Blockbuster 2015 sets stage for Alabama growth (video)
From Airbus launching aircraft assembly in Mobile to Google selecting Jackson County for a major data center project, it’s been a massive year for Alabama and its economic development team. In fact, 2015 looks like a year for Alabama’s record books, with game-changing developments in important industry sectors, including aerospace, technology, automotive and advanced manufacturing.…
NASA’s Alabama hub moves closer to 3-D printed rocket engine
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — A team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama test fired a demonstrator engine made mostly with 3-D printed parts, moving them a step closer to building a high-performance rocket engine using additive manufacturing. Over the past three years, Marshall has worked with several companies to produce and test complex 3-D…
Game-changing GE Aviation technology comes to life in Alabama (video)
For GE Aviation, two futuristic manufacturing technologies that will change the design and performance of jet engines are taking off in Alabama. This week, the Ohio-based company announced a $200 million plan to build a pair of plants in Huntsville that will produce silicon carbide materials used to make ultra-lightweight ceramic matrix composite components (CMCs)…
GE Aviation plans Alabama materials factories in $200 million project
GE Aviation will create adjacent factories in Huntsville to mass-produce silicon carbide materials for ultra-lightweight components that are poised to revolutionize how jet engines are manufactured. Ohio-based GE Aviation announced the $200 million project for the factories at a press briefing today at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. The two manufacturing centers are expected…
UAH building $2 million wind tunnel
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) will soon be home to a new $2 million wind tunnel system championed by the university’s eminent scholar in propulsion, Phillip Ligrani. Ligrani’s TranSonic/SuperSonic/WindTunnel, or TS/SS/WT, is under construction in the Air Breathing Test Cell at UAH’s Johnson Research Center. The facility’s test sections will be capable of…
Airbus Alabama production launch to boost aerospace sector
MOBILE, Alabama – Airbus leaders and Alabama officials gathered at Mobile Aeroplex today to celebrate the official opening of the aviation giant’s most advanced manufacturing facility – a development that will push the state’s aerospace sector to new altitudes. “Today shows that Airbus is truly becoming a global manufacturer and a truly American manufacturer,” said…
How Airbus A320 aircraft assembly will roll in Alabama (video)
Curious about how Airbus’ Alabama workforce will assemble those A320 Family passenger jets in the company’s new, $600 million assembly line at Mobile Aeroplex? A fast-paced video from Airbus paints a picture of how assembly operations will flow inside the company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility, where production has quietly begun in recent days. Airbus is…
NASA Marshall robot will build biggest composite rocket parts
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – A giant robot at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is helping the agency build the largest lightweight composite parts ever produced for space vehicles. The robot’s work at the Alabama facility may prove pivotal in NASA’s new Space Launch System, designed to be the most powerful rocket ever built, capable to taking…
European space company RUAG to launch Alabama manufacturing operation
DECATUR, Alabama – Switzerland-based RUAG announced today that it will launch an Alabama manufacturing operation after forming a strategic partnership with United Launch Alliance, which produces rockets at a factory in Decatur. RUAG, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of products for the space industry, said the new Alabama operation will produce carbon-fiber components for ULA’s…
Auburn University, NASA to explore 3-D printing applications
AUBURN, Alabama – Auburn University and NASA today signed a Space Act Agreement to explore and advance the applications of additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing — a technology that will revolutionize how all kinds of products, from simple items to components in rocket engines, are made. The signing took place during the university’s forum on…
