Australian Maritime College is now a national centre for maritime engineering and fishing technology research. The Faculty of Maritime Transport and Engineering provides courses from certificate to doctoral levels, delivering programs in both the vocational and higher education sectors. The staff combine practical and academic qualifications, reflecting the College's emphasis on close links with industry, and its applied research. Naval architecture is the branch of engineering which covers all aspects of the design of ships and floating structures. Naval architects develop a ship's design, its structure, its dynamics, its propulsion, and the building materials required.
Graduates also find employment with mining organisations involved in off-shore exploration.
Ocean engineers require an understanding of the physical processes in the oceans and their effect on man-made marine systems. They seek to research and develop systems and technologies that withstand the natural environment's impact but do not negatively affect the natural environment. Marine engineering