What is the difference between naval engineering, naval architecture, ocean engineering, and marine engineering?
Answer 1 – In very general terms- Naval engineering usually refers to engineering naval ships (I.e. naval engineers journal is mostly US Navy) naval architecture usually refers to hull design including ship stability, hull resistance, hull structure, etc. ocean engineering is very broad and refers to designing anything from terminals and marinas to offshore floating platforms to mooring systems. It is heavier in hydrodynamics and some soils, closer so a civil engineering in nature (see Texas A&M’s Ocean Engineering Program)
Marine engineering usually refers to systems engineering on ships and offshore platforms. While the NAME program at Michigan teaches some marine engineering, a marine engineer by trade is a licensed mariner who sails on the vessels and most likely went to a maritime academy.
Answer 2 – Marine engineers are responsible for the design of a ship’s propulsion system, which includes the main engine (diesel, steam, gas turbine), reduction gears, shafting, propellers, and all the auxiliary machinery which supports the propulsion system. Marine engineers are also responsible for designing the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning System (HVAC) for a ship, the fire fighting system, the potable water system, the electrical power distribution system, and just about any other machinery system that may exist on a particular ship.
Why did you decide to get involved in Marine Engineering?
I went on a tour of the Marine Hydrodynamics Lab when I was a sophomore. When I saw all of the ship models being built for testing in the model basin I knew this is what I wanted to do. I transferred from Civil Engineering to Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering the next day.
What are a few different jobs that a Marine Engineer has to do?
If you work aboard ships as a marine engineer (this is a different career) you will be responsible for all of the electrical and machinery systems aboard the ship, from the computers and microprocessors that control the main propulsion system down to the simple pumps that move water or sewage. Shipboard engineers must also possess good analytical skills for troubleshooting problems, and have excellent practical skills with hand and power tools. On a daily basis you might tear down and repair a pump, replace circuit boards in a control system, or diagnose a problem in a complex electrical schematic.
Have you ever been involved in a project for this field? If so what project?
Answer 1 – I was involved in two great projects in my career. The first was the construction of the Glomar Explorer, a ship built in the early 1970’s ostensibly to mine the bottom of the ocean for minerals, when in actuality it was designed and built to recover, in total secrecy, a Russian submarine from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. I worked in the shipyard and on the ship itself, a rare opportunity for a naval architect/marine engineer.
The second great project I worked on was the replacement of the propulsion controls for five gas turbine-powered oil tankers owned and operated by a major energy company that I worked for at the time. The type of control system we designed and installed was the world’s first marine application of this particular technology. Although highly complex and difficult to install, the project was enormously successful. It is still the only marine application of this technology in the world, and it was the high point of my marine engineering career.
Answer 2 – Marine engineers work on the design of every type of naval vessel, from submarines to aircraft carriers, from small patrol boats to high speed planing craft and cruisers.
How did you get to your current position? What helpful job-related experiences have you had in the past?
I am semi-retired now, but I worked my way up to chief engineer (think Scotty on Star Trek, but without any glamour) based on knowledge and hard work. I also managed several large design projects in my company’s main office in San Francisco in the 1990’s. The opportunity to work on those projects was a direct result of my original degree in naval architecture/marine engineering, my performance as a chief engineer, and my master’s degree in electrical engineering. In particular, I was given the opportunity to manage the design and replacement of the complicated electronic systems which controlled the propulsion systems on five of my company’s oil tankers. I worked on this project for almost five years.
It was very, very successful and was definitely the high point of my career. That project brought to bear all of the experience and knowledge that I had accumulated to that point. I think all of us who worked on that project still see it as the most challenging and rewarding project we ever worked on.
What are the main responsibilities associated with work in your field?
For an engineer working for a major oil company, safe operations are more important than anything else you might consider, including cost.
Safety in design to protect the people working on the ships or platforms, and moving the products safely to protect the environment are of primary concern. However, ships also have to be designed so the people working on them are comfortable (ie., the ship doesn’t roll a lot in a seaway), can do their jobs effectively, and are an economic asset to the corporation. Engineers also have to design ships to comply with many regulatory agencies, such as the American Bureau of Shipping. These regulatory agencies ensure that ships and platforms meet certain design standards for safety and structural integrity.
What starting salary and benefits could I expect?
Starting salaries and benefits depend on who you work for and where you work. The major energy companies have some of the best salaries and benefits in this field. An engineer with a 4-year degree can start at $70,000-$80,000 per year. If you go to work at a smaller design firm or for the government. you might make $10,000-$15,000 less. As far as I am aware, all businesses in the shipbuilding field offer medical/dental and other benefits.
