College?

[Xanthi]

[

Hey, this is xanthi

heres the basic story..i need help picking out a "college". i really want to be able to have my own company in the future that deals with designing and building boats, but when i look online at schools like the landing school etc, they odnt have the college name that my mom wants. are there any universities etc that deal with building AND designing yachts or smaller boats.

im also really interested in the landing school even though my mom is skeptical, how does the student life work, do you have to rent an apartment and is there time to work? or is it all school? what is the financial aid like etc?

thanks

[twakeley]

Here is the list of naval architecture & marine engineering degree granting colleges..

Landing School Of Boat Building And Design Arundel ME
Maine Maritime Academy Castine ME
Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buzzards Bay MA
Suny Maritime College Bronx NY
Texas A & M University-Galveston Galveston TX
United States Coast Guard Academy New London CT
United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point NY
United States Naval Academy Annapolis MD
University Of California-Berkeley Berkeley CA
University Of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor MI
University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis MN
University Of New Orleans New Orleans LA
University Of Wisconsin-Madison Madison WI
Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State Univ Blacksburg VA
Webb Institute Glen Cove NY

Currently I'm attending the University of New Orleans.. the program is designed towards commercial ships, but there are a few classes that focus on smaller boats. I think the landing school is your best bet for hands on boat-building experience. But as I understand it.. the top three for N.A.M.E. are

University of New Orleans
University of Michigan
Webb Institute

Note that some of the schools in the first list do not have a specific degree. It may be a concentration within mechanical engineering or just a few add-on classes. for instance VT doesnt have the major, but has naval architecture courses.

[Texas Boater]

Personally, I would pick Texas A & M University-Galveston Galveston TX .

Warm weather, Houston within an hour's drive and who doesn't want to be an Aggie


Good Luck.

[twakeley]

Can't argue with that logic... I sense a bias however. lol Do you have any experience with the program?

[LostInBoston]

Also check out Ocean Engineering. I just got into the grad program at Stevens in Hoboken, NJ. It has the largest towing tank in the US.

[Eric Sponberg]

You can also check out the University of Southampton in Southampton, England, which has a yacht design course.

At the Landing School, you can get an Associates Degree from the College of the Atlantic if you take additional courses there. After the Landing School and the Associates Degree, you could go on to finish your engineering degree at an engineering school like (Ahem!) the University of Michigan, which I consider the best in naval architecture--of course, because I went there. Such a plan as this will get you everything you need in 4 years.

Eric

[naval ark]

Originally Posted by Eric W. Sponberg

You can also check out the University of Southampton in Southampton, England, which has a yacht design course.

I think you mean Solent University in Southampton - it's an engineering course in Yacht & Powercraft Design. University of Southampton has a Ship Science course, in which you can choose one of a few specialities. I think Small Yachts maybe one of them...

Isn't Solent University's (formerly Southampton Institute) one of the best in the world in this field??

[jehardiman]

Originally Posted by Xanthi

[

Hey, this is xanthi

heres the basic story..i need help picking out a "college". i really want to be able to have my own company in the future that deals with designing and building boats, but when i look online at schools like the landing school etc, they odnt have the college name that my mom wants. are there any universities etc that deal with building AND designing yachts or smaller boats.

im also really interested in the landing school even though my mom is skeptical, how does the student life work, do you have to rent an apartment and is there time to work? or is it all school? what is the financial aid like etc?

thanks

How do you make a million dollars building boats...win a $20,000,000.00 lottery and quit when you have a million left.

Seriously, you have to decide what path you really want to start out on. Where it goes from their really has more to do with what choices fate deals you later

Boat Builder...you need trade experience and come up through the trades with maybe some BUSINESS classes along the way. Few large boat building enterprises design thier own vessels. Many small boat building firms do, but you won't get rich just because the volume is not there and the profit margin is small. But it can be a nice living.

Naval Architect...a good college start and then on to a little office experience then the choice ..... stay one of "us" or become one of "them"! There is more money in management/legal but a lot less hands on engineering. Few Naval Architecture based firms build thier own vessels and most of those that do have niches like tankers, trawlers, mega yachts, submarines , and aircraft carriers. Unless you move up in management there is a living, but no money in these places. If ypu go on to management/legal... I will pray for your immortal soul.

