Senior Profile: Jack Becker ’21
Hometown: Manhasset, NY
Thesis Title: The Effect of Shape Change on the Added Mass Generated by an Axisymmetric Body
Post Graduate Plans: Work at Boksa Marine Design in Tampa, FL
What will you miss the most about Webb?
I will miss my classmates and the friends I have made during my time at Webb.
What’s your favorite spot on campus and why?
The yacht club is my favorite spot on campus. The ability to get out on the water or hang out on the beach after classes are the best way to enjoy a nice summer day.
Why did you choose Webb?
I chose Webb because of my love for the water and its academic rigor. After growing up with a boat on the Long Island Sound, I knew that I would like to design boats in my future. And through Webb’s academic rigor, I have gained a strong foundation in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering that I am looking forward to using throughout my career.
SD1 Projects: USCGC Skadi
Designers: Anika Breza, Rudy Caligure, Luke Kiely, and Rebecca Teitelbaum
Vessel Type: Polar Icebreaker
Vessel Mission:
The USCGC Skadi will support the U.S. Coast Guard’s missions in polar waters. It will have Search and Rescue capability, provide resupply to remote stations, and facilitate safe navigation through waterway maintenance and ship escort. It will also support law enforcement, scientific research, and environmental protection response.
Vessel Route:
This Vessel will navigate polar waters including the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic and McMurdo Sound in Antarctica at any time of year.
Icebreaking Requirements:
Skadi must break 2.5m of ice topped with 150mm of snow continuously at 3kts, corresponding with Polar Clas 2. She will be able to break ice ridges greater than 8m.
View Presentation
Visit our Junior Class Small Vessel Design Project page to view all of this year’s projects.
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.
Webb students give Welwyn Preserve much-needed TLC
By Jill Nossa
Read the article on LIHerald.com
Welwyn Preserve, on Crescent Beach Road, was once a little-known gem in Glen Cove, a place many enjoyed for the solitude of a quiet hike on a trail or down to the shore of Long Island Sound. But what previously attracted few became a destination for many over the past year, as people searched for outdoor activities. The influx of visitors, combined with a year of heavy winds, left the preserve in dire need of cleaning up.
Last Friday, dozens of students from the Webb Institute volunteered to do just that. “It’s been a little abandoned, and we have thousands of people coming through on the weekends now,” Jolanta Zamecka, president of Friends of Welwyn Preserve, said. “Welwyn is such an important preserve to this community, and people have discovered Welwyn and its fantastic trails.”
Webb students Luke Herbermann and Jackson Juska helped organize the volunteer effort after contacting Zamecka earlier this spring. “We had a Welwyn cleanup two years ago, mostly picking up trash, and thought it would be better this year to reach out,” Herbermann, 22, explained. “We wanted to make it a big deal because it had kind of died out last year.”
He and Juska encouraged other students to get involved, Herbermann said, and a crew of about 75 spent a few hours on Friday afternoon clearing branches, removing trash and painting.
The Webb Institute, a naval architecture and marine engineering college, is adjacent to the preserve, and students spend a lot of time walking the trails, Herbermann said. Some, like Hank Roland, also enjoy bird watching several times a week.
“Welwyn is a phenomenal place to go bird watching, because there’s a lot of variety,” Roland said. “The whole preserve is excellent, with all of the different habitats, open grass, greenhouses, and really gorgeous woods and creeks. There’s so much space.”
Cleaning it up not only benefits the birds, he said, but “makes it generally nicer for everyone in the park, for people who are coming in and enjoying the preserve.” Roland said he was happy to volunteer for the cleanup, and added, “I love this kind of work. I love being outdoors.”
Zamecka said that Webb students have been volunteering for many years, but this was the largest group she’s seen. In addition to clearing the trails, she said, they planned to mark the trails with tags instead of spray paint.
Zamecka is also vice chairman of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, which shares the property, and created the Children’s Memorial Garden 21 years ago. The one-acre garden has recently undergone renovations, including the construction of an amphitheater for outdoor workshops and the installation of memorial stanchions, completed in 2019.
