Senior Spotlight: Alec Gonzalez ’20


Hometown: Melville, New York

Thesis Title: Webb’s Open-Circuit Wind Tunnel: Setup and Best Practices

Post Graduate Plans: Small Ship Design

What are you passionate about?
I love the outdoors, including both land and sea. Sailing and skiing are my primary passions.

What’s your favorite spot on campus and why?
Third deck balcony at sunset. No explanation needed.

What activities were you involved with at Webb?
The offshore sailing program.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
Work hard, but remember to have fun.

Senior Spotlight: Grant Dixon ’20


Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Post-graduate Plans: NSWC Carderock

Thesis Title: Design and Development of a Small Craft Collision Avoidance System

What are you passionate about?
Singing

What will you miss the most about Webb?
Spending time with all my classmates.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
Try to win a position in the student organization; competition is minimal and they can be really fulfilling.

What would be the best job for you?
Professional Video Game Tester

Senior Spotlight: Linda Waters ’20


Hometown: Annapolis, MD

Thesis Title: A Machine Learning Approach to Renewable Energy and Cost Optimization for Wind-Powered Cargo Ships

Post Graduate Plans: I will be pursuing a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland with their Center for Disaster Resilience. My degree will be a joint focus on environmental and systems engineering with an emphasis on societal impacts.

What was your favorite Winter Work internship?
My favorite Winter Work internship was my junior year internship, where I was working with Naval Group in Nantes, France. My internship introduced me to artificial intelligence programming, which I immediately loved and was fortunate enough to incorporate into my thesis. It was also fun to travel, experience a new culture, practice my French, and eat delicious food everyday!

What are you passionate about?
Renewable energy and sustainability. Anthropogenic emissions, global warming, ocean acidification, and environmental destruction are rapidly changing the Earth, and, as an engineer, I hope to slow, stop, and reverse the adverse impacts of human behavior on the environment.

What will you miss the most about Webb?
I will definitely miss my classmates the most. After four years together, my classmates have become my family, and I can’t believe we won’t be living together, stressing out about assignments, and making countless happy memories together next year.

Who was your favorite mentor at Webb and why?
Professor Scott! He’s one of my favorite professors, and I’m so thankful that he was willing to be my thesis advisor. He always reminds us of the importance of integrity and ethics in our work, and he’s such a great role model.

What would people be surprised to know about you?
I can play the banjo, am formally trained in Bach’s composition style, and know a lot about music theory – I’ve taken over ten years of music theory classes, including some college classes!

Senior Spotlight: Jonathan Wang


Hometown: Tianjin, China

Thesis Title: Improving Shipyard Management: Automated Assignment of Dependencies Within Ship Overhaul Schedules

Post Graduate Plans: NSWC Carderock, Combatant Craft Division

What are you passionate about?
Food. Cooking. Travel. Photography. Adventure. Exploring new places and new foods.

What’s your favorite spot on campus and why?
I enjoy relaxing by the yacht club, especially during sunset. I find the sound of waves relaxing and it is easy to take a break from the work and other things happening at Webb to enjoy a good sunset, watch the waves crash on the beach, and look out across the Long Island Sound.

What would be the best job for you?
One that continually provides new challenges and problems for me to solve. I love the process of working my way through a problem and the satisfaction of putting the effort into solving it. I also work well in an environment where I am given autonomy to complete my own work. I also enjoy a mixture of office and hands-on work and would love to be able to travel occasionally for work.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
Be involved. Webb is such a small community that your experience, along with everyone else’s will be better when you are involved with the community. There are so many ways to do so: join a sport or a student club; volunteer when opportunities arise; take a position of leadership. Be involved in different activities and learn something new! Work is important, but don’t forget to enjoy all the opportunities Webb has to offer.

What was your favorite Winter Work internship?
Sea Term on a MARAD ship docked just outside downtown San Francisco during the summer (I was in Southampton for the winter). Seeing the inner workings of the engine room was very interesting. Even more enjoyable was having the weekends free to explore the city. I love food and photography and SF had plenty of opportunities to explore both hobbies. It was basically summer vacation for two months in San Francisco with free room and board. The only downside was not getting to experience heavy seas like many of my classmates. The San Francisco Bay is not known for large waves.

SD1 Projects: Team Hot Stuff


About Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project (SD1):

As a part of Professor Bradley D.M. Golden’s ’99 Ship Design 1 (SD1) class, the juniors spent the first two-and-a-half months of the spring semester preparing their first complete concept designs.

Using the knowledge they’ve gained in their nearly three years studying at Webb and the experiences from their winter work periods to date, this was the students’ first opportunity to apply the naval architecture and marine engineering principles they’ve studied including stability, ship’s structures, main machinery systems, auxiliary systems, resistance and propulsion, and electrical engineering.

