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Which are the best jobs for Oceanographic Engineer?
#engineer #ocean #oceanography #coastal #modeling
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Andrew’s Answer
I did my undergraduate in Ocean Engineering at Florida Atlantic University. Many people think this field of study is more scientific like oceanography or marine biology. In my experience this was not the case, it was very much an engineering degree. You learn all the fundamentals of engineering that you would get in a civil or mechanical engineering program but with particular focus on the marine environment (think oil platform instead of skyscraper, hydraulic systems on a subsea vehicle rather than in a manufacturing facility, etc).
As far as I know, the biggest industries for ocean engineers are offshore oil and gas (what I did) and defense, but there are certainly more including coastal engineer and commercial shipbuilding. There are so many options within each of these industries. For example, offshore oil and gas career could be upstream or downstream and anywhere in the value chain from operators (BP, Chevron) to EPIC contractors (Technip, Subsea7, Oceaneering) and all the way to manufactures of individual components that make up all systems needed to do offshore oil and gas (valves, pumps, turbines, electronics, automation). I started at an engineering contractor as a riser and pipeline structural analyst (mostly hard skills) and moved into project management for riser and pipeline systems (more soft skills). For defense I think the Navy (NAVSEA, NAVWAR, SPAWAR, etc.) or Navy contractors (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc) are the most common employers.
Hard to say what the "best" job is for an ocean engineer. It really depends on what you want to do and where you want to do it, but this is a great undergrad degree to give you plenty of options. Oilfield is most adventurous (and used to be best $ by far, but that is pulling back a bit these days) and Navy work will be very interesting and stable.
How do you define "best" job? (location, pay, work/life balance, travel, etc)
As far as I know, the biggest industries for ocean engineers are offshore oil and gas (what I did) and defense, but there are certainly more including coastal engineer and commercial shipbuilding. There are so many options within each of these industries. For example, offshore oil and gas career could be upstream or downstream and anywhere in the value chain from operators (BP, Chevron) to EPIC contractors (Technip, Subsea7, Oceaneering) and all the way to manufactures of individual components that make up all systems needed to do offshore oil and gas (valves, pumps, turbines, electronics, automation). I started at an engineering contractor as a riser and pipeline structural analyst (mostly hard skills) and moved into project management for riser and pipeline systems (more soft skills). For defense I think the Navy (NAVSEA, NAVWAR, SPAWAR, etc.) or Navy contractors (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc) are the most common employers.
Hard to say what the "best" job is for an ocean engineer. It really depends on what you want to do and where you want to do it, but this is a great undergrad degree to give you plenty of options. Oilfield is most adventurous (and used to be best $ by far, but that is pulling back a bit these days) and Navy work will be very interesting and stable.
Andrew recommends the following next steps:
Thank you! You’re opened my mind.
Maria Paula
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kim’s Answer
If you pursue ocean engineering, you have the option to become an:
Ocean Engineer.
Naval Architect.
Marine Engineer.
Environmental Engineer.
Mechanical Engineer.
Petroleum Engineer.
Ocean Engineer.
Naval Architect.
Marine Engineer.
Environmental Engineer.
Mechanical Engineer.
Petroleum Engineer.