CAPT Michael Plumley is an active duty Coast Guard Captain currently serving as a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. He served in the fleet as a port engineer, Damage Control Assistant of a medium endurance cutter, and Chief Engineer of the first National Security Cutter, CGC BERTHOLF. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Coast Guard Academy, and 3 advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering.

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CAPT Plumley served as Chair of the Coast Guard Academy Mechanical Engineering department for 4 years, overseeing the program’s largest enrollment, a successful ABET re-accreditation visit, and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has over ten years of collegiate teaching experience, including several upper level courses and research projects on respirator design, desalination, engine efficiency, autonomous vehicles, and biomedical systems. CAPT Plumley is director of the Coast Guard Academy's National Lab Internship program and a member of the Maritime Risk Symposium planning committee. He is named on two patents, and holds a 100-ton Coast Guard Master’s license and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Connecticut.