Title: |
The Business Ecology of Commercial Propulsion |
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Speaker: |
Dr. Alan Epstein |
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Affiliation: |
Vice President, Technology & Environment, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne |
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When: |
Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 3:30:00 PM |
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Where: |
Guggenheim Building, Room 442 |
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Host: |
Glenda Duncan | |
Abstract The tremendous technical progress made by commercial jet aviation has transformed the world over the past 40 years, bringing distant places near and transforming the way we work and live. The past, the present, and the future of commercial aviation are about economics at least as much as it is about technology, with engines representing the largest the part of direct operating cost of airplanes. Aircraft engines are arguably the highest technology application of mechanical engineering. Dominated by three large corporations, aircraft engine business is highly competitive, featuring billion-dollar, bet-the-company product development investments. However, most of the profit is not in selling engines but in maintaining them. This lecture explores the business ecology of commercial propulsion and how the constraints of the market place shape technological investments. |
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Biography
Dr. Alan Epstein is responsible for setting the direction for and coordinating technology across Pratt & Whitney to improve product performance and environmental impact. He also provides strategic leadership in the investment, development, and incorporation of technologies that reduce the environmental impact of Pratt & Whitney’s worldwide products and services. Previously he was the R.C. Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and currently holds an appointment there as Professor Emeritus. Dr. Epstein is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has served on many government and university advisory committees. He is currently the chair of the NRC Board on Army Science and Technology. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aeronautics and Astronautics. |