One Week Down, Hundreds More to Go

Now that I'm working, time is flying by.

My first week of work was enjoyable on the whole. I enjoyed digging into my projects and getting to know my coworkers. Even though I'm in a completely new environment, I feel much more relaxed that I ever felt in academia. I do miss the students however. It's strange not having them milling about. It's also odd to have to talk about things in terms of what makes "business sense."

I've been assigned to two projects. One deals with the application of multivariable control to the Leap56 jet engine, which is under development. The Leap56 engine is to replace the CFM engine, the engine of the 737. The other project deals with the development of a new type of jet engine that uses a pulse detonated combustor (PDC). Use of a PDC instead of a traditional combustor is expected to increase the efficiency of GE's engines by 10%. That may not sound like a lot, but consider this: A 777 using a (non-PDC) GE90 engine consumes about 30,000 pounds of fuel per hour during cruising. That's 400,000 pounds of fuel on a flight from New York to Tokyo. If a PDC-based engine were used, 40,000 pounds of fuel would be saved. That's a whole lot of carbon and bucks.

House update: All of the details are falling into place. The inspection was completed on Friday. The mortgage paperwork has been completed and we are locked in at 5.25%. Pretty sweet rate. (Yeah, it's weird to be excited about mortgage rates. I'm getting old.)