What are the emerging jobs related to your field?
Answer 1 – Some emerging jobs or emerging technologies are deepwater and ultra deepwater floating production systems, alternative energy (i.e. capturing wind or wave energy at sea), and alternative propulsions systems and emissions reduction
Answer 2 – There is increasing interest in developing electrical energy from ocean and tidal or river currents, ocean waves, etc. Naval architects and marine engineers (and also electrical engineers) will be the principal players in this exciting and interesting new field. The marine environment presents challenges not seen in any other environment on earth, especially corrosion, but also marine growth (algae, mussels), wind, and other hazards.
Another area is the search for oil in the deep waters of the world (10,000 feet or more). Special ships have to be designed for this purpose, because the water is too deep to anchor a traditional oil platform. The ships have to be dynamically positioned (ie., they’re always moving, adjusting their position with the ship’s propellers or thrusters), which makes them complicated and expensive.
What is your specialty in naval engineering?
Answer 1 – For an engineer working for a major oil company, safe operations are more important than anything else you might consider, including cost. Safety in design to protect the people working on the ships or platforms, and moving the products safely to protect the environment are of primary concern. However, ships also have to be designed so the people working on them are comfortable (ie., the ship doesn’t roll a lot in a seaway), can do their jobs effectively, and are an economic asset to the corporation. Engineers also have to design ships to comply with many regulatory agencies, such as the American Bureau of Shipping. These regulatory agencies ensure that ships and platforms meet certain design standards for safety and structural integrity.
Answer 2 – I work in the Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering Group at ConocoPhillips. We mainly work on integrity of our assets (Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, Floating production systems (FPS), like the Magnolia tension leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Mexico) and front end engineering for future offshore projects including mooring systems, FPSO conversion, single point moorings (SPM). We are mainly project managers for anything floating in the company.
What are your favorite things about your job? What makes it challenging?
Answer 1 – I like the opportunities to keep learning new things. Every project we work on is different than the last. There is a lot of variety. I also like that we work on projects all over the world. Sometimes we get to travel to new places and we often work with people from different cultures, which I love.
Answer 2 – What are your favorite things about your job? What makes it challenging? I had a great career working aboard ships and managing various “shoreside” projects from time to time. I made over 50 trips to Alaska,
17 to Hawaii, and 5 trips through the Panama Canal. I also worked in all the major cities on the west coast (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), and Seattle). I grew up in a very small town in a rural area on Lake Superior, but I have always enjoyed living in the country’s major cities. One of the most challenging (and rewarding) aspects of my job was that there was always something new to learn, whether it was some engineering system aboard the ships I was on or learning something new about the projects I was managing when working ashore. You will be a better engineer in your life if you always approach every day with the attitude that “there is always something new to learn”. You then have the responsibility to pass that knowledge on to others who work with/for you. Never think that you know all there is to know – that can be a route to total disaster for you and/or your company.
Answer 3 – Working in a shipyard while a ship is under construction. You can actually see your design come to life, and learn how your design can be modified on the next ship to make it even better. I also spent much of my career working on ships, and very much enjoyed the opportunity to see so much of north America, Hawaii, and the Panama Canal.
Please describe a typical day, week or month.
Answer 1 – A typical day in the office involves checking email and responding to questions from the business units, questions on budgets, and getting information from vendors and subject experts to help with whatever project I’m working on. This week I’m doing quite a bit of online training on project management. Other weeks I’m running simulations for mooring analysis or transportation studies and writing reports on results for the client. We work in teams in almost every project and often have team meetings to discuss planning and progress.
Answer 2 – I worked for a major oil company. I specifically worked for an operating company within the corporation that transported oil and refined products around the world. The major responsibility of the shipping company was to _safely_ transport crude oil to the company’s refineries and to _safely_ transport refined products from the refineries to ports and terminals around the world. To do this the company designed and built some of their own oil tankers, and in other cases the company leased ships that had been built by someone else. A naval architect or marine engineer typically would be assigned to new design projects or to modifications being made on existing projects. The naval architect or marine engineer (I’ll just refer to them as engineers from this pointon) might also be assigned to work on platforms or semi-submersibles use for oil drilling around the world.
