ASME Documents EWB Efforts in Thailand Project (2/24/05)

A 90-second news video clip that documents the quality-of-life improvements being made through engineering projects spearheaded by ASME partner Engineers Without Borders is available on www.asme.org/publicaffairs.

The video features work being done by a University of New Hampshire student team who returned to Santisuk, Thailand last month to finish a water system project that would give villagers regular access to sanitary water for drinking and bathing; and enabled crop irrigation.

Several ASME members were part of the team. A longer, three-minute version detailing the project and the work being done, is available on www.asme.org and clicking on Engineers Week.

ASME produced the video and staff members served as the film crew. It will be used to highlight the contributions that engineering and engineers are making around the world.

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Fuel Cells, Robust Electrical Capacity May Be Wave of Future Gas Turbine Design

In the next 25 years, mounting environmental regulations worldwide could exert added pressure on manufacturers to incorporate fuel cells as well as more robust electrical capacity in the design of gas turbines, said Sir Ralph Robbins, former chairman of Rolls-Royce plc in the United Kingdom who will be one of several keynote speakers at ASME Turbo Expo 2005, which will open June 6 at the Reno Hilton in Reno, Nev.

"Gas Turbine Technology: Focus for the Future" is the theme of the keynote session. Turbo Expo is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

"There have been major technical developments in gas turbines since 1980, however we haven't hit a plateau," Sir Ralph said in discussing the content of his keynote address. "The next 25 years will bring further advances."

Hydrogen fuel could be one of those new developments, according to Brian H. Rowe, chairman emeritus of GE Aircraft Engines, who will participate in the keynote panel discussion.

When burned in a turbine, hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide — a key advantage when compared to other fuels. Abundance and portability are other benefits. A major obstacle is selling policymakers and the general public on the use of nuclear reactors to produce the hydrogen.

"Policymakers must rethink their approach to nuclear energy in order for the hydrogen economy to become a reality," Rowe said.

Efforts to improve fuel efficiency and reduce environmental emissions are factors in the developmental programs at aircraft engine companies, current and former executives in the industry say.

Another keynote speaker, David L. Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of GE Transportation in Cincinnati, ranks fuel consumption along with maintenance at the top of the list of factors impacting costs in the gas turbine business.

"We have strong efforts underway to improve fuel burn in gas turbines," Calhoun said, citing the company's new GEnx engine for the Boeing 7E7 and Airbus A350 passenger aircraft.

Other scheduled keynote session participants are Louis R. Chenevert, president of Pratt & Whitney; John G. Rice, president and chief executive officer of GE Energy, and Randy H. Zwirn, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp.

Turbo Expo's Technical Congress will follow the keynote panel. The Technical Congress will feature more than 600 papers, tutorials, and a product exposition.

For information about Turbo Expo, contact the International Gas Turbine Institute at (404) 847-0072 or visit the Web site at www.turboexpo.org.

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