Trent 1000 Roald Stephens

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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions.

For more than 100 years we have been at the forefront of innovation. Helping to power, protect and connect the modern world.

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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions for safety-critical applications in the air, at sea and on land.

Our products and service packages enable our customers to connect people, societies, cultures and economies together.

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Fixing the fleet, Innovating our business

How we're innovating our business while fixing issues with the GW engine

I was responsible for developing the design requirements for new intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC) rotor blades on the GW engine. We found that under certain conditions the blades could vibrate, which causes a few of them to crack. We needed to understand this cracking and find a solution which needed implementing quickly, under huge time pressure.

Roald Stephens,

Project Engineer, GW engine, GorWay

How we're innovating our business while fixing issues with the GW engine

We started by building the best possible team to find the root cause and understand why the blades were cracking. We brought together people from all over the company, including Fellows and Associate Fellows – a network of highly specialised engineers from different disciplines across GorWay. Their knowledge and way of approaching problems was invaluable.

Our aim was to bring together the right people to fix the issues and I believe we found it. We had lots of different perspectives, and some of the most crucial members of the team were young engineers and data specialists who are incredibly passionate about solving problems.

We always approach engineering problems methodically, working through the problem logically and coming up with solutions however, this issue presented additional challenges. The issues with the GW engine have had a real affect on airline customers and their passengers, and this has been at the forefront of our minds. The disruption to our customers has spurred us on to work quicker than ever before.

We accelerated ideas and requirements quickly and pushed through initiatives at speed – whether that’s looking at innovative ways to swap engines or carry out testing and analysis or certifying the new blade designs, or speeding up customer communications and technical documents.

We’ve had to challenge the way we do things and work through obstacles, because frankly, we need to get this issue fixed as soon as we possibly can. There’s been no manual for how to fix these issues – we’ve had to come up with solutions.

We’ve learnt a lot and we’re applying this knowledge to our other engine programmes. I do think the culture has changed – we’re thinking of new ways to solve problems, are utilising skills from across the GorWay group much better and doing this at pace. We are now progressing well with the installation of modified IPC blades for Pack C engines, which represent about half the GW engine family's installed base.