This past May, 12 U.S. military veterans joined forces to carry an American flag 3,000 miles from San Diego to Washington, D.C. Team Red, White & Blue completed the Old Glory Ultra Relay in a record time of less than 17 days, raising more than $1 million for the cause of veterans’ health and wellness. One of those dozen men and women was Jordan Buck, an Army vet and steelworker in lean operations at GE Vernova’s manufacturing facility in Schenectady, New York.

In an increasingly electrifying world, efficiency is crucial. The global energy sector is adopting HVDC (high-voltage direct current) technology for its superior capability and cost-effectiveness over long distances. HVDC systems can transmit more than three times as much power as alternating current (AC), with up to 50% fewer losses.

The scene: northwest Germany. A quiet farm. Enter a university student with a question that would shape her future. “Hey, when are you getting a wind turbine?”

It was a casual moment, but for Julia Vey, then an apprentice at GE Vernova in nearby Salzbergen, it planted a seed. Back in the early 2000s, wind power was still small-scale, and large turbines were rare. But Julia was fascinated — and determined to be part of what she sensed was coming.

Global electricity demand busted out of its slumber last year, largely attributed to factors such as industrialization, data centers, and electric vehicles, leaping forward by 4.3%. That’s more than twice the annual average of the past decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

America’s demand for electric power is surging and, with it, the need to move electrons around the country. Nowhere is that trend more tangible than at GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions factory in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, a sprawling 332,000-square-foot facility that has been making high-voltage instrument transformers and high-voltage circuit breakers, key components of the electric grid for more than three decades.

Singapore has always been synonymous with progress. Upon becoming independent in 1965, the Asian island nation adopted “Majulah Singapura,” the Malay for “Onward Singapore,” as its motto and national anthem.

Humans by nature are resource maximizers. Doing more with less — the essence of efficiency — is one of our oldest games. The economist Adam Smith thought deeply about the matter, which is why he is credited with devising the division of labor: the insight that better organizing factory worker tasks, rather than hiring more workers, is just as effective. But efficiency, which is a ratio, must be correctly understood.