What to study

Hi all

i'm trying to get in to the boat design field , the only problem is that i don't understand what are all the diffrences between the difrent courses :
naval architect
civil enginer
yacht designing
..

from what i've seen there's about 5 options to go but each school is teaching one of them and is not very keen on explaining the diffrence beetwin it's program to another school's program
i would realy appreciate it if someone can give me a hand
10x in advance

Naval architect is general term meaning proficiency in marine design. It could be ships, boats, yachts or even floating car-parks but not all of them, some points are the same such as the basic principles but the application is quite different. It also covers the oil-fields too, the drilling rigs and platforms etc. This is sometimes termed Ocean Engineering.

Civil engineer is strictly one engaged in things applicable in a town, civil comes from a Latin word (civis) meaning town. So he designs brifges, building, roads and so on.

Yacht designer could be a naval architect designing yachts or someone working for him doing calculations or drawings or whatever the nav arch wants. Designer is difficult to define these days - it could be anyone from the office boy to the senior technical person. Usually an engineer is senior to a designer and is more prificient in the "brains" department - or is supposed to be.

There is also the Marine Engineer, in the design sense not the engineers aboard ship. The M.E. is the guy who knows all about the engines, shafting, gear-boxes, generators - the machinery and auxiliaries.

[mmd]

Firstly, define very specifically what kind of "boat design" you want to do. Studying at a school that teaches the naval architecture of containerships and tankers won't give you all of the tools you'll need to design cruising catamarans.

Secondly, realize that when you graduate, you will know about a quarter of what you need to know to be effective as a designer. Experience is both of primary importance and rather long and hard to acquire. Be prepared to spend several years after graduation "in the trenches" doing un-glamourous work on someone else's designs.

Thirdly, learn how to draft. It is the language of engineering and to be effective you should be able to speak it fluently. Most engineering schools touch on the topic, but don't delve in deep enough, especially if you have ambitions of setting up your own design office where for at least the first while you will be doing everything, including all the drafting. I would suggest taking drafting courses at you local community college.

Finally, call the department head of each place that you have identified as being a school that you may wish to attend and ask specific questions about their course and its relevance to your ambitions.

Above all, keep in mind that designing a pretty hull and even calculating its stability and performance characteristics is only a small part of the job. The majority is the meat-and-potatoes of structure, mechanical and electrical systems, construction methods and details, materials engineering, etc.

Good luck, I hope you choose well and are successful in your ambitions.

Michael

> and is more prificient in the "brains" department

You do know this means war

Hey

Im am in a very similar position to yourself.
I am very keen to enter the boat design industry.
I am interested in luxury boats including cruise liners to small cruising boats. I am not interested in oil rigs or floating platforms etc.
I would be interested to know if youve spoken to any schools. I am in the sydney region and The University of NSW is the only option i know of other then the Army and the college in Tasmania.