Senior Projects
Cyber Systems
During their senior year, Cyber Systems (CySys) cadets take a two-semester course
called Capstone Projects in Cyber Systems I and II. The focus of these courses is
to teach the skills and concepts needed to succeed as project officers.
Teams of approximately three to four cadets collaborate on a real-world Coast Guard
cyber problems. Working with faculty and Coast Guard units, cadets develop a solution
that meets the Coast Guard’s needs.
Classroom discussions primarily cover current industry and Coast Guard standards
of project management and systems engineering while emphasizing students' public
speaking skills. Cadets take field trips to Coast Guard cyber units to experience
jobs they may be assigned to as junior officers.
At the end of each semester, cadets merge their learning from the classroom and
lab to deliver a paper and presentation outlining their results.
The CySys capstone projects are a culminating experience of the major that prepares
students with the technical, conceptual, and practical skills needs for a professional
career as a cyber officer (and beyond).
Recent Cyber-Related Academy Capstone Projects (From Other Majors)
Academy cadets have confronted a wide range of real-world cyber problems already
through various projects and Cyber Systems majors are intended to only deepen and
expand the great work already being done such as:
Industrial Control System Cyber Physical Mock-Up and Security Analysis (Electrical
Engineering)
The fundamental purpose of this Industrial Control System Cyber Physical Mock-Up
and Cyber Analysis capstone project was to increase awareness of the threat to our
nation's critical infrastructure these systems pose, demonstrate the potential cyber
attacks that can be carried out on modern industrial control systems, and document
measures that should be taken to mitigate the risks they pose. Cadets built a model
of a modern day industrial control system (ICS) related to the maritime domain and
to demonstrate how its operations can be protected in the cyber world.
Cyber Port Vulnerabilities (Management Department and Humanities Department)
Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) continuously seek to smuggle illicit
merchandise through America’s international borders. In the cyber-maritime border
environment, they attempt to evade detection by concealing contraband in sea freight
or in commercial fishing vessels. Given the sheer volume of international vessels
entering U.S. seaports daily, the Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies
face challenges in detecting smuggling concealment methods and targeting freight
that is being moved through sophisticated facilitation schemes. Cadets analyzed
cyber port vulnerabilities typically exploited by criminal organizations and measured
the economic impact to the Maritime Transportation System.
Augmented Reality for Coast Guard Mission Support (Electrical Engineering)
This project streamlined engine maintenance on a Coast Guard cutter through the use of Augmented Reality (AR). Current engine maintenance procedures can be frustrating and confusing. AR technology makes the experience more immersive by overlaying the procedure on the actual environment where the maintenance is required. Cadets learned the technologies associated with implementing AR, including platforms used in the gaming industry, to develop and deploy maintenance procedures to AR hardware and test it on a Coast Guard cutter stationed at the Coast Guard Academy.