Bob Praver, 95, vice chairman of the memorial garden, was on hand on Friday, overseeing the students’ progress and replenishing supplies. “He has been the engine that can,” Zamecka said. “He makes us all work.”
Several years ago, Praver recalled, he was sitting on a stone bench in the garden with his son. “We looked around, and the garden was in such terrible shape . . . the weeds were horrific,” he said. “And I said to my son, ‘You know, maybe I can do something.’ And I did.”
Praver got one person involved, who got someone else involved, “and it kind of mushroomed from there,” he said.
There were no lawns at the time in the Children’s Garden, just shrubs, and weeds had taken over. “Planting grass was the solution to the weeds, and by doing that, it opened the garden up,” Praver said. “People can picnic; children can run around.”
As chairs of the center’s Garden Committee, Praver and Zamecka are responsible for raising funds. “Most people don’t realize how expensive gardens can be,” Zamecka said. “The initial expense was about $350,000, and we needed $240,000 to $250,000 for the last phase.”
Along with planting grass, the expenses included irrigation and repairing brick work. The garden memorializes the 1.5 million Jewish children who died in the Holocaust, as well as children around the world who died in World War II. As part of its revitalization, 14 memorial stanchions were erected, displaying quotes about the Holocaust. The next projects being planned, Zamecka said, are to get the dolphin fountain working and to fix the patio.
“We’ve been very blessed,” she said, “because recently we’ve had two major donors.” The Shirley and William Fleischer Foundation contributed to the garden’s revitalization, as did Steven Dubner Landscaping.
The center also received a grant from New York state to repair the patio, Zamecka said, “But the problem is, we first have to spend the money, and we don’t have the funds.”
Currently, she said, they need $10,000 for the patio repairs. Those interested in making a donation can send a check to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, earmarked for the Children’s Garden.
A dedication and reopening ceremony for the garden is planned for June 6. A public cleanup of Welwyn Preserve is expected to take place later this spring, at a date yet to be determined.
President Michel Message to Alumni & Friends:
Greetings to all alumni and friends of Webb.
Although COVID-19 makes us do things a little differently, many exciting initiatives have been undertaken at Webb in the past year. A few of these initiatives are described below. As always, we look forward to receiving your ideas on how we can enhance Webb’s academic program and student life experience. In this message, you will find a link to our draft Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Plan. We encourage you to send us your comments.
Webb’s DEI Plan
Under the leadership of Webb Trustee Dr. George Campbell, the DEI Committee developed a draft DEI Plan which will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for final approval at its May 21st meeting. Please email any comments and suggestions you may have to ude.bbew@ikcejusg by Wednesday, May 12th. The DEI Committee will meet early next week to consider all input and modify the plan prior to Board submittal.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
Webb is one of the few colleges in the nation with 100% of students residing on campus and attending in-person classes this academic year. Furthermore, we are perhaps the only college to not have a single student contact COVID during either semester. A few students were infected with COVID during the holidays and their winter internships, but all returned to campus in good health.
We are pleased with the strong commitment to following COVID safety measures demonstrated by students, faculty, and staff. These COVID protocols included restrictions on travel, social distancing and wearing masks, and enhanced cleaning/disinfection practices. When the governor of NY State announced on April 6th that individuals over the age of 16 were eligible for vaccines, we promised to host an ice cream social once 95% of the student body received their first COVID vaccine. The response was amazing. Within three weeks, we were all enjoying ice cream in Cuneo Courtyard on a beautiful spring afternoon. I would like to extend a special shout-out to the sophomores who are now 100% vaccinated and to the senior class leadership that helped make this happen!
This impressive success in securing vaccines together with declining infection rates on Long Island has allowed us to begin relaxing some of our COVID-19 protocols. We are hopeful that campus life will return close-to-normal for the upcoming fall semester.
Commencement Exercises
We are pleased to announce that the Class of 2021 commencement will take place on campus on June 12th. Students will be restricted to six guests and there will be mask wearing and safe distancing requirements as mandated by NY State, but otherwise commencement exercises and the associated events will be much like past years. Karrie Trauth, recently named as the global head of shipping for Shell Oil, will be our commencement speaker and honorary doctorate recipient.
