GE, which recently joined IHEEM as a Company Affiliate, held an afternoon reception in mid-August at the former German Gymnasium in London’s King’s Cross to celebrate its new corporate partnership with the Institute, and give IHEEM members and guests a chance to get hands-on with some of the equipment supplied by the GE Group to the capital’s Olympic Park.
Originally built in 1864-1865 for use by the German Gymnastics Society, and with gymnastic activities held there until the early 1900s, including for the 1908 London Olympics, the German Gymnasium was designed by German architect, Edward Gruning, and is now part of the 67-acre King’s Cross mixed development scheme. Michael Smeeth, director of Healthcare Infrastructure, GE Global Operations, said: “GE supplied a broad spectrum of equipment to the London 2012 Olympics, including switchgear, UPS systems, lighting, electrical, and other power infrastructure. The Olympic Park’s polyclinic, used to treat athletes’ injuries, was also comprehensively kitted out with GE equipment. “We took over the former German Gymnasium, dubbing the facility ‘The GE Works Centre’ for The Olympics’ duration, and used the 10 August reception to mark our new association with IHEEM, and give IHEEM members, and an audience of other healthcare and health estate management personnel, the opportunity to view a showcase of some of the equipment and components we supplied to this year’s Games. Visitors were, for example, able to test their body mass, fat, and muscle index, on equipment within the facility, as well as view models of the Olympic Park and the equipment we supplied to the various buildings.” Following a presentation on ‘GE powering the Olympics & Healthcare’ by Michael Smeeth, Richard Boyce, recently acting IHEEM CEO, spoke briefly on the Institute’s professional development work, and the benefits of IHEEM membership. Rowley Douglas, a Gold medal-winning Olympian in the coxed eights at the Sydney Summer Games in 2000, who is now a commercial manager at GE Capital, then spoke on what it was like to compete as an Olympian.
