GE aerospace leverages AI, India talent for engine innovation

GE Aerospace is increasingly deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance aircraft engine design and maintenance, while its Bengaluru-based John F Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) continues to play a critical role in the company’s global innovations, according to a senior company official.

The 25-year-old JFWTC, one of GE Aerospace’s largest integrated multi-disciplinary research and development centres outside the United States, has contributed to the design, development, and certification of major engines, including CFM LEAP, GEnx, and GE9X, which power both wide-body and narrow-body commercial aircraft. The centre has also filed over 1,000 aviation technology patents.

Alok Nanda, Chief Technology Officer of GE Aerospace in India, told PTI that all engines launched or certified by GE since the inception of the Bengaluru centre bear its imprint. “We have had great success with finding talent in India,” he said.

Nanda highlighted that AI has become a “game changer” across the full spectrum of the company’s work from exploring engine design spaces to maintenance. “Anything and everything that we do today is getting influenced by artificial intelligence,” he said.

On the maintenance front, GE Aerospace has integrated AI with physics-based tools to determine maintenance intervals for engines, customised according to operational history and environmental conditions. This approach, called Analytics-Based Maintenance (ABM), aims to provide customers with greater predictability on when engines require servicing. The company is also employing AI in engine inspection technologies.

The Bengaluru centre houses an Aerospace Services Technology Lab (ASTL) dedicated to using AI to transform engine maintenance. Upstream, AI is deployed to explore design optimisation for engines, improving efficiency and performance.

In India, more than 1,000 GE and CFM engines currently power the aircraft of Indian carriers. CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, is leading the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) programme. The Bengaluru team contributes to this initiative, which aims to enhance engine fuel efficiency by over 20 per cent.

The engineers at JFWTC are also supporting research in hybrid electric propulsion systems, alternative fuels testing, and other emerging technologies. Nanda emphasised the importance of India’s talent pool in driving these initiatives. “There is no better place than India to find talent, and we have had great success with finding talent here,” he said, adding that the enthusiasm and willingness of the Indian team to experiment and innovate has been instrumental in achieving over 1,000 patents in 25 years.

To nurture future engineers, the centre runs the Edison Engineering Development Programme (EEDP) and has recently launched the GE Aerospace Foundation’s Next Engineers programme. The initiative is a college-readiness programme designed to encourage young students to pursue careers in engineering.

Looking ahead, Nanda said the focus remains on developing sustainable engine technologies. “The next is inventing the future of flight. We are fully committed to inventing the future of flight so that the world gets more sustainable engines, customers get better products, and we enjoy this journey of innovation,” he said.

The Bengaluru centre’s contributions reflect GE Aerospace’s long-term strategy of combining AI, advanced engineering, and global talent to maintain its position at the forefront of aircraft engine technology.