Butler resident and 2015 Butler High School graduate Patrick Fullerton has been spending the summer building a self-flying blimp for the U.S. Navy on Puget Sound, Wash., through the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program.

KEYPORT, WA — Butler resident Patrick Fullerton has been spending the summer building a self-flying blimp for the U.S. Navy.

The Butler High School 2015 graduate is working at a Navy research center on Puget Sound near Seattle through the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program.

Fullerton attends Washington & Jefferson College in Washington County, where he majors in physics. The college gave him a grant to cover the costs of this summer project.

When chosen for the program, Fullerton was asked to identify which participating Department of Navy laboratory he’d like to work at. The base in Keyport, called the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, caught his attention and became his top choice.

“It was something that sounded unique and pretty interesting to me,” he said. “I then saw that, among other things, the base did work with 3-D printing, which is something that I like to do as a hobby when I am home from school. On top of that, the location is in the Pacific Northwest, which is an amazing place to be.”

The 10-week internship started at the beginning of June and runs through Friday.

Read more about Fullerton’s experience in the Butler Eagle.