8/4/2019 ProMexico: Negocios Magazine: General Electric Puts Mexico in the World's Skies

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/promexico-negocios-magazine-general-electric-puts-mexico-in-the-worlds 1/2

32 Negocios32 Negocios Photoscourtesy of ge

generaL

eLectric putsmexico in theWorLd’s skiesthe engines that power some of the world’s most prestigioUsaircraft families are developed at general electric’s advancedengineering center in qUerétaro

8/4/2019 ProMexico: Negocios Magazine: General Electric Puts Mexico in the World's Skies

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/promexico-negocios-magazine-general-electric-puts-mexico-in-the-worlds 2/2

mexicO’S ParTner geiq

General Electric’s confidence in

Mexico, more specifically in

the talent of its engineers, has

sent the country soaring sky

high. Literally. The turbine en-

 gines that several families of international com-

mercial carriers are fitted with are designed

at the General Electric Advanced Engineering

Center (GEIQ) in the state of Querétaro, in ad-

dition to software that can illuminate entire

buildings and devices to generate electricity

and fossil fuel energy.

The Advanced Turbomachinery Engineer-

ing Center (CIAT, for its acronym in Spanish)

that preceded geiq was opened in 1999, also in

the state of Querétaro. General Electric invest-

ed 24 million usd  into the expansion of CIAT,

which began operating under its new name in

mid-February 2011.

The research campus is one of a kind in

Latin America –similar facilities are to be

found only in Turkey, Russia, Poland and India.It employs 1,300 engineers, mostly graduates

of Mexican universities with specializations in

aerospace science and technology and who, to-

 gether, devote over one million hours a year to

aeronautical research.  General Electric plans

to pour an additional 20 million usd into the

center in 2015 to take on more engineers and

step up its research activities.

It is no coincidence that General Electric

chose the central Mexican state of Querétaro

as the location for GEIQ. Mexico has been a key

territory in the company’s development, just 

as General Electric has played a key role in the

economic development of certain regions of the

country. Their shared history began in 1896,

 just 15 years after General Electric was found-

ed in the US and only five years after Thomas

Edison built the world’s first incandescent light 

bulb factory in New Jersey. General Electric

opened its first factory in Mexico in 1929 and

the business opportunities have continued ever

since, according to GE General Manager for

Mexico Gabriela Hernández Cardoso.

General Electric has 21 manufacturing

plants in Mexico –more than it has in any other

country bar its native US. It also has a presence

in the country through the assembly plants of 

partners such as Mabe, IUSA, Prolec GE and

AMI GE. Some 11,000 people are employed

directly in Mexico by General Electric, which

was listed as one of the best companies to work

for by Expansión magazine.

Due to its skilled labor, strategic geo-  graphic location and ties with other markets

in Latin America and the world, Mexico

holds enormous potential for the company’s

development, as General Electric’s global ex-

ecutives have duly acknowledged. GE Capi-

tal, Energy Infrastructure, Technology Infra-

structure and Home & Business Solutions are

some of the business units currently operat-

ing in Mexico.

These days, however, opportunities aren’t 

to be had solely on the manufacturing end but 

also in research and development. And this is

the task of GEIQ, an 8,000-square-meter facil-

ity where mechanical parts and software are

developed; where designs are validated, where

diagnostic tests are conducted, where compo-

nents are certified and where several interna-

tional airlines come for support and assistance.

Every time you get on a plane, you have

something to thank GEIQ for, not least the

GEnx, a next generation turbofan jet engine

that translates into fuel savings of 20% for com-

mercial craft like the Boeing 787, 747-8 and 777.

The center is currently working on mechanical

parts for the world’s largest aircraft, the Airbus

A380; solving problems related to the power-

ful G90 engine and developing some of the

 110 clean energy products featured in General

Electric’s ecomagination portfolio.

The list of services and products manufac-

tured in Mexico is vast, ranging from engine

cabs, maritime engines, steam, wind, water

and gas turbines to electricity generators,nuclear reactors, water-treatment equipment,

valves, drilling systems for oil wells, electricity

plants for oil refineries, systems for the opera-

tion and maintenance of electric power plants,

medical equipment, electrical appliances and

lighting and light bulbs, to name just a few. All

designed and made by the heads and hands

of Mexico, a country General Electric would

change for no other.n

www.ciat.com.mx

this research campUs is the only

one of its kind in latin america

–similar facilities are to Be foUnd

only in tUrkey, rUssia, poland and

india. it employs 1,300 engineers,

most of whom are gradUates of

mexican Universities.