Future Students

Offshore Engineering

Offshore Engineers may specialise in the following areas:

• Design of offshore platforms
• Offshore installation of structures
• Subsea technology
• Structural design and analysis of offshore structures
• Dynamics and hydrodynamics of offshore structures

What do Offshore Engineers do?

• Determine the most cost effective type of facility for the field
• Calculate wind and wave effects on offshore structures
• Determine how to fix a structure to the sea bed
• Design structures to support the topsides of the platform
• Select appropriate strength, weight and corrosion-resistant material for offshore structures
• Design equipment to connect subsea wells to production platforms
• Design floating production facilities
• Perform analysis of strength of offshore structures to withstand ocean forces

Level 1
All Engineering students do common core units such as mathematics, physics and introductory units in resource engineering and professional engineering.

Level 2
Students begin to look at fundamental engineering subjects such as fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, statics, mechanics and metallurgy. Students also gain good background in mathematics for engineering and get introduced to offshore platforms.

Level 3
In the third year, students begin specialising in their chosen discipline of offshore engineering and naval architecture, along with some options from other disciplines. Background is given in the areas of hydrodynamics and wave dynamics, marine resistance and propulsion, finite element and computational tools, and marine and offshore design.

Level 4
Students bring all their knowledge to practice in a group design projects. Students also gain exposure to sustainable development, and an introduction to marine system dynamics and pipeline and subsea technology.

Students also complete twelve weeks of vacation work. This helps students meet prospective employers and see what kind of work they will do after graduating

Career opportunities

Offshore Engineering graduates work as design engineers with oil companies, offshore contracting and consulting firms, government bodies, port and harbour authorities. Defence departments and contractors or in academia.