Overview of NA&ME Internship Program
The Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NA&ME) major offers several summer internships each year. These six-week engineering experiences occur during 1/c summer at one of several U.S. Coast Guard units that are performing NA&ME work for the fleet and industry. For USCGA NA&ME graduates, there are two primary engineering career path opportunities. The most well-known is Naval Engineering, for support and operation of CG vessel/boat assets. The second is Prevention, for regulation and oversight of the commercial marine industry.
While there are many internship possibilities from different departments, this program is limited to NA&ME internships that are directly related to Naval Engineering and Prevention career paths. The NA&ME specific locations are: Engineering Logistics Center/CG Yard, Project Manager's Representatives Office Pascagoula, and Marine Safety Center. Eligibility
NA&ME internships are open only to cadets who are NA&ME majors. Hosting units expect a foundation of NA&ME ability at least on par with that offered by the Principles of Naval Architecture course taken during the 2/c (junior) year spring semester. In addition, there are several minimum basic grade and military performance requirements for eligibility. Simply meeting these requirements does not guarantee an internship.
In the view of NA&ME faculty, a candidate must have demonstrated that he/she has the academic and personal maturity to accept and successfully complete an engineering project(s) with little hour-by-hour or even day-by-day direct supervision. Demonstration of academic perseverance and self-motivation is expected. Demonstration of professional behavior is also expected.
Benefits
Other institutions that offer NA&ME programs often combine the classroom education with actual NA&ME engineering experiences. Due to the time constraints of a military college setting, we are unable to fit these experiences in during the semester or over a winter session, as others sometimes do. Instead, we are lucky that the USCGA NA&ME internships can occur during the summer training programs.
Internships are a wonderful opportunity to do some or all of the following:
- Meet and work alongside some of the best NA&ME professionals in the U.S.
- Develop a far greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the Naval Engineering and Prevention communities within the Coast Guard
- Spend time in a shipyard construction/repair settingVisit world-famous NA&ME government facilities
- Conduct independent research, planning, and/or analysis of NA&ME issues of particular importance to the Coast Guard
- Become a significant asset to your 1/c (senior) year-long ship design team
- Develop key relationships with uniformed and civilian engineering leaders that can be leveraged in the future
USCGA Expectations
While on-site at internships, NA&ME cadets are expected to undertake and complete an independent engineering project or study. Topics are typically developed in conjunction with the internship supervisors at the internship site. Before leaving the internship, the results of this work are written up as a formal design/analysis report and submitted to the Commanding Officer of the unit and to the Section Chief, USCGA NA&ME, upon return to campus. In addition, the details and results of the study are also incorporated into a largely original electronic presentation. Examples of such studies can be found at the above links for the individual internships.
It has also been our experience that interns, based upon their projects and exposure during the internships, are able to bring significant practical and theoretical experience to bear during the 1/c (senior) year-long ship design project. These experiences allow interns to shed significant light on classroom theoretical and design issues. Many times this can be a significant advantage during Capstone design efforts.