Forward momentum
A multifaceted mechanical engineer supports NASA missions.
Photograph Courtesy Of Syd Friedman
After graduating, Syd Friedman ’26 landed a fluid design engineering role at Amentum, a contractor of Kennedy Space Center that supports Artemis space missions. The task at hand? Analyze designs and calculations of pressure valves and subsystems critical to launching rockets and sending astronauts to the moon.
The mechanical engineering major was offered this full-time position following a successful 2025 internship with Amentum. Friedman recalls the experience from last year, at one point walking hundreds of feet in the air across the “crew access arm,” or bridge, where astronauts move from the launch tower into a rocket, to take in close views of Artemis II. Several months later when the spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral on April 1, Friedman watched it live from Skillman Library in awe.
“There were things I got to help with that made sure all of this was going to be as safe as possible for the astronauts,” Friedman says of their team’s focus on the fueling process. “It’s going to be hard to top.”
At the age of 21, that job was a dream realized.
When Friedman moved to Pompano Beach, Fla., in fourth grade, a passion for space science was sparked during an overnight field trip to Kennedy Space Center, where the students slept under the Saturn V rocket. By the following year, Friedman wanted to be an engineer—and also an author. Lafayette would be a place to explore both.
While at Lafayette, Friedman complemented the engineering core with courses in creative writing, religious studies, and philosophy—loving the latter so much it became their minor. “Studying philosophy improves your cyclical thinking and iterations of design,” Friedman says, noting how the discipline makes engineers better by strengthening problem-solving skills and increasing mental flexibility.
Outside of classes, Friedman joined the student-run theater group Marquis Players and was active with the Theater Department. They also kept writing, winning the 2026 H. MacKnight Black Poetry Competition. All of these experiences helped them develop as a person.
“There’s so much here that I want to bring into my life—being open to thinking about things in new ways, trying new experiences, and connecting with people in a variety of different ways.”
