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Overview

It’s big and it’s blue and you can bet that we haven’t even begun to understand its depth (no pun intended, of course).


The ocean is one of the richest and most complicated bodies in the world, providing us with everything from oil to oxygen. Someone out there has to help us understand its potential and resources, and you can bet that we’re not looking to Eugenie Clark (a.k.a the Shark Lady) to answer our questions (or at least not all of them). No, for this we depend on the ocean engineer, the scientist who has brought the math and the analytical tools of engineering to bear on the largest physical mass on the face of the earth. We turn to the ocean engineers of the world to help us understand such complex things as ocean thermal dynamics, or how to preserve the balance of the delicate resources that we can find only in the ocean.


The career options with an Ocean Engineering major are varied because not only will you have the skills of an engineer—able to figure out differential math equations while leaping a tall building—but you will, of course, have the entire ocean as your specialty. So, whether you want to help design the next battleship, or help preserve the Great Barrier Reef, the world is your oyster.

SAMPLE CURRICULUM

  • Differential Equations

  • Dynamics

  • Engineering Graphics

  • Engineering Math

  • Fluid Mechanics

  • Network Analysis

  • Ocean and Environmental Data Analysis

  • Ocean Engineering Laboratory

  • Ocean System Control and Design

  • Oceanography

  • Programming in Computer Science

  • Statistics and Buoyancy

  • Vibrations


HIGH SCHOOl PREPARATION

A lot of deep sea diving is a good way to begin preparing for a major in Ocean Engineering. If you’re diving suit happens to be a little tight, consider very strong math and science skills, particularly advanced mathematics, like trigonometry and calculus, as solid preparation for what lies ahead. On the science side, advanced physics is probably the subject your school offers most pertinent to this major.