Aspiring boat designer/engineer

LyndonJ, Enjoy, - - Safie is, like me, - - a harmless old fuddy-duddy & / or *******, (in the true Aussy sense of the word), and like most of us permanent basement dwellers, bored ****-less, long intensely for, / to return to the sea, and are stuck on land because of some weird sense of responsibility to kin or some other reason....

You will be one of us sooner than you think so please show some grace to us old sad and sorry farts.....

 

I really don't want to start a war here. I just wanted to hear what other people have to say so I can make an informed choice at the end of this year.

 

You'll need to decide before the enrollment cutoff, not that far away

Trouble with forums is that lots of people have opinions but how do you weigh them? The professional opinions are worth listening to but the rest are no better than asking someone in the street.

The reputation points on this forum are no indication of the posters merit relevant to the boating industry either, and they appear to be something of a joke. To judge any character click on their user name and view their previous posts, then weigh their advice accordingly.

 

Sage advice LyndonJ, but us troglodytes do try to contribute - removal from preferred element (at sea) does have adverse effects on mental wellbeing of occasion.....

 

Freesail, we'll talk more later but one piece of free advice is that if you want to get into race boat design your best bet is to complete a thesis on Composite Design (This could be done as an NA or Aerospace student) and then get a job with Gurit or High Mod, both of whom offer specialist composite design services to the world's Yacht Designers and also both of whom are always looking for staff (probably due to people following this career path). After a few years with one of these companies it is relatively easy to get work with a yacht design firm. Obviously NA skills and qualifications would be helpfull but only to a small extent.

Working as a graduate NA with a yacht design firm is very poorly paid and as a result most people end up with ship based companies.

Before setting up my company I worked for two well know NZ Yacht designers (and a west Australian ship builder before that). Both of the NZ companies designed approximately 10 power boats for every sailing boat, thats the nature of the business.

As an NA or an Aerospace engineer you're going to need to travel to move your career forward. If you want to stay in Melbourne become a mechanical engineer.

 

Oh don't worry, one of the reasons I like engineering is because it gives me the opportunity to work overseas a lot. I love traveling, but do understand the distinctions between pleasure trips and work trips.

I get the feeling that, being asian, I may well end up in Taiwan or China someday if I work as a boat designer/engineer.

 

Interesting comment CTMD, If ship based companies are paying higher wages to attract NA's or Yacht Designers to work for their companies, then Yacht Design firms should do the same if they want people to work for them. The old say goes "You get what you pay for".

Maybe those that graduate will just setup their own firms and build up their own reputations, even though it may take 5 + years or so to build up.

 

nothing comes easy, you got to study hard for everything. i slogged for my B.Eng. hydrodynamics beign one of the harder courses. ive alwyas enjoyed sailing, wanted to be a ship/yacht designer and so i did naval architecture. Decide what you want to do, stick with it, and don't change your mind all too often, that just wastes time. if u finish with mechanical engineering or aerospace, u can do your masters in naval architecture. concepts of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics are similar. only one is compressible fluid and the other isnt which changes things abit. go to tasmania for naval architecture, great school.

 

The trick is everyone wants to be a yacht designer, no-one wants to be the guy responsible for designing the structure of an engine room on a 100m ferry. So Yacht Designers don't have to pay good wages to attract staff. I know of people who have worked for free for design offices just to get in the door.

What a lot of Naval Architects do is take a full time job and do work "on the side", if you're good enough eventually you have to choose between the security of your day job and the potential of your night work.

 

Hi freesail

just a bit of advice, follow your dreams!

i left school and wanted to become a marine engineer but never had the grades in english to proceed with the application, very luckily for myself a local engineer firm offered me a apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer, after 2 years i was sick but stuck it out it until i had finished and gained my quals for what i had done, i left the job 2days after qualifying and im now in training again to be a marine engineer i don’t regret one bit of my career so far, what i have done in the past only stands me in good sted for the future.

my advice is to finish the what your doing, and work for it! a degree in any sort of engineering is a pathway to the next.

regards
sean

 

I didn't read the whole thread, but I can say that I know at least two aerospace engineers working in design/consulting in the marine industry in Australia. Another I used to work with occaisionally has since left to go elsewhere. Food for thought.

 

Lyndon - your advice concerns undergrad engineering streams based on your considerable experience as one! - you qualified yet or still bullshitting?

A few others are also giving advice purely on engineering Chris Tucker seems to be the man to believe there (he does have a lot of experince, go listen to him on that edge) Others, me included are giving general advice on something called LIFE, in some ways more important than being a mere engineer, after all you don't stand at your drawing board 24 / 7 do you? With all your considerable experience you probably do!

I ain't telling the gennleman how to do his life -that's his problem (and yours apparently) just giving advice is all - up to him how he uses it

 

Freesail - young BHK seems near your age and has a few good and sensible words to say -pay attention to them, you could do worse!

Remember last eekr I couldn't spell engineer, this week I is one!!

 

What!
Your posts don't lend themselves to much spin doctoring, go back and read them.

Engineering degrees in Australia are 4 years long I said I am in third year. Why the bullshitting statement? what are you having trouble with?

With all due respect, you are the most profligate poster on a boat design forum, but I can't see one significant post from you on anything to do with engineering or boat design, you don't appear to be a graduate, you don't even work in the industry.
Your life advice may be valid but when it comes to undergraduate enginering options you are not well informed are you.

 

LyndonJ, dear old Safie is probably going through his second or third childhood induced by rigormortis of the brain, so do not take to heart or be insulted or upset by anything he says.... All his efforts are designed to keep ahead of me on posts - - and we are both bored old fuddy-duddies seeking some entertainment whilst trying to be useful and make some sort of positive contribution....