Innovation Council -
2009 Innovation Award Winners
Congratulations to the following Coast Guard individuals or teams who have created or implemented innovative solutions to Coast Guard challenges.
Science or Technology
Carmanah Field Testing Unit
BM2 Alex J. Bernier
USCG ANT South Portland
P.O. Bernier recognized a problem with the way Carmanah LED buoy lanterns
were tested. He took it upon himself to research how the Carmanah was
activated and what it would take to fabricate a reliable test unit that
could be utilized by other units. He spent hours developing his first
prototype, which was crudely constructed of plywood and Radio Shack parts.
He then tested the unit several times in the field and made numerous
improvements. Once he worked out the kinks, he had ISD South Portland (ME)
fabricate an aluminum box that would serve as the housing for his device. He
then attached an old Carmanah LED on the box to mimic the flash
characteristic inside the box. The unit was then tested on several ATON
trips with 100% success. P.O. Bernier’s innovation and devotion to the Coast
Guard are evident in his actions. Rather than be satisfied with doing things
the way they have always been done, he developed, prototyped and constructed
a device that, if implemented in the field, will save countless man-hours
and more importantly will ensure that units are placing the correct flash
characteristic on scene.
Science or Technology
Voice Over IP (VOIP) in WMSL Staterooms
ITCS Christopher L. Moore
USCG BERTHOLF (WMSL-750)
Originally the USCGC BERTHOLF (WMSL 750) was designed with only a few dial
telephones installed in key workspaces and none of the berthing areas below
the Command Cadre level. When CG-7 determined that having voice
communications in the thirty-seven staterooms onboard was a critical safety
at sea issue, the shipbuilders estimated that installing ISDN telephones in
every stateroom would cost an estimated $300K in equipment plus several
hundred staff-hours, and could not be completed prior to delivery. ITCS
Moore conceived, and quickly researched the Voice Over IP (VOIP) solution
and crafted a comprehensive Engineering Change Proposal (ECP). The VOIP
solution eliminated the need to run thousands of feet of cable by utilizing
installed network cabling, while enabling the Coast Guard to swiftly correct
this serious safety issue.
Operations or Readiness
MTS Common Assessment & Reporting Tool
LANTAREA (APW)
LANTAREA identified methods to harvest, store and analyze critical data
which satisfies our service’s information and communication challenges
related to the Marine Transportation System (MTS). LANTAREA developed a
prototype data repository of MTS infrastructure data and linked the data to
an analysis and retrieval tool to facilitate MTS recovery, assessment and
reporting following an MTS disruption. This database tool is now known as
the MTS Common Assessment and Reporting Tool (CART). The continued
implementation of this system will greatly reduce workload on field
personnel who are manually populating individual unit spreadsheets with
needed data as part of the required MTS, in order to support decision makers
assess recovery progress and provide consistent recovery reporting across
units and districts. CART can also be linked to geospatial viewers (i.e.
enterprise GIS) which have proven invaluable display tools that are heavily
relied upon during crucial response and recovery events. This tool reduces
workload on planners and responders, in addition to ensuring the expeditious
resumption of cargo flow through the MTS following a significant disruption.
Admin, Training or Support
Depot Level Engineering Specification Compiler (DeSpecC)
Maintenance & Logistics Command Atlantic (MLCLANT)
The new tool facilitates a more automated and advanced specification
development process than the MLCA Boat Spec Café (2004 Niels P. Thomsen
Innovation award winner) and Cutter Café, and is more supportable as a web
application than MLCP’s SpecWrite. Where the existing MLC tools left off,
DeSpecC picks up and greatly enhances the specification developmental
process by removing time-consuming manual steps, providing real-time
generation of standardized documents, homogenizing cutter and boat
spec-writing processes, and expanding accessibility and visibility of the
spec-writing process via a DeSpecC user account. Built-in user analytics,
such as specific analysis of specification development writing habits, will
additionally facilitate process improvements and metrics. This application
can easily be employed by any Coast Guard Logistics Center. The DeSpecC
provides the Coast Guard’s modernization efforts a highly effective and
standardized e-Tool that can be made available to any unit or product line
personnel. Expectation is that the DeSpecC will eventually provide a depot
level specification development service to engineers Coast-Guard-wide –
across naval, civilian and aviation communities. Specifications are
developed by experts from all three communities, and DeSpecC can easily
scale to facilitate each. Any future scaling for a new community will
require nominal cost, primarily dependent upon a business analysis of the
specific engineering community and any data collected for assimilation by
DeSpecC.
Management
Shipboard Waste Management/Recycling
ENG3 Sean R. Lyons
USCGC HEALY (WAGB 20), Seattle, WA
The HEALY recycling/waste management program actively reduces the solid
waste which is disposed of at sea by engaging in effective pre-planning,
active and robust sorting and aggressive recycling. They currently recycle
corrugated cardboard, white office paper, individual drink containers
(aluminum, glass, plastic) and scrap metal. Soon they will recycle cooking
oil from their galley. The Recycling Officer has conducted significant
training with the crew and with each embarked science party (35-50 people)
to achieve a cultural shift which embraces the required sorting.
HEALY has been able to eliminate the discharge of non-food solid waste while
at sea. During a 73-day underway period with no port calls, nothing but food
was jettisoned. And while some units burn substantial amounts of trash
underway, HEALY did not burn anything. On return to homeport at the end of
that trip, HEALY was able to recycle large quantities of material, including
3,000 pounds of cardboard. The man-hours spent in trash offloads were also
substantially reduced.
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