GE Aviation Acquires Morris Technologies

Aircraft engine maker GE Aviation has acquired the assets of Morris Technologies and a related company, Rapid Quality Manufacturing. Morris Technologies is the Cincinnati, Ohio-based specialist in product and process development for additive manufacturing. Rapid Quality Manufacturing, a sister company, uses additive manufacturing capacity for products in full production. Terms of the acquisition of the two companies have not been disclosed, but this move is consistent with what GE Aviation has said about the importance of additive manufacturing for its own future production.

“Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing are parts of our investment in emerging manufacturing technologies,” says Colleen Athans, vice president and general manager of the Supply Chain Division at GE Aviation, in a statement from the company. “Our ability to develop state of the art manufacturing processes for emerging materials and complex design geometry is critical to our future. We are so fortunate to have Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing just minutes from our headquarters. We know them well.”

This demo part from Morris Technologies illustrates part of the value of additive manufacturing in aircraft engine component production. The metal part was made additively through direct metal laser sintering. The transparent replica shows the curving airflow channels inside the metal blade that this method of production makes possible.