designing boats

[musicman803]

I just finished my junior year of high school and have been interested in designing boats for several years. I wish to design boats ranging from recreational to yachts. I want to perform tasks like in the Sea Ray video through the link below. Which major and college would best suit me to do this? I want to attend a small school, under 6,000 students and in the US.


Ocean Engineering @ Florida Institute of Technology
Naval Architecture @ Webb Institute
Yacht and Marine Design @ Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

I don't expect to be accepted at Webb due to SAT's and requirements but will apply anyway

http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/sof.../gallery.shtml

thanks,
john

[gonzo]

Is this SPAM? I can't see the relation between a site to sell Studio software and marine design. However, if you are for real, this is a job that requires a lot of math and physics. It sounds as if your grades are not that good. Boat design and boating are very different.

[musicman803]

In the video they use software to design boats which is what I want to do.
I was not trying to push the software, I wanted to show you tasks that I wish to perform. I was wondering which major would best suit me for that line of work.

I want to design/draft products. What exactly, i don't know? I am also looking into architecture and mechanical engineering.

I have a 2.8 gpa and webb wants a 3.2.
I averaged about 84 in all maths, i just finished trig
I averaged about 88 in all sciences, i just finished chem

[gonzo]

I just wanted to make sure it was a request for information. There is a new engineering degree for boat/ship design. You need to pass the basic engeering exam and then the marine part. I mostly work on boats (under 100') and the regulations are quite slack. The systems on boats are becoming more complex. There is more specialization on the design part. For example, the A/C and heating alone may be handled by a department. On smaller boats, a single designer usually does the whole job. I have worked building and repairing boats since I was a teenager. It is a very good background because you get to see first hand how difficult it is to work on a poorly designed boat. Also, bad designs have leaks, early rot and other premature failures. I encourage you to try to get a job at a boatyard and go boating as much as possible. You'll get invaluable knowledge colleges don't provide.

[musicman803]

Thanks for the work idea. Who do you work for, if you don't mind me asking? Do they have a site? Would you look at Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale's Yacht and Marine design program and give me your thoughts on it. Their site is below.

check out the pdf's on the little pop up window


http://www.aifl.artinstitutes.edu/

If you are interested in the technical aspects, go to community college in engineering and clean up your grades.

Then transfer to U of Michigan or U New Orleans, or get an ME degree somewhere and get an MS at UM, UNO, UCB, MIT or whatever.

The art institute is a styling course, not a technical one. If you are concerned with the shape of the cove stripe and what color it should be, and whether it goes with the carpets, this is the course for that. They say that they are not concerned with any systems or with the hull below the waterline, or with the structure.

[musicman803]

Will ocean engineering allow me to design boats or just hulls? I have the grades to get into Florida Institute of Tech. I am considering a double major with mechanical engineering which will add a few years but more job openings.

[gonzo]

My website is boatwrench.net . I just moved to Milwaukee from Orlando. Where do you live? Maybe I can get you some contacts. I am not familiar with the Ocean Engineering degree. Also, you can get the info from the posting members in the forum by clicking on the name.

I supervised a fellow with an ocean engineering degree from FIT for a couple of years as part of a naval arch group in the offshore oil industry. I don't know about the school itself, but his technical abilities were just fine.

[CDBarry]

Note some of the posts about job prospects as a yacht designer.

Unfortunately, the way things are, the most important thing quite a few yacht designers can say to their client is "You want fries with that?".

When people say there isn't much money in it, they don't mean Hyundia vs Volvo, they mean zip, nada, zero. Lots of grads from the mail order schools never get a single job in yacht design or get a single design commission, ever.

There are certainly much fewer than a few dozen entry positions in this field and hundreds of people who are very well qualified and thousands who are less so.

On the other hand, there is a small shortage of real naval architects just now.

[ClarkT]

My hunch is that you are a bright guy that could get better grades, but you've never applied yourself. That same M.O. might get you by in art school, but you'll get your lunch eaten at Webb, or UNO or Michigan.

Not that you necessarily need a Naval Architecture degree to design yachts. I do, and I believe knowing what I know from engineering helps me be a better boat designer, but I could get by without it I bet.

I think that F.I.T.'s program is oriented toward offshore structures more than boats.

My advise, (echoing what's been said already) take a semester or a year of computer art classes. Get wizardly at Rhino or 3dStudio or the like. That will get you in the door at many design firms. With those decent grades, transfer to UNO and you'll find yourself a job in New Orleans. You might work on offshore platforms or ships, or boats, but all the knowlege and experience will be great for you. Between the real world of work, engineering school, and your mad 3d skills, you'll be a force to be reckoned with by the time you graduate.