Unfortunately, the Class of 2020 was unable to have an in-person graduation due to COVID-19 restrictions. We are pleased that these graduates will be returning to campus on September 18th to celebrate their commencement!
Our Student Volunteers
In recent years, our students have been extraordinarily generous in their volunteer support of Webb and the surrounding community. These initiatives range from Engineering Day when our students introduce middle school students to engineering concepts to purchasing food and preparing meals at a local homeless shelter. Although many of these volunteer efforts were curtailed this year, last Friday afternoon 75 of our students performed much-needed maintenance work at the adjacent Welwyn Preserve and Holocaust Center. Tasks included picking up litter throughout the 200-acre park, clearing trails of fallen trees, and rebuilding damaged infrastructure. Congratulation to all who participated in this activity! Based on emails received from the Trustees of Welwyn Preserve, their work was much appreciated. View the entire photo album on Smugmug.
Infrastructure at Webb
The Couch Academic Center was completed just in time, providing the space needed to conduct in-person classes while maintaining safe distancing. The repurposing of classrooms to dormitories in Stevenson Taylor Hall is now complete. Students are scheduled to occupy these beautiful climate-controlled dorm rooms in the fall.
A wheelchair lift has been installed in Rosenblatt Gallery, providing ADA access between STH and the Couch Academic Center as well as the Henry Auditorium. Installation of a new ADA compliant elevator in STH will be finished in the next few weeks.
We have made good progress sprucing up campus grounds. Over 300 tons of stone were placed around the pier to provide protection against winter storms. We are currently pouring a new concrete cap over the length of the pier. In the next few weeks, we will install fencing on the west side of the pier. We have resurfaced and planted grass on Thorpe field, installed sprinklers and a new drainage system, and planted oak and maple trees adjacent to the field.
With gratitude for all you do for Webb!
Keith Michel
President, Webb Institute
Webb Institute Named a Best Value College for 2021 by The Princeton Review
Webb Institute is one of the nation’s top colleges for students seeking a superb education with great career preparation and at an affordable price, according to The Princeton Review®.
The education services company named Webb as a Best Value College for 2021 in a feature the company posted at https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/best-value-colleges/. The feature profiles 200 schools that The Princeton Review selected out of more than 650 institutions the company considered and surveyed for this year’s project.
Information on the Best Value Colleges for 2021 project and its seven categories of ranking lists, as well as our profiles of the selected schools, is accessible for free with registration on The Princeton Review’s website.
The Princeton Review chose its Best Value Colleges for 2021 based on data the company collected from its surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2019-20. The company also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the schools as well as PayScale.com com surveys of alumni of the schools about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction figures.
In all, The Princeton Review crunched more than 40 data points to tally ROI (Return on Investment) ratings of the colleges that determined its selection of the 200 schools for the 2021 project. Topics covered everything from academics, cost, and financial aid to graduation rates, student debt, alumni salaries, and job satisfaction.
“The schools we name as our Best Value Colleges for 2021 comprise only just over 1% of the nation’s four-year colleges,” noted Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief. “They are distinctive in their programs, size, region, and type, yet they are similar in three areas. Every school we selected offers outstanding academics, generous financial aid and/or a relatively low cost of attendance, and stellar career services. We salute Webb Institute for these exceptional offerings and recommend it highly to college applicants and parents.”
The Princeton Review lists that the starting medium salary for Webb graduates is $81,500 (according to Payscale). Webb students described the college as “THE college for Naval Architecture and a job offer is basically guaranteed after graduating.”
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges hierarchically on a single list, from 1 to 200. Among the project’s seven categories of ranking lists, Webb earned a #5 ranking on The Princeton Review list of Most Accessible Professors.
The Princeton Review is also widely known for its college rankings in dozens of other categories, many of which are reported in its annual book, The Best 386 Colleges, published in August.
Other Princeton Review rankings and lists that Webb Institute is on:
The Best 386 Colleges
Best Northeastern
Best Value Colleges
Tuition-Free Schools
Most Accessible Professors #5
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. Its Tutor.com brand is the largest online tutoring service in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 18 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com. Follow the company on Twitter @ThePrincetonRev and Instagram @theprincetonreview