News Release

NEW LONDON, Conn. – After more than 27 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard, Capt. Vincent Wilczynski, of Toledo, Ohio, is scheduled to retire on Oct. 29, 2010, at the Coast Guard Academy’s Officer’s Club.

Wilczynski’s Coast Guard career began in 1983 when he graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. He later earned his Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of America.

Wilczynski served as an engineer on the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive out of St. Petersburg, Fla., and as a naval architect at the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Center in Washington, D.C., before accepting a position at the Coast Guard Academy in July 1992.

During his tenure at the academy, Wilczynski oversaw all aspects of the academy’s Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology programs in Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

Wilczynski was a primary source in establishing the academy’s Mechanical Engineering major in 1995. He also served as the Chair of Mechanical Engineering, as the Assistant Dean of Academics and as the Dean of Engineering and professor of Mechanical Engineering. Wilczynski oversaw the curriculum content and infrastructure support for 1,000 students, 50 faculty and 10 staff members.

Even with all his personal accomplishments, it was always the people that he interacted with at the academy that inspired him the most. 

“Without a doubt, I am proudest of the cadets and officer graduates that I have worked with,” said Wilczynski. “They all have unbound enthusiasm for their roles in the Coast Guard, and the enthusiasm is infectious. It is a long road, with many challenges, but they too are optimistic and determined. Seeing each class achieve their dream is inspiring.”

Many of Wilczynski’s students found him to be inspiring as well.

“Captain was a great teacher that got through to many cadets in ways that other teachers couldn’t,” said George Greendyk, a second class cadet at the Coast Guard Academy. “His teaching style was certainly one that could get through to many cadets, but many people thought he was great because of his attitude. No topic or problem was ever the end of the world and would never be too strenuous for one of his ‘best classes ever’. He impacted my time at the academy by teaching about not just the material, but how to enjoy life at the academy and have a positive attitude no matter what. I’m sad to see him go, but I know he wants us all to carry on his cheerful attitude.”

After his retirement from the Coast Guard, Wilczynski will become the Deputy Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

“I have the chance to work in some new dimensions and I am looking forward to those new areas,” said Wilczynski. “Though I will be part of the administration, I am anxious to also take on the role of a student as I learn how this complex system of independent programs interacts, organizes and celebrates. I suspect it will take a bit of time to understand the pulse of the university, and I remain optimistic that being in a new and larger environment will be a time of new personal growth.”

Professional awards and affiliations:

• Vice president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• National officer of American Society for Engineering Education
• Evaluator for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• Member of the State of Connecticut Department of Higher Education Board of Governor’s Advisory Committee on Accreditation
• Serves on the Executive Advisory Board of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Foundation
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Naval Engineering in the 21^st Century
• Serves as a fellow of the American Council on Education
• Serves as a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Named the 2001 Baccalaureate Colleges Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching – the only national award which recognizes outstanding college teaching
• Received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Church Medal in 2005 for outstanding contribution in mechanical engineering education

DHS Projects

• Commercial ship rapid boarding system
• Remotely operated shipboard surveying system
• Autonomous aerial vehicle
• Underwater diver propulsion aids
• Remotely operated underwater vehicle
• Autonomous underwater vehicle
• Cargo container scanning device