蜜桃传媒

Doug Doyle dreamed of flying jets as a child, but a “tinge” of night blindness kept him out of the U.S. Naval Academy.  
 
Now a soon-to-graduate Rutgers University-New Brunswick senior, the 22-year-old aims to build the engines that allow jets to tear through the sky.

Doyle, a student who has held internships at aerospace and defense company General Dynamics Corp. and the information technology help desk within the at Rutgers, soon will get his chance.  

After graduation, he will start his new job as a quality engineer at , a subsidiary of defense contractor RTX Corp. that designs, makes and services jet engines for military and commercial use. (The parent company is in the top five aerospace and defense businesses, according to of the world’s largest public companies by Forbes.) 

“I've had a goal since I was a kid and I'm actually going to go do it,” said Doyle, who is earning a bachelor of science degree in with an aerospace engineering concentration. “So, it's pretty awesome.” 
 

For his new post at Pratt & Whitney, Doyle will head to East Hartford, Conn., to start three eight-month rotations at various locations in the U.S. 

“There are a few companies that can actually do what they do,” said Doyle, adding that while Pratt & Whitney’s core business is supplying engines for fighter jets, “they have a lot of commercial business with private jets, smaller engines. On the commercial side, they're running what they call the GTF engine, geared turbofan. They're pushing the envelope of what you can do with a turbofan engine, which is pretty cool.” 
 
As a quality engineer, Doyle will focus on “what can we do to improve the way that we're machining parts” – troubleshooting why something is broken or damaged and determining how to produce parts “in a leaner mentality, less waste.” 

Along with the full-time position, Doyle will pursue a master's degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as part of an employee scholarship program offered through Pratt & Whitney.  

I always thought if I couldn't fly them, I wanted to build them. And so, through high school, I started focusing on engineering, took some hard technical courses, came here, really dove into it and I found something.

Doug Doyle

Rutgers-New Brunswick senior

The Freehold, N.J., resident plans to tap his work experience of more than two years as a building and facilities manager for , part of the Division of Student Affairs at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

For a while, he worked as a building manager at the , where he ran the staffing, training, operations of the building. 

He added, “It's a lot, but it's pretty awesome getting to work with a lot of different people within Rec. You do a lot of different things on a day-to-day basis.” 

Doyle credited Braily Bernaber, a fitness and wellness coordinator with Rutgers Recreation, for crucial guidance. 

“He originally was the person who gave me a chance when I needed it, and he was a wonderful mentor – still is a mentor,” Doyle said. “I work with him still, and he helped me develop my leadership style and gave me the opportunity to learn how to be a leader. He's been instrumental.”  

“He always takes the initiative and he always communicates really well,” Bernaber said. “He has a passion for learning more and giving more than is expected from him.”

Bernaber added, “He went from just a rec assistant to a supervisor to a manager, which says a lot about his responsibility and his willingness to help others and guide others through the same process that he went through.” 

He always takes the initiative and he always communicates really well.

Braily Bernaber

Fitness and wellness coordinator with Rutgers Recreation

Doyle soon will join other Rutgers graduates who experience favorable career outcomes after receiving their diplomas. Results from a 2024 post-graduation survey conducted by Career Exploration and Success showed overall career outcome rates – which include employment, continued education, military service and volunteer or service programs – of 84% for undergraduate and graduate students and 83% for undergraduates only. (Results from were 89% and 88%, respectively.) 

After his junior year, Doyle held an internship at , an aerospace parts maker in Montville, N.J., whose customers include the Navy, the Air Force, NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. 

“Their claim to fame is the core commercial reusable valve,” he said. “I qualified a valve for them. I went from a bag of parts to a fully approved flying valve that is on a rocket right now. So, that's pretty awesome.” 

After the Naval Academy was ruled out for medical reasons, Doyle considered Rutgers.  

“I applied to a lot of different schools and for the quality of education that you get and the price that comes along with it, that nobody could beat what Rutgers was offering,” said Doyle. “I always thought if I couldn't fly them, I wanted to build them. And so, through high school, I started focusing on engineering, took some hard technical courses, came here, really dove into it and I found something. 

“I tried to make the best of it, and I think I did a good job with that.”