GE Aviation is pleased to announce that it is building a new Electrical Power Integration Center (EPIC) in Cheltenham, UK. The center will be directed at several markets including end-to-end power generation, distribution, load and avionic control technologies for military and civil aerospace applications. Third-party organizations will have access to the center and will engage with leading researchers from the region's universities.

The center is being built on the GE Aviation campus in Bishops Cleeve. The 30,000 sq ft facility will be open for preliminary work by the end of 2010 and fully operational by March 2011.

"The center's substantial electrical infrastructure has been designed with flexibility and configurability in mind," said Vic Bonneau, president, Electrical Power Systems for GE Aviation Systems. "Industry leading laboratory design techniques have been adopted to ensure we have a highly expandable and adaptable facility. We've invested in state-of-the-art power sources, data acquisition and electrical load equipment to add to the center's versatility."

The South West Regional Development Agency is providing a capital grant of £3 million in support of the center. "This joint investment will ensure that the South West remains at the cutting edge of technology, driving low-carbon innovation in the aerospace advanced engineering sector and positioning the region to take advantage of significant future market opportunities," said Graham Harrison, Director of International Business, South West Regional Development Agency. "The Power Integration Laboratory will benefit the wider aerospace supply chain by ensuring third-party access to world-class facilities and will engage with leading researchers based in the region's universities." This grant is part of a collaborative R&D project through the South West RDA and the Technical Strategy Board.

Users of the center will have access to 3MWatts of grid power to run their applications. The facility will enable the development of the latest end-to-end power generation, distribution, load and avionic control technologies for military and civil aerospace applications. GE's (NYSE:GE) electrical power technology path supports coming generations of commercial air transports, business and regional jets and future military strategic and tactical programs for both manned and unmanned applications.

In March this year, GE announced that it will create an Electrical Power Integrated Systems Research & Development Center (EPISCENTER) near Dayton, Ohio USA. GE expects the EPISCENTER operations to begin in 2012.

Both of these new centers will add to GE's leading research and development capabilities, which are focused on finding solutions to some of the world's toughest challenges. Research employees at the centers will join 2,800 researchers and employees at GE's four global research facilities. GE's R&D employees represent nearly every scientific discipline and more than 1,100 of them hold doctoral degrees.