Working in small groups of three and four, the students selected one of the vessel types and took their first couple of spins around the design spiral to prepare vessel concept designs. To help make the project as realistic as possible, members of industry familiar with each of the vessel types helped prepare the statements of design requirements that each of the designs had to meet. To challenge the students even further, one or two “curveballs” were thrown into each design statement to make the students think long and hard about how they would achieve their objectives.

At the end of the spring semester, the students presented their final designs to their fellow students, faculty, and members of industry who served as part of an evaluation team. After three years at Webb, the Junior class can now say with confidence that they’re familiar with the design process and are well on their way to joining the fields of naval architecture and marine engineering.

Visit our Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project page to view all of this year’s projects.


Project Name: Team Hot Stuff

Designers: Jack Becker, Jackson Juska, and Maggie Maguire

Vessel Type: Fireboat

Standard Mission:
In response to an increasing need for firefighting services in the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach area, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) has commissioned Team Hot Stuff to design a new class of firefighting vessels. This class must bridge the gap between the LAFD’s existing larger and smaller vessels by providing not only a fast response time but also a large pumping capacity. During its service, this vessel must respond to and suppress fires, provide emergency medical services, defend against acts of terrorism, respond to environmental pollution, aid in search and rescue operations, and provide specialty team support.

View the Student’s Presentation

Senior Spotlight – Michael DeNapoli


Hometown: Bay Shore, NY

Thesis Title: Hydrodynamic Performance of a Lifting Body Using Near-Field Flow Kinematics from PIV Analysis

Post Graduate Plans: Bruce S. Rosenblatt & Associates, LLC

What will you miss the most about Webb?
Without a doubt, I will miss the people the most. Webb has an incredible community, and I’m so glad I got to spend time with all these unique people. As someone remaining on campus after everyone left, I’ve definitely noticed that Webb isn’t Webb without the people.

What was your favorite Winter Work internship?
My favorite winter work internship was my most recent one in Cleveland at Great Lakes Towing. Working at a small shipyard gave me a ton of cool experiences and helped me see how my education prepared for the work needed in a practical environment. I also got to figure out how to live totally alone for the first time, which was a worthwhile experience. A close second would be my time on ship. Pasha’s M/V Marjorie C traveled a loop between Los Angeles, San Diego, and Honolulu four times while I was on it, and I thought it was an amazing experience.

What was your favorite class at Webb and why?
Marine Engineering 5 with Professor Scott was my favorite class. I thought learning about system design was really cool, even if I wasn’t perfect at it. It was always impressive how Scott could teach difficult material so well. That never made his tests easy, but he was always a fair professor. I have to give credit to a few other classes though. Both American Government and Political Philosophy with Soupios were great lecture classes to listen to. And I know a couple of my classmates deeply disagree with this, but I thought Western Cultures 2 was fun, namely because of the fact that it made a bunch of engineers take a break from calculations to make a painting. And of course, there was the classic Naval Architecture 1 project where we did lines for a vessel by hand.

What activities were you involved with at Webb?
I tried to show up to many once-a-semester volunteering events throughout my time here, including Engineering Day, Graduation, Homecoming, and the many other events put together by the Leadership Committee. And like all good Webbies, I enjoyed the great major parties put together by the Social Committee. Maybe one of my regrets about my time at Webb is that I didn’t do more. But I think I would have that regret no matter what because it more than likely just means that I really wish I had more time here to enjoy everything about Webb.

Favorite Quote.
“Yes. You can make it idiot-proof, but they always invent a better idiot” – Professor Neil Gallagher

Reneé Tremblay and Linda Waters Present “Webb’s Glen Cove Campus” to the Nassau County Historical Society and the Webb Community


This May, seniors Reneé Tremblay and Linda Waters hosted a Zoom webinar about Webb campus history for the Nassau County Historical Society and the Webb community.

Text below is from the program flyer:

Nestled adjacent to the Long Island Sound in Glen Cove is Webb Institute, a unique engineering school where roughly 100 students are educated in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Hidden behind huge wrought iron gates that mark the entrance to the college is a massive mansion and grounds that were once the country estate of American businessman Herbert Lee Pratt (1871- 1945). Listen in to learn about the architectural history of the main building as well as its transition from glamorous 1920s summer home into one-of-a-kind learning center and dorms. Learn about the unique history of the property and additional buildings on campus.

