Black Intelligentsia Libraries
The New Way Of Thinking
Marine Engineer & Naval Architect
Have you ever boarded a fishing boat, a cruise ship, or a navy ship and wondered who designed and built the vessel or how it was constructed?  Do you consider yourself analytical?  If you love boats and ships, Math, Science, Art, and design, then you would love working as a Marine Engineer and/or Naval Architect.

Marine Engineers and Naval Architects design, build, and maintain ships from aircraft carriers to submarines, from sailboats to tankers.  They design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.   Marine Engineers work on the mechanical systems, such as propulsion and steering, while Naval Architects work on the basic design, including the form and stability of hulls.

Duties include but are not limited to:  preparing system layouts, detailed drawings, and schematics; inspecting marine equipment and machinery; conducting environmental, operational, or performance tests on marine machinery and equipment; designing and overseeing testing, installation, and repair of marine apparatus and equipment; preparing technical reports; preparing cost estimates and schedules for design and construction; and coordinating with contractors to assure work is being done correctly, on schedule, and within budget.

Marine Engineers are increasingly putting their knowledge to work in power generation (such as off-shore wind farms), as many companies increase their efforts to produce and sell electricity back to the power grid.  Their skills are also useful in the oil and gas industry, including offshore drilling operations.

High school students interested in studying Marine Engineering should take courses in Mathematics:  Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus; and Science:  Chemistry and Physics.  Students entering Marine Engineering Bachelor's of Science (or related) programs from high school with no previous Marine Engineering training should expect a period 4 to 5 years to complete said program.  A Professional Engineer's license (or PE) is required for those who wish to someday establish their own Marine Engineering consulting firm and to provide services directly to the public.  Most states require continuing education to maintain Marine Engineering licensure.

Duties of Naval Architects include but are not limited to:  studying design proposals and specifications (such as size, weight, and speed) to establish basic characteristics of a ship; developing sectional and waterline curves of the hull to establish the center of gravity, ideal hull form, and data on buoyancy and stability; designing entire ship hulls and superstructures, following safety standards; designing the layout of ships’ interiors (including passenger compartments, cargo space, ladder wells, and elevators); conferring with Marine Engineers to set up the layout of boiler room equipment, heating and ventilation systems, refrigeration equipment, and propulsion machinery; leading teams from a variety of specialties to oversee the building and testing of prototypes; evaluating how the ship does during trials at the dock and at sea and changing the design as needed to make sure the ship meets national and international standards.

Because shipping is the most cost-effective and most widely-used mode of international transportation for products, two branches of the military rely heavily on ships, and fresh water and ocean fishing is stronger now than it has ever been, the demand for water vessels and thus Marine Engineers and Naval Architects is at an all-time high.  And as cruise ships and yachts become more lavish by the day, these engineers will be able to enjoy a growth in demand unrivaled by other engineering disciplines.
Job Description
Median Salary & Range
​Median Salary:  $84,850

Salary Range:  ~$51,060 - $145,790+
College Majors & Attainment Routes
​The normal routes to becoming a Marine Engineer have been to major in Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, Marine Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Physics (Pre-Engineering), Engineering Mathematics, or Applied Mathematics.

For those who wish to establish a Marine Engineering consulting firm and work directly with the public, earning a Bachelor's Degree in one of the engineering majors and passing the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering PE exam can only make that a possibility.
Colleges That Provide Above Majors
​Colleges and universities that have Marine Engineering and related majors are:  North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, North Carolina); Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, Alabama); Howard University (Washington, DC); Alabama A&M University (Normal, Alabama); Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Florida); Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tennessee); Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, Texas); Benedict College (Columbia, South Carolina); Southern University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana); and Lincoln University (Lincoln University, Pennsylvania)​.
Available Scholarships