Ocean Engineering, M.S.

Program Chair
Stephen L. Wood, Ph.D., P.E.

The curriculum is designed to allow the ocean engineer to broaden professional expertise in preparation for a challenging career in industry or for further graduate study. Although emphasis is placed on a core of required courses, the student is encouraged to concentrate efforts in one of several areas of interest through a choice of elective courses. Both thesis and nonthesis tracks are available.

The Master of Science in Ocean Engineering can be earned on either a full-time or part-time basis. Although a full-time student may complete coursework within two or three semesters, thesis activities normally involve a further one or two semesters of study. Graduate student assistants normally require additional time. A student can start graduate studies in either the fall or spring semester, but fall semester is recommended.

Admission Requirements

An applicant should normally have an undergraduate degree in some field of engineering or in one of the physical sciences. Every applicant should have a mathematics background through differential equations along with introductory courses in physics, chemistry and computer programming. A student who has graduated from a nonengineering program will be required to complete additional coursework as part of the master’s degree program. Although not required for admission, an on-campus interview is highly recommended. Applicants must submit GRE General Test Scores for evaluation.

Applications from international students are invited and will be evaluated with consideration given to academic standards in the country where baccalaureate studies were taken.

General admission requirements and application procedures are presented in the Academic Overview  section.

Degree Requirements

The degree of Master of Science in Ocean Engineering is conferred on students who have successfully completed a minimum of 30 credit hours (including thesis) of required and elective coursework. Thesis work may be primarily analytical or experimental in nature, or a comprehensive design study, or a computational investigation involving state-of-the-art computer modeling techniques. The thesis may be replaced by three courses (nine credit hours) following approval of a written petition to the program chair. The nonthesis track requires a minimum of 33 credit hours, an oral final program examination and a technical paper. A thesis is usually required for any student receiving financial support through the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems.