Garrett Systems

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Garrett by Honeywell is the consumer brand of Honeywell Turbo Technologies, a subsidiary of Honeywell Corporation. Formerly a manufacturer of turboprop engines and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies, Garrett manufactures high end turbochargers and components for the automobile and truck industry.

Garrett has facilities and offices in more than 20 locations on five contenents.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

John Clifford "Cliff" Garrett (b. 1908 in Seattle, WA; d. 1963) founded a company in Los Angeles in 1936 which came to be known as Garrett AiResearch or simply AiResearch.[2] The Company's first major product was an oil cooler for military aircraft. Boeing's B-17 bombers, credited with a major difference in the air war in Europe and the Pacific, were outfitted with Garrett intercoolers. In World War II, the Company produced the cabin pressure system for the B-29 bomber, the first production bomber to be pressurized for high altitude flying. By the end of World War II, AiResearch engineers had developed air expansion cooling turbines for America's first jet aircraft -- the Lockheed F-80.

By the end of the 1940’s Garrett Corporation was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. "In the late 1940's and early 1950's, Garrett was heavily committed to the design of small gas turbine engines from 20 - 90 horse power (15 - 67 kw). The engineers had developed a good background in the metallurgy of housings, high speed seals, radial inflow turbines, and centrifugal compressors."[3]

On the industrial side, the first T-15 Turbocharger was delivered to the Caterpillar Company. It was followed by an order for 5,000 production units. "On September 27, 1954, Cliff Garrett made the decision to separate the turbocharger group from the Gas Turbine department due to commercial diesel turbocharger opportunities. That was the beginning of the new AiResearch Industrial Division - for turbocharger design and manufacturing."[4] AiResearch Industrial Division would later be named Garrett Automotive.

In the fifties and sixties Garrett diversified and expanded. Garrett AiResearch designed and produced a wide range of military and industrial products for aerospace and general industry. It focused on fluid controls and hydraulics, avionics, foil bearings, turbochargers, aircraft engines, environmental control systems for aircraft and spacecraft, and other products. In the 1960s, AiResearch Environmental Control Systems provided the life supporting atmosphere for American astronauts in the projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab.

In 1968, after a merger with Signal Oil, Garrett became part of Signal Companies. In the mid-1980s, Signal merged with Allied Chemical & Dye, and became AlliedSignal, becoming an automotive, aerospace and engineering company. The Garrett Aviation Division was sold to General Electric in 1997 and is now part of Landmark Aviation.[5] AlliedSignal merged with Honeywell in 1999, where the turbocharger business known as Garrett Engine Boosting Systems operates as a division of Honeywell, Inc. Honeywell also took over Garrett's propulsion engines, such as the TPE331 and the TFE731.[6]

Since 1984 the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has given an annual Cliff Garrett Turbomachinery Engineering Award, which "honors Cliff Garrett and the inspiration he provided to engineers by his example, support, encouragement, and many contributions as an aerospace pioneer. To perpetuate recognition of Mr. Garrett's achievements and dedication as an aerospace pioneer, SAE administers an annual lecture by a distinguished authority in the engineering of turbomachinery for on-highway, off-highway, and/or spacecraft and aircraft uses".[7]


[edit] Current

Today Garrett employs nearly 6,000 people within Honeywell International allowing them to produce over 30,000 turbochargers every day and 9,000,000 a year. Constant innovation with turbo design has kept Garrett on top. To prove performance and durability, Garrett competes in numerous motorsport series. Garrett is the title sponsor of a Mustang Drag Racer with multiple national awards. The company also supports racing around the world including sports car racing, rally racing, and open-wheel racing. Motorsport is one of many ways that Garrett tests their products to the ultimate extreme so that they are ensured the products will withstand consumer use.

[edit] See also

Foil bearings

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.honeywell.com/sites/ts/tt/aboutus_history.htm.
  2. ^ See "Built on Thin Air," Time Magazine, November 16, 1962, retrieved at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829434,00.html. The company was first named Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, then by early 1937 was renamed as Garrett Supply Company, and by 1939, AiResearch and shortly thereafter AiResearch Manufacturing Company, which then became a division within the Garrett Corporation. See Seymour L. Chapin, "Garrett and Pressurized Flight: A Business Built on Thin Air," Pacific Historical Review 35 (August 1966): 329-343; and William A. Schoneberger and Robert R. H. Scholl, Out of Thin Air: Garrett's First 50 Years, Phoenix: Garrett Corporation, 1985.
  3. ^ http://www.turbochargedpower.com/History.htm.
  4. ^ Turbo History
  5. ^ Landmark Aviation, which since August 1, 2007, has been owned by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, specializes in aviation services, not design or manufacturing.
  6. ^ http://www.honeywell.com/sites/aero/Propulsion_Engines.htm.
  7. ^ Cliff Garrett Turbomachinery Engineering Award

[edit] External links

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