WWD

Woodward, Inc.

A maker of precision control systems for aircraft engines and industrial turbines, Woodward's parts help keep everything from airliners and helicopters to power plants and ships running at a steady speed. Founded in 1870 when self-taught inventor Amos Woodward patented a device to regulate the speed of waterwheels, the company began as the Woodward Governor Company in Rockford, Illinois, and is now based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Its very first governor — a gadget that keeps a spinning machine from racing out of control — still explains the "governor" in its original name.