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.