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To most people, the cities of Winnipeg, Man., and Evendale, Ohio have nothing obvious in common. What unites these communities is their roles in a thriving aviation supply chain that spans the continent while employing advanced manufacturing concepts.

Winnipeg is the home of the GE Aviation Engine Testing, Research and Development Centre (TRDC) a facility covering more than 11,000 square metres and boasting jet engine testing facilities for temperate and extreme cold conditions. Evendale is the headquarters of GE Aviation and the central hub of a manufacturing complex that employs more than 6,500 people and develops, assembles and tests jet engines. The new GEnx engines for the Boeing 747-8 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner were designed and developed here.

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The $50-million TRDC opened in 2012 and operates in a partnership between GE and aircraft services company StandardAero. The state-of-the-art facility is equipped with a wind tunnel designed to test gas turbine jet engines at up to 150,000 lbs. of thrust under temperatures as low as -22 degrees C. A series of blowers sprays thousands of litres of water across engine components, simulating freezing conditions at high altitudes.

Noting the success of the facility at cold-weather testing, GE invested $2.5-million to keep it operating year-round.