The GE Global Research Center had a prominent place in my 2010 The New Polymath
"Conversations in the cafeteria, in the hallways, and at the 40 - room lodge attached to the center effortlessly drift from pathology to holography, from one “ aha ” to another.
The Global Research ethos is “ Innovation occurs at the intersection of disciplines.” So, put chemists, mathematicians, engineers of all stripes, and biologists in close proximity and who knows where the conversations will lead. It is a great setting for what the Kate Beckinsale character in the movie Serendipity calls “ fortunate accidents. ”"
So, it is nice to see GE Research continue to celebrate its best including the 50 year career of Dick Messmer
Just some of his accomplishments
- Applying his unique theoretical approach, Dick eventually proved - and published his first paper on - why the n-type diamond would never be possible. Sparing the technical details, Dick computationally showed that it was due to the Jahn-Teller effect (in a paper published in 1970)
- By the 1980s, Dick had made a name for himself in quantum/statistical physics and materials science. He was publishing papers and lecturing on topics such as theoretical condensed matter physics, the physical behavior of semiconductors, and the physical behavior of chemical systems.
- In 1992, he was asked to head up a GE Corporate task force on parallel computing. At the time, parallel computing was considered the next big thing, but there were many hands in the pot; start-up companies were proposing different hardware architectures and programming approaches, and GE was unsure about purchasing a machine.
- Dick’s approach was so impressive that GE Capital funded a multi-year effort for Dick to create and lead a Digital Underwriting business. In 2004, the business was spun off in an IPO.
- In addition to the aforementioned successes, Dick has led risk analysis and analytics projects for GE Aviation and GE Energy. He also served as a consultant for the Institute for Defense Analysis and the U.S. Department of Energy. Dick’s current work focuses on AI and the digital integration of data, processes, and analytics.
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