Yacht/Boat Designer...there is no way to say how you get into this position. Luck and timing are all the key here. You need to be involved in the right design at the right time to fill the precieved need of the right client. I have known/seen bad designers do well and good designers fail just because of who they sold a design to. In this case, the builder/owner may have more influnce on your success than your ability. Not to say that you can't make a hand to mouth living at it,....I've worked with enough of them. Some had thier own shingle, some worked for others, all passed by me as they wound along the thread of life they were following.

The one key to all these types of people I've known is that the ones who really cared about boats/ships got into jobs that while they wern't what thier dreams were, gave them a decent living. If it is money or corporate power or fame that you want ...with or without boat design.... there are other paths to that.

I could have been a great televangelist...if could have stomached it....

[nomadic_texan]

Ok.. here is another one for ya. I am researching Grad schools.. and so far, have figured out Webb does not offer a Grad program (am i wrong?).
Also.. I am an Architect (strictly flat ground design), but want to work with other things, like floating hotels, docks, sea-side design AS WELL as boats.
Any pointers? I live in Texas so the obvious choice would be A&M.. gig em!
But I am being open-minded.

[Eric Sponberg]

The obvious choice would be the naval architecture program at the University of New Orleans. Also, the other universities mentioned above like Univ. of Michigan, Cal Tech Berkeley, Stevens Institute, Virginia Polytechnic to review a few.

Eric

[jehardiman]

Originally Posted by nomadic_texan

Ok.. here is another one for ya. I am researching Grad schools.. and so far, have figured out Webb does not offer a Grad program (am i wrong?).
Also.. I am an Architect (strictly flat ground design), but want to work with other things, like floating hotels, docks, sea-side design AS WELL as boats.
Any pointers? I live in Texas so the obvious choice would be A&M.. gig em!
But I am being open-minded.

No grad program at Webb, more like an ad hoc visiting scholar program for the Navy et. al., when they do.

When you start to mix dirt with water, beyond the normal "keep driving the pile until it stops washing out", all sorts of strange things happen. If you really want to be involved in the soil/hydro interface that is going to require some specalized education/grad study, most of it out of the classroom. There are some good Ocean Engineering departments, but they sort of make you neither fish nor groundhog (to coin a phrase ) and today seem far more like a "oceanography tech" program than either classic marine architecture or shoreline engineering. A&M has such a program, as does FAU, Flordia Tech (FIT), and MIT. Other schools offer it as a minor or specalization.

[nomadic_texan]

Well, since I have the surface degree and experience, yhe Naval degree seemed like the way to go since vessels are also of interest to me. Gonna go visit New Orleans next month. Guess I will go from there.

[jehardiman]

Originally Posted by nomadic_texan

Well, since I have the surface degree and experience, yhe Naval degree seemed like the way to go since vessels are also of interest to me. Gonna go visit New Orleans next month. Guess I will go from there.

A building arcitecture degree is only going to help you because you already know how to draw, most everything else you will re-learn ( and depending on which school you go you will need to learn it again after you graduate). Your learning curve will be much steeper because you will need to unlearn a lot of things. The concept that you need to get your arms around is that ALL the basic survices that you as a building architect take for granted, from power and water supply to fire fighting must be dragged with you. Get to like doing piping calculations...alot. And unlike building codes which tell you HOW to do something, shipbuilding codes tell you what CRITERIA you need to meet, not what to do. And you can forget almost all the structural engineering you have learned so far and be prepared to relearn it from scratch...throw away the poundal concept, it's usless in NAME. And if you are like many of the CE's and ME's that make thier way into a ship/boat building concer, you will need to keep telling yourself...MINIMUM WEIGHT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

[nomadic_texan]

I did work in Space (outerspace) design for 2 years.. so hopefully that will help. I understand I am starting a whole new thing.. and really kinda excited about it. Thanks!!!!!