The oceans have long been recognized
as an essential part of our global environment. Covering more than 70 percent
of the earth's surface, the oceans affect all life on earth directly as well
as indirectly.
Ocean Engineering involves the development,
design, and analysis of man-made systems that can operate in the offshore or
coastal environment. Such systems may be used for transportation, recreation,
fisheries, extraction of petroleum or other minerals, and recovery of thermal
or wave energy, among others. Some systems are bottom-mounted, particularly
those in shallower depths; others are mobile, as in the case of ships, submersibles,
or floating drill rigs. Most are designed to withstand a hostile environment
(wind, waves, currents, ice) and to operate efficiently while environmentally
freiendly.
Ocean Engineering study as a major
field within Mechanical Engineering requires satisfying core requirements in
marine hydrodynamics and marine structures. Individuals are expected to have
undergraduate background similar to upper-division courses ME164 (Marine Statics
& Structures), and ME 165 (Ocean-Environment Mechanics). Supporting disciplines
include materials and fabrication, control and robotics, continuum mechanics,
dynamical system theory, design methodology, engineering analysis, and statistics.
The graduate sequence ME240 and ME241 are core offerings that provide the necessary
background for performing rational analysis of marine systems, fixed or mobile.
Ocean Engineering can also be used as a minor subject with one of the discipline
areas as major.
Significant laboratories used for
both instruction and research include the Computational
Marine Mechanics Laboratory (CMML) and the Richmond
Model Testing Facility. Contemporary research issues include vortex and
free surface interaction, roll-motion damping and dynamics of ships, dynamic
positioning of mobile offshore bases, hydroelastic behavior of floating airports,
waves in a two-layer fluid, marine composite materials, reliability-based structural
design, fatigue behavior of marine materials, and high-speed multi-hull optimization.
Faculty members involved with the
Ocean Engineering field are H.
Dharan, J. K. Hedrick,
O. Savas, A.
Mansour, H. Kazerooni,
and R. W. Yeung.