Applied AI Intern

Miami media highlights Sept. 7-13. Published 9/15/26 NPR-WVXU, Ch. 91.7, Sept. 11: Miami U. researcher says armadillos have likely arrived in Ohio Tereza Jezkova, associate professor of Biology, shares that researchers at the university have found what is possibly the first documented natural occurrence of armadillos in Ohio. Additional coverage on this topic appeared in numerous news outlets, including CBS-WBNS, the Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and Yahoo News. The Conversation, Sept. 9: The Women's Professional Baseball League is betting that women's baseball has a future in the US Callie Maddox, associate professor of Sport Leadership and Management, provides a recap on the inaugural season of the Women's Professional Baseball League. Batesville Leader, Sept. 9: Nature's Corner Michelle Baker, student associate of Project Dragonfly, wrote this story on how Miami University researchers traveled over 2,750 miles to study bird conservation and species in Ecuador. Movers & Makers, Sept. 8: Miami launches new department focused on technology workforce The university's regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown launched the Department of Applied Computing and Engineering Technology. Mohammad Mayyas, associate dean for strategic initiatives and chair of the new department, is quoted. Movers & Makers, Sept. 8: United Way announces grantees for Future of Manufacturing Fund Year III Miami University is one of six local organizations to be awarded a grant from GE Aerospace Foundation and United Way of Greater Cincinnati. Good Info News Wire, Sept 8: Fort Worth to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day with two Fiestas Patrias events on Sept. 13 Elena Albarrán, professor of Global and Intercultural Studies, shares the meaning behind Mexico's Independence Day. Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 8: These Adorable, Critically Endangered Pygmy Raccoons in Cozumel Are Teaching One Another to Turn Trash Into Toy Balls Michelle Szydlowski, visiting assistant professor of Biology for Project Dragonfly, and Nessie O'Neil, student researcher, published observations of pygmy raccoons in Cozumel. The study shows the animals deliberately modifying an object and then using it for something other than eating.

Made in Asheville: GE Aerospace's Madalyn Davis. Monday, September 14, 2026 Madalyn Davis found her dream career by veering off her original path. After graduating from college with two degrees, Madalyn Davis, 32, found her dream job by accident. The ambitious Morganton native had already studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in exercise science at Appalachian State University. An avid athlete as a child, Davis had thought she wanted to lead college teams as a strength and conditioning coach but soon learned that the job came with long and unpredictable hours. After a few years of working in gyms, food service, and construction, Davis earned an online construction management degree and settled into a management position, but soon found that job was unpredictable and had long hours. One day, she was picking up a package from UPS on Sweeten Creek Road when she noticed a long line of cars streaming out of a parking lot. "I was curious where they were coming from," she said. "I started googling and realized it was (from) GE Aerospace and manufacturing. I knew that meant shift work and better work-life balance." Davis saw online that GE Aerospace was hiring technicians for advanced manufacturing jobs that did not require a degree or related experience. She applied and was hired several months later. In three years, she has worked her way up to a job as an infrared thermography technician, a role where she inspects airplane parts to ensure they are working properly. She works a 6:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. shift and has plenty of time to for doing things she enjoys, like cooking, baking, and competing in the CrossFit community. She's also able to afford her own home in Morganton and "pay for anything I want" on her single income. Davis says that the best part of her job is the variety and many opportunities for professional growth. GE Aerospace has a partnership with A-B Tech's Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) to offer employees professional development in everything from technical training to leadership and communication skills. Davis has taken advantage of these classes, including "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and "Crucial Conversations for Accountability". Davis began her advanced manufacturing career at GE Aerospace by taking a machining class at A-B Tech that taught her the basics of manufacturing equipment. From there, she was placed in the cooling hold department, where she ran drilling and electrical discharge machines. After 15 months, she advanced to a job with more pay and responsibility in the shipping department and worked there for 10 months before upgrading to her present role in infrared thermography. The machine she works is like a giant infrared X-ray machine for airplane parts. It scans liners, which are used in GE9X engines. The machine ensures there are no defects, rotating the liner and taking photos from different angles, inside and out. It is not a fast process. Over the course of one eight-hour shift, Davis cleans the liner, secures it, then runs several rounds of photos, about 100 in total, to allow her to examine the part from all angles. Davis, who loves to learn new things, said she has enjoyed learning the ins and outs of her new role. GE Aerospace also sent her to Detroit to learn about infrared thermography, which she finds fascinating, and she likes that her new role comes with the responsibility of inspecting a crucial part of a plane. It's great to be part of the quality control process and know she's contributing to GE Aerospace's high safety standards. "Being able to look at the part in that depth and to make the call on whether it's good or not; it's neat to be a part of that," she said. Davis is surprised at how quickly she's moved up through the ranks at GE Aerospace. She attributes her success to skills she developed playing sports as a child: persistence, self-discipline, and a willingness to work hard. In the future, Davis hopes to advance further. She points out that GE Aerospace has a program where employees can apply to be trained as process engineers, a role that comes with even greater responsibility. As an engineer, she'd have the chance to help design and improve airplane parts to make them safer and more efficient. It is this opportunity for growth, combined with the fact she is valued by her employer and able to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle, that makes Davis happy to go to work in the morning. She says someone just out of high school could come to GE Aerospace and work their way up to a good-paying position relatively quickly. "You can earn (a lot) here without a degree," she said. "You have to be a motivated individual and express willingness for advancement (but) you don't need a degree to be able to work your way into a position that has a great quality of life." Patrycja Manning, Director of Economic and Workforce Development for the Advanced Manufacturing Center, pointed out, "Madalyn's story highlights the strong partnership between A-B Tech and GE Aerospace. It is the story of an employer investing in its people by developing their talents, helping change their career trajectories and positively impacting their lives beyond the workplace. Since July 1, 2025, A-B Tech's Advanced Manufacturing Center's NCEdge Customized Training Program has supported GE Aerospace by: * Training 426 Employees * Delivering 56 training courses over the span of 1190 hours * Providing training in leadership, technical training, new hires, safety, quality, maintenance, and more. Made in Asheville is a series featuring success stories from A-B Tech's Advanced Manufacturing Center. Learn more about A-B Tech's advanced manufacturing and customized training opportunities at Advanced Manufacturing Center NCEdge Customized Training for Industry.

