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12 Hartford Business Journal • November 20, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com S itting alongside a former run- way tarmac in East Hartford is one of the world's foremost corporate sifters of scientific and technological ideas — past, present and future. It could pass for just another manufac- turing facility. But Farmington industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp. didn't recently invest $60 million to up- grade and expand its flagship R&D lab — into which it pours most of its $3.5 billion annual research and development budget, some of which is supported by state tax- payers — to have it pass for one. But looks, in many ways, are irrelevant. It is the scientific-engineering explorations occurring inside the sprawling building that houses the United Technologies Re- search Center (UTRC) on Pratt & Whitney's campus that are most significant and sometimes even beyond imagination. It is one of five global R&D outposts, employing 650, that UTC operates. UTRC recently opened its doors ever so slightly, to allow a rare public peek inside its research facility and the work being done for in-house and private- and govern- ment-sector clients. Because it performs secretive R&D for not just UTC affiliates but others, including the U.S. Department of Defense, a recent media tour provided a highly controlled glimpse at a sample of its unclassified lab equipment and projects. The applied research taking place at UTRC — bolstered by the facility's recent multimillion-dollar makeover that included 185,000 square feet of new and renovated office and laboratory space — provides all of United Technology Corp.'s divisions with a steady flow of innovation. Pratt & Whitney, Otis Elevator, UTC Aerospace Systems, and the newly com- bined UTC Climate, Controls & Security division, into which Carrier, Chubb, Kidde and Edwards units were folded, benefit from research that covers familiar turf such as aero- and thermodynamics, engine- power thrust mechanics, additive manu- facturing and 3D printing, as well as more efficient production and quality-control methods for assembling UTC's jet engines, climate-control systems and elevators. UTRC researchers are also plowing into artificial intelligence, opening the door to "smarter" building systems and software networks and machines imbued with "learning'' capabilities. UTC Research Vice President David E. Parekh, who is also UTRC's director, said United Technologies has a simple ask of all its technologists: "Not to get blindsided by new technologies." "On the flip side, we're the ones who are supposed to surprise," Parekh said. More broadly, UTRC acts as a talent incubator for Greater Hartford and keeps the state competitive with technology in- novation. Inside the labs During the recent tour, scientists demon- strated "cold spray'' technology used to bond metals that usually cannot be joined using conventional welding tools and techniques. In this instance, a worn or broken metal part is restored almost to new by jet-spraying metal onto an uneven surface at room tem - perature until it reaches the desired dimen- sions. The part then can be machined smooth before installation. Access to that kind of technology also Innovation Gatekeeper Dividends from UTRC's technology research, talent are widespread The light-filled entryway (top photo) to the United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, and bright furnishings (above) belie the world-class applied research underway behind its walls.