CFM International marked its 1,001st technology innovation for the advanced LEAP engine during the show. To celebrate this milestone, CFM identified the 3-D woven, resin transfer molding (RTM) composite fan blade as innovation #1,001. This patented technology uses woven carbon fibers and a unique manufacturing process to create maintenance-free, highly durable blades. The light-weight fan, combined with a composite fan case, reduces aircraft weight by 1,000 pounds compared to the same size fan manufactured using all-metal materials. This lower weight, along with state-of-the-art blade design, contributes about half of the 15 percent fuel efficiency improvement the LEAP engine will provide. “The 1,001 technology innovations we have identified are certainly just the tip of the iceberg,” says Jean Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM International. “We recognized long ago that it would take the combined efforts of thousands of people and multiple technology innovations to meet our customers’ long-term expectations.”