Reneé and Linda, the speakers, are both seniors at Webb. For their capstone projects in a course entitled “Maritime History of Long Island,” Reneé delved further into the history of the Webb Institute Glen Cove campus while Linda studied the architecture of the original mansion, now Stevenson Taylor Hall. The roughly 30-minute presentation is a summary of their research.

Enjoy their presentation!

Senior Spotlight – Mara DuVernois ’20


Hometown: Menomonie, WI

Thesis Title: The Design and Construction of a Multipurpose Buoyancy-Driven Underwater Glider

Post Graduate Plans: Salvage Naval Architect at Resolve Marine Group

What was your favorite Winter Work internship?
Sophomore year Seaterm was my favorite. Incredible opportunity to go to Australia and Antarctica as well as do good work with amazing people. I got to do a bunch of different things in the engine room and learned a lot!

What activities were you involved with at Webb?
I was on Women’s Basketball/Tennis, SO (President), Student and Faculty Honor Council, COGAS, MEOW, WOW, Leadership Committee (Chair), Student Advisory Committee, Title IX Committee, Sophomore Chairs (Library and Student Store), Middle States Accreditation Team, and the list goes on. Also I had the pleasure of participating in a wide breadth of other volunteering work such as Engineering Day, Welwyn Cleanup, Ronald McDonald House, Strategic Plan Retreat, etc.

What will you miss the most about Webb?
I will miss the community and the people the most. Also Barney.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
Work hard, but enjoy your time at Webb. It is such a positive experience with the opportunities (from socially to professionally to leadership and even athletically), so don’t let those opportunities pass you by and forget to enjoy what Webb has to offer outside of the classroom.

SD1 Projects: M/V Cthulhu


About Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project (SD1):

As a part of Professor Bradley D.M. Golden’s ’99 Ship Design 1 (SD1) class, the juniors spent the first two-and-a-half months of the spring semester preparing their first complete concept designs.

Using the knowledge they’ve gained in their nearly three years studying at Webb and the experiences from their winter work periods to date, this was the students’ first opportunity to apply the naval architecture and marine engineering principles they’ve studied including stability, ship’s structures, main machinery systems, auxiliary systems, resistance and propulsion, and electrical engineering.

Working in small groups of three and four, the students selected one of the vessel types and took their first couple of spins around the design spiral to prepare vessel concept designs. To help make the project as realistic as possible, members of industry familiar with each of the vessel types helped prepare the statements of design requirements that each of the designs had to meet. To challenge the students even further, one or two “curveballs” were thrown into each design statement to make the students think long and hard about how they would achieve their objectives.

At the end of the spring semester, the students presented their final designs to their fellow students, faculty, and members of industry who served as part of an evaluation team. After three years at Webb, the Junior class can now say with confidence that they’re familiar with the design process and are well on their way to joining the fields of naval architecture and marine engineering.

Visit our Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project page to view all of this year’s projects.


Project Name: C.T.H.U.L.H.U SSV

Designers: Ian Cosic, Dillon Esposito-Kelly, Bret Sharman, and Cross Weeks

Vessel Type: Salvage Support Vessel

Standard Mission:
The standard anticipated mission of the vessel is the oil extraction of RULET wrecks. For this purpose, the vessel is outfitted with subsea oil extraction system, and dive capability to 150ft. The vessel is also capable of installation of a deck mounted 3 chamber saturation diving system for deeper wrecks. Also, the vessel is capable of towing a barge by the hip or over the stern. The vessel is outfitted with a 30 Lt crane to transfer iso tanks between vessels and aid in any salvage operations.

View the Student’s Presentation

Senior Spotlight – Christopher Bal ’20


Hometown: Massapequa, NY

Thesis Title: A Technical Description and Comparison of Renaissance Period Venetian Ship Construction to Liberty Ship Construction

Post Graduate Plans: Work as a Naval Architect.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
My biggest advice for incoming students would be to remember to have some fun while at Webb. Webb’s workload can seem overwhelming and stressful at times but it is important to take the time to enjoy time with your class. Your class is your family and you’ll regret not spending time with them.

What activities were you involved with at Webb?
While at Webb I was part of the keel boat sailing team and played on the Webb volleyball team. In addition, I took the time to participate in Webb’s Student Organization (SO) when I was treasurer and Marine Technology Society (MTS) chair.

Favorite Quote.
You can’t get so hung up on where you’d rather be, that you forget to make the most of where you are

What’s your favorite spot on campus and why?
My favorite spot on campus would be the yacht club. Some of my best memories were spent at the yacht club during yacht club socials or just relaxing with friends.

What will you miss the most about Webb?
More than anything else I will miss my class. We have grown so close as a family and it will be hard to not see them every day. COVID-19 made this extremely evident as we were rapidly separated without getting the chance to spend our last semester together.