William Booz ’10 Helps Design Pumps for Navy Aircraft Carriers

Mechanical engineering major interns with Curtiss-Wright in Phillipsburg, N.J.

By Courtney Morin ’10

William Booz ’10 (Durham, Conn.) has spent the summer as an intern at Curtiss-Wright in Phillipsburg, N.J., working in the Engineered Pump Division, which makes and overhauls pumps for the U.S. Navy. The company specifically designs pumps for submarines and aircraft carriers, such as the new Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carrier.

“When Curtiss-Wright sells pumps, it doesn’t sell one for a single boat, it sells pumps for every boat in that class. So essentially, the company sells around 10 at a time,” says the mechanical engineering major.

He assists the engineers in any way possible, such as with inventory, checking on assembly, testing, and working with the drafting department producing and distributing engineered drawings.

Booz feels privileged to be working for such a cutting-edge company that has “testing facilities that are available nowhere else. The experience is rewarding because it allows me to be immersed in a professional office setting. Doing this gives a student a better idea of what an engineer actually does,” he says.

Booz believes his work at Lafayette has well prepared him for his internship, especially his interaction with Scott Hummel, associate professor and head of mechanical engineering.

“For me, college has largely been about learning how to think the right way in the appropriate situation. This is what separates Lafayette engineers from the pack,” he says. “In Professor Hummel’s class, I didn’t learn how to do specific problems, but rather how to take our entire body of knowledge and apply it to various situations. This skill has proved especially useful at my internship. It allows me not to be overwhelmed, even when presented with daunting tasks.”

Booz plans to pursue a master’s and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at graduate school and become a professor.