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Home / Academics / Academic Majors / Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering / Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Senior Projects

SENIOR PROJECTS

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

In the “capstone” senior design experience, small teams of students conduct a yearlong preliminary design of a Coast Guard or commercial vessel. The capstone experience is embedded in, and directly supported by, three first class (senior) courses:

  • Principles of Ship Design
  • Ship Propulsion Design
  • Ship Design & Systems Integration

Teams of three to four students work together for the entire academic year. Faculty advisors to the teams effectively serve in the role of engineering supervisors. During the year, each team submits approximately twenty formal design “submittals” or reports. Each report covers a particular aspect of the design of the ship such as hull design, general arrangements, propulsion, damaged stability, electrical plant, model testing, ship motions, structures, crewing and more.

During this ship design process and the associated close interaction with faculty, cadets develop a wealth of technical skills, professional abilities and communication competencies that prove invaluable to the cadets’ Coast Guard futures and civilian careers of all types.

Recent Senior Projects

The senior capstone project presents the ultimate design and creativity challenge for NA&ME majors. Applying four years of naval architecture and marine engineering study, student projects have covered a variety of ship types and designs, including:

Arctic Offshore Support Vessel

Students were tasked to design a fleet of offshore support vessels. Intended to support exploration-drilling operations off the coast of Alaska, the vessels needed to be capable of transiting long distances, working in extreme environmental conditions and performing a variety of missions. Additionally, designs needed to incorporate the use of “green” energy technologies to minimize the vessels’ carbon footprint and preserve the pristine beauty of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Coast Guard Medium Endurance Cutter

NA&ME students were tasked with designing a concept vessel to resolve gaps in capabilities currently experienced by the aging fleet of medium endurance cutters. Each design aimed to achieve the traditional Coast Guard missions with an additional caveat; one vessel must have disaster response capabilities, one vessel must be ice capable and the last vessel must have superior sea-keeping characteristics.

Roll-On, Roll-Off Ferry Design

Students were tasked to design a concept vessel for the transport of truck “containers” from Jacksonville, Florida, to Bridgeport, Connecticut. The goal of the project was to transport at least 150 tractor-trailer containers a day, thus removing this traffic from Route 95 and the adjacent Eastern seaboard.

Mobile Offshore Base Design

Students were tasked with designing a concept vessel to improve Coast Guard execution of the alien migrant interdiction and counter-drug missions, with a focus on the Caribbean. The designed vessels were also required to fulfill an additional mission of supporting humanitarian relief and disaster response in the spirit of the Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and the Japan Tsunami.

 
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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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