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Home / From the Fleet to the Classroom and Back: Mechanical Engineering Concept Comes Full Circle

From the Fleet to the Classroom and Back: Mechanical Engineering Concept Comes Full Circle

Stefanie Senkow | MARCH 25, 2021

CGC Polar StarA Coast Guard operational obstacle became a mechanical engineering capstone project in 2017. Today, the final product received; a design patent and is currently underway in the fleet. It took the foresight of former cadet LCDR Kara Burns to identify the issue and bring it to the Academy classroom.

It started aboard Coast Guard icebreaker POLAR STAR. Then Ensign Burns started her first tour as an engineering officer in training. She noticed that every time the cutter broke ice, the anti-rotation bar would break, disabling the ship and it’s propulsion system.

“Every time one of these bars fails, the cutter must come to a complete stop in the ice and get repaired. It is a 4-to-12-hour repair depending on the failure method and extent of the damage,” said Burns.

Continually mindful of this problem, Burns was then stationed as a mechanical engineering faculty member at the Academy for her second tour. She oversaw the first-class cadets’ capstone projects.

“This is where I saw the power of a Coast Guard related problem and the passion the cadets showed towards making things better for their shipmates in the fleet,” said Burns. “When I eventually transferred from the Academy and back to the fleet, I knew I wanted to stay connected to my colleagues at CGA but also the mechanical engineering program, so I kept an eye for issues or problems that could be solved by 3 to 5 cadets.”

Burns found herself back on POLAR STAR as the engineering officer. Sure enough, history repeated itself as she observed the same breakdown of the anti-rotation bar.

“I decided to reach out and pitch my idea for a capstone project, to come up with a design to fix this issue. Upon Academy approval, we officially had a project,” said Burns. “And just our luck my new AEO, had a brother who was a mechanical engineering cadet. A team of cadets visited us while we were in port, took some pictures, talked to the crew and went back to the Academy to start exploring solutions.”

Once the cadets completed the design concept, it was turned over to the larger Academy engineering department for final production. Today the mechanism recently received a utility patent and is currently in use on POLAR STAR and is now being used for its second deployment to Antarctica.

Learn more about Mechanical Engineering at the Coast Guard Academy.

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Sponsor Family Application

Thank you for submitting your application to be part of the Sponsor Family Program. Your application will be processed in the upcoming week. Coast Guard Academy’s policy on background screening now requires all adults (everyone 18 and older living in the home) who volunteer to mentor, teach, coach or sponsor cadets, whether on or off Coast Guard Academy grounds, to be screened every 5 years. They are required to provide personal information (name, birth date and social security number) for the purpose of conducting a criminal background check.

The Security Officer at the Coast Guard Academy, CWO2 Gina Polkowski, is overseeing this process. Her email is: Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.

Sponsor Family designations fall into several different categories. Below are the guidelines to help you determine how best to meet the background screening requirement:

  1. If you are Coast Guard active duty you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
  2. If you are a Civilian working for the Coast Guard you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
  3. If you are non-Coast Guard Active Duty, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at  Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
  4. If you are non-Coast Guard civilian who has a current security clearance or National Agency check, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at  Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
  5. All civilians in the families who are 18 years or older and do not have a security clearance or a National Agency Check are required to be vetted through Mind Your Business, the third party vendor hired by the Coast Guard Academy for the vetting process.

After you complete your application, please e-mail the Sponsor Family Program Coordinator at CadetFamilySponsorProgram@uscga.edu. In your e-mail, you must include the e-mail address and phone number of every adult living in the home. The Sponsor Family Coordinator will then initiate the background check process and you will receive an email with further instructions.

Important things to note:

There is a Sponsor Family Training that is a one-hour training which we ask sponsors to attend once every four years. This training is designed to give you an overview of the program, what is expected of you as a sponsor, and what you can expect from your cadets. This training will also help familiarize you with the cadet regulations onboard CGA. You will be notified via e-mail once the training is scheduled.

The matching process of swabs to families will occur during July and August. Please bear with us and remain flexible through this process. There will be a meet and greet scheduled on Campus, typically in late August. This will give families an opportunity to formally meet their cadet if they have not already done so. Details on this will also be via email.

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