GE ranks #1 in addressing world's high-tech challenges

NISKAYUNA, NEW YORK: General Electric (GE), a leading American multinational technology conglomerate has announced that it has been recognized as the world’s top research and development (R&D) company for proactively addressing the world’s biggest "high-tech challenges" by R&D Magazine, http://www.rdmag.com/, a respected trade publication read by scientists, engineers and administrators who work in research and development. GE also placed first among R&D facilities where technologists would most like to work.

To determine these rankings, R&D Magazine editors analyzed 130 R&D-intensive companies on intellectual property, community service and financial growth trends, as well as surveyed its readership to evaluate R&D operations. GE ranked second out of the 130 companies for overall "best R&D companies in the world."

Mark Little, Senior Vice President and Director, GE Global Research, said the survey results “are a recognition of GE’s strong commitment to research and development. During the past decade, GE has invested billions of dollars and expanded its R&D footprint in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company also has placed big bets in sustainable energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology and security to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

"We’re also very proud that when it comes to which company is seen as the most proactive in tackling the world’s biggest technology challenges, GE comes out on top," Little added. “We have always viewed technology as a means to delivering breakthrough products and solutions for our customers and for society. We pride ourselves on pushing the limits of innovation to change the world."

As part of the survey, readers were asked which company’s R&D was most proactive in responding to high-tech challenges like global warming, disease and pollution. GE was the leading vote getter in this category. In tandem with this question, GE ranked second when readers were asked which company’s R&D has the strongest influence on society. 

GE’s research and development operation has a proud history that spans more than a century. The company was the first to establish an industrial research lab in the US in Schenectady, NY in 1900. Today, its corporate research and development headquarters in Niskayuna, N.Y., employs more than 1,900 people on its sprawling 525-acre facility. Since 1999, the company has opened three additional R&D facilities globally in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; and Munich, Germany. GE also has invested more than $125 million to renovate and expand the Niskayuna facility, which included a new building wing housing biotechnology and nanotechnology labs. 

All together, GE has more than 27,000 technologists across the company working to develop the next generation of technologies and products. Technology development at GE extends beyond its R&D labs to it many partners in academia, government and the private sector. The company engages in hundreds of projects each year with partners to advance the state of technology in key areas such as energy, health care, security, transportation and lighting and appliances.  

* Source: Business Wire