” electronics systems and technologies.
Garrigan described myriad aerospace achievements, including the Boeing Dreamliner 787, which he called a flying “micro grid” that requires as much power as a small community. At the same time, he noted several industry changes and trends that also potentially present engineering design and integration challenges. Among them are:
- Mission diversity
- Electrification and digitization
- Autonomous systems
- Unmanned aircraft
- Hyperconnectivity
- Alternative energy
As industry moves to advance technologies and innovate in these areas, they must do so with an eye toward safety. As Garrigan points out, the advent of “more electric aircraft means that the electrical/power system is now flight critical; if it stops working, nothing on the aircraft works.”
