Ocean Engineering (BS)

What is A Ocean Engineering (BS) Degree?

Ocean Engineering is the field which designs and builds specialized equipment to be used to do oceanographic research.  Ocean engineers use a variety of engineering skills—electrical, mechanical, design—to work with marine biologists, geologists, oceanographers, and other scientists to create instruments to be used underwater to measure and sample objects, animals, and formations of the seafloor.  As you can imagine, this is very different engineering work from the kind done in a nice, warm, safe, comfortable laboratory in a company or university.

Students in Ocean Engineering programs study the same fundamental science and math required of all engineers and also study characteristics of the ocean environment and the kinds of research methods that are used in saltwater.  They also learn about the structures that will be found, the geomechanics and energy generation of those structures, and how to use robotics in sometimes treacherous seas.  The program may require students to train in the field since the instruments that they will design will have to withstand being in water for long periods of time.  What better way to learn than being in the environment yourself!  With the BS degree in Ocean Engineering you’ll be able to do this physically demanding work as an Ocean Engineer, and you may decide to go on to do graduate work to specialize in equipment design for a particular type of ocean research.

The video below discusses a “typical” program, so it should help regardless of which school you are considering.