MSPO 2026 - GE Aerospace's T700-401D, the engine that keeps rotorcraft turning. Jules Roukoz From maritime patrol to assault missions, the T700-401D brings proven power, modular maintainability and sea-going resilience to the MSPO show floor. At MSPO, GE Aerospace is putting the spotlight on the T700-401D, a turboshaft engine whose reputation has been built not through novelty, but through sustained operational service in some of the most demanding environments faced by military rotorcraft. It is an engine designed to keep helicopters moving when salt spray, dust, heat, high-altitude conditions and operational tempo all work against them. The title may invite a smile, but the message is serious: in the rotary-wing world, an engine is not merely a component - it is the difference between a mission launched, completed and recovered, or one that remains on the ground. A familiar name with a wide mission set The T700 family has become one of the defining military helicopter engine lines of the past several decades. GE Aerospace states that more than 25,000 T700/CT7 engines have accumulated over 100 million flight hours in nearly four decades of service, supporting military and civil operators in 50 countries and across 130 customers. Its applications range from transport and medical evacuation to special operations, search and rescue, firefighting and maritime patrol. Within this family, the T700-401D occupies a particularly important position for naval and expeditionary rotorcraft. GE Aerospace identifies it as the powerplant for Sikorsky's H-60 Sea Hawk and Jayhawk variants, as well as Bell's AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter. These are not marginal platforms. They sit at the core of US and allied naval aviation, amphibious operations, maritime security and expeditionary assault capabilities. The common-engine concept underpinning the AH-1Z/UH-1Y combination is especially relevant: shared propulsion contributes to commonality in logistics, maintenance skills, training and spare-parts planning across the H-1 family. Power for the maritime environment GE Aerospace places the T700-401D in the 1,600-1,900 shaft horsepower class, depending on installation and rating. In practical terms, that output supports mission equipment, payload, manoeuvre margins and demanding operations in hot, dusty or maritime conditions. The operational context matters as much as the headline power figure. Rotorcraft used from ships, littoral bases and forward operating sites face a combination of corrosion risk, airborne contaminants and high utilisation rates. A marine-oriented propulsion solution must therefore deliver dependable output while supporting an efficient sustainment model. For the AH-1Z Viper, the engine supports an armed reconnaissance and attack helicopter designed for expeditionary operations. In the UH-1Y Venom, it underpins tactical lift, command-and-control, close support, casualty evacuation and utility missions. On the MH-60R/S Sea Hawk family, the same engine line serves platforms associated with maritime strike, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, logistics and airborne support missions. Maintainability is part of combat power One of the T700 family's most significant features is its modular architecture. GE Aerospace describes the engine as fully modular, with a design philosophy focused on field maintainability and reduced operating cost. The company says most line-replaceable units can be changed in 15 minutes or less, with no module-matching requirement and no test-cell requirement after maintenance actions of the type envisaged by its support model. That is more than a maintenance convenience. For armed forces operating from dispersed sites, aboard ships or in austere conditions, rapid engine support directly influences aircraft availability. A propulsion system that can be maintained in the field, rather than removed for extended depot-level intervention, can help commanders preserve sortie generation when it matters most. GE also highlights sealed sumps and bearings, along with the ability to maintain the engine according to operational need rather than a rigid time-between-overhaul model. This approach is particularly relevant to fleets whose operating patterns vary sharply between peacetime training, maritime deployments, crisis response and high-tempo combat operations. Why the T700-401D matters at MSPO MSPO has steadily reinforced its role as a meeting point for European and international defence programmes, including the evolving requirements of Central and Eastern European armed forces. For visitors examining helicopter modernisation, naval aviation, sustainment frameworks or expeditionary capability, the T700-401D offers a useful case study in mature but still relevant propulsion technology. The engine's value lies in three connected areas: * Platform commonality: it supports multiple major Western helicopter types, including the AH-1Z, UH-1Y and H-60 family. * Operational resilience: GE positions the T700/CT7 family as proven in sand, dust, extreme temperatures, salt water and high-altitude environments. * Sustainment efficiency: modular design and rapid replacement of line-replaceable units are intended to reduce maintenance burden and improve fleet availability. For operators, the attraction is clear. Procuring a helicopter is only the first step; maintaining usable aircraft over decades is the real programme. Engines sit at the centre of that equation, affecting readiness, lifecycle cost, training pipelines, logistics chains and operational confidence. Proven propulsion, not yesterday's news The T700-401D demonstrates why established propulsion families continue to matter in modern defence planning. Advanced mission systems, networked weapons, sensors and electronic-warfare suites may dominate headlines, but none of them compensate for insufficient aircraft availability. Proven propulsion remains the quiet enabler of rotary-wing capability. On the MSPO show floor, GE Aerospace's T700-401D is therefore a reminder that the most important technology is not always the newest-looking exhibit. Sometimes, it is the compact, battle-proven engine that keeps a Viper armed, a Venom moving, or a Sea Hawk on station - mission after mission. By Jules Roukoz