The 30-credit Master of Science in Ocean Engineering degree, offered exclusively at Texas A&M University at Galveston, provides students with a unique education and career preparation. The program is filled with hands-on experience, direct access to the coast, on-the-water field data collection adventures, industry collaboration, close proximity to Houston and world-class resources.
Having graduated in May 2020 from Southwestern University in Georgetown, where he played football while studying physics and math, Hayden Smith always wanted to be an Aggie and an engineer.
“The fact that I would be able to get my degree in one year was really attractive,” said Smith. “I’ll have a bachelor’s and a master’s at 23 years old.”
Smith plans to apply his passion for coastal protection and fisheries to his career by designing breakwaters or artificial reefs for game fish to have a refuge to reproduce and live safely. However, he explained that his studies have also piqued his interest in offshore renewable energy.
Ideal for students and professionals with an undergraduate degree or equivalent international degree in any engineering or related field, the curriculum covers a wide variety of ocean engineering topics.
“You can come in with any degree and get experience in ocean engineering,” graduate student Morgan Humphrey said.
Having obtained her environmental and civil engineering degree at Florida Gulf Coast University, Humphrey plans to pursue a career in natural disaster research.
She explained that a background in ocean engineering would give her a foundation to base her research on, particularly the possibility of harvesting the energy produced by natural disasters to use as backup power sources for areas affected by such phenomena.