CERG, Coastal & Oceanographic Engineering

Degree Program Summary:

Marine instrumentation emphasizes the design of operational and research instruments for use in the marine environment. The need for new and better marine instrumentation is acute, especially for measuring chemical and biological processes. Marine instrumentation design requires an understanding of instrumentation engineering, communication and data handling systems, as well as knowledge and understanding of the marine environment.

Numerical modeling of near-shore and coastal processes will focus on waves-tide-surges and current transports. Near-shore and coastal modeling is needed for numerous engineering design projects in the marine environment including structural design, pollution prevention and clean-up, as well as beach and coastal protection.

The objective of this program is to develop graduate scholars with a theoretical and practical understanding of marine and engineering systems. Students successfully completing the requirements for this certificate are expected to have:

• an in-depth knowledge in selected areas of engineering and marine sciences
• an ability to integrate diverse knowledge of engineering and marine sciences
• a creative thinking ability for defining coastal and oceanographic engineering problems,
• the ability to conduct original research in the marine environment

This certificate consists of three components:

• course-work in engineering and/or marine sciences,
• a design component, and
• a research component

The course-work component of this certificate involves course-work in system simulation, computational mathematics, physical oceanography, estuaries and coastal oceanography, ocean waves and ocean mixing process. Design is the heart of the practice of engineering and is what separates it from other disciplines, a graduate engineering design project associated with the engineering and marine sciences is required for this certificate. The research component is satisfied by a coastal and oceanographic engineering element as part of the student’s thesis or dissertation. Because this is an interdisciplinary program the student must include at least one graduate faculty member from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and the Department of Marine Sciences on their graduate committee.