Although most of the work would be done in the home office (California or Texas) an engineer would often have to travel to shipyards around the world where the projects were being constructed. There are always design review meetings to attend, changes to be made to designs, etc. Engineers in this field use computers all the time to perform calculations, analyze structures, stability, etc. 50 years ago almost all of the calculations were done by hand (slide rules) or with mechanical calculators, but today much of the work is PC-based. However, even with the PC, today’s engineers must have a solid, fundamental understanding of the concepts involved in designing large structures such as ships or platforms
Are you usually working near the water with the builders, or are you usually indoors?
I usually work in the office, but occasionally get to go offshore or to shipyards for short term assignments or visits depending on the project. We also travel to our business units globally for meetings with clients. This week we visited a small shipyard 3 hrs from Houston where they just finished a deepwater floating platform for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and we go to tour the shipyard and the vessel.
What are some of the projects you’ve worked on?
I have worked on project teams for Polar Tankers Construction, Magnolia TLP riser tie back in the GoM, Gas Concorde Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) loading analysis off the coast of Indonesia, Hull integrity audit for the MacCulloch FPSO in the North Sea and many smaller projects including mooring design and analysis, feasibility studies, terminal compatibility, and writing shipyard outline specifications
What are the main responsibilities associated with work in your field?
The main responsibility is to manage small projects for our clients, who are typical ConocoPhillips employees or joint ventures, working globally. We are also responsible for some technology development projects for the company, and writing technical specifications
How long do your projects last? Are they quick or time consuming on average?
They range from small 1-2 week projects with 1-2 people on a team to major capital projects that can last several years and several hundreds or thousands of people.
What tools are required in your field?
In the office, we use computer software to perform static and dynamic analysis. Some of our in-house software includes ORCAFlex, Ariane, WAMIT, Multisurf, and DeepRiser. We also use typical MS Office applications nearly everyday.
How about advancement opportunities?
In addition to technical capability, advancement opportunities are a function of what company you work for and your “soft skills” (like leadership, communication, organizational, network, etc). But in general, if you have an engineering degree, you will have opportunities to do many things like becoming an expert in your field or cross functional and hold positions in other departments like finance, scheduling, etc.
What is the job security within this career field?
It is probably better than most fields, because a major component of the business is the US Navy and US Coast Guard, so if you work on major military shipbuilding projects you will be employed for most of your career. However, the major energy companies are also good places to work. Naval architects and marine engineers are not easily replaceable because there are not a lot of them, so companies which have them on staff are not likely to let them go when there is a downturn in the business.
What helpful job-related experiences have you had in the past?
The most memorable are ones where I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone by a manager or peer. I learn the most when put in this type of situation. It’s taught me the importance of some of the “soft skills” mentioned above.
Are employers distributed evenly throughout the country or are they more common in certain areas?
What areas would they be most common in? Most NAME employers are near the coasts, there are a handful in the Midwest, but not many. Small design and engineering firms are scattered along the coasts. Most Navy contractors are concentrated on the east coast, particularly DC/Virginia, with a few near shipyards on the gulf coast and west coast. Oil and gas is concentrated in Houston.
Were there any tests or licenses you had to get before you became a naval engineer?
I recommend taking the Fundamentals of Engineering exam upon graduation, but it is not required for employment. It is the prerequisite for the Professional Engineers Licensure Exam that you can take after you’ve had experience working as an engineer. The NAME PE is only offered in some states.
What is your favorite experience working in your field?
I really enjoy working in shipyards. I feel like I learn the most when I am there and time goes by quickly. I’ve worked on the Polar Tanker Construction project and drydocking of an AFRAmax tanker we used to own.
When did you know you wanted to be in this field?
I didn’t know until about my junior year of college. I switched majors 3 times.
What college did you attend?
University of Michigan
What degree do you have from college?
I have a Bachelors of Science in Engineering (BSE) in NAME and a Masters of Science in Engineering (MSE) in NAME, both from UofM
Do you have any advice for a high school student looking to be in a field such as naval engineering/ naval architecture?
Ask lots of questions and start looking early at the types of companies/industries that you’d be interested in. Ask yourself what you are good at and what do you enjoy doing. Although I love the UofM NAME dept., there are other alternatives like the Coast Guard or Maritime schools that may interest you depending on the type of work you think you’ll enjoy.
What advice would you give me to become a marine engineer?
My personal experience has been that a solid understanding of mathematics, physics, and electricity are fundamental to being a good marine engineer. You will also work with all sorts of software, so PC skills are essential. You will probably spend considerable time in shipyards so you must be comfortable in that environment. Shipyards are often confusing, dirty, and dangerous places to work. Many engineers find out after they graduate that they are not comfortable in shipyards or on ships, so I would advise you to find an internship while still in college that gives you lots of shipyard or shipboard exposure.