Built on former NCR property and dedicated to electrical power research for aviation purposes, GE says the complex is the largest facility in the aviation industry with 15 MW of power and the capability to run six end-to-end aircraft electrical power systems simultaneously at one site. (A MW is a megawatt, or a million watts of power.)
It is home to more than 250 researchers and engineers, according to GE.
“The growth at the EPISCenter has outpaced our original expectations,” Joe Krisciunas, president and general manager of electrical power systems for GE Aerospace, said in a company statement. “Since opening the facility, our team has continued to expand our electrical power systems development and testing capabilities to help solve our military and civil customers’ challenges.”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
The 138,000-square-foot EPISCenter was opened in 2013 off River Park Drive, representing a $53 million investment, the company said.
Since then, GE says it has invested another $26 million there.
Earlier this year, plans were announced to make an additional investment of up to $20 million for a seventh test cell for hybrid electric aircraft engine component testing.
“This brings the total planned capital spending on the EPISCenter to nearly $100 million, building on the site’s existing research and testing efforts of end-to-end electrical power starter and generation, conversion, distribution, and load technologies for military and civil aviation applications,” the company said Wednesday.
“The impact of the GE Aerospace EPISCenter to the University and the city of Dayton has been very significant and will continue to be so,” University of Dayton president Eric F. Spina said.
Since opening, the EPISCenter has commissioned power system integration test cells to support integration and testing for civil and military platforms, including the F/A-18 E/F, 777X, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) INVENT, FAA Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) II/III programs, and multiple military technology programs.
Based in Evendale, GE Aerospace has long been a major employer in Southwestern Ohio. Pre-pandemic, the company had about 1,500 employees working in four Dayton-area facilities, sites which saw a $1 billion total annual investment.
Since then, there has been some local consolidation. Besides its presence on the UD campus, GE today has facilities in Vandalia and Beavercreek. And based in Butler County’s West Chester Twp. is CFM International, a joint venture of GE and French company Snecma.
In May, a spokeswoman for GE Aerospace put the number of the company’s Dayton-area employees at 1,400.
About 9,000 Ohioans work for the company in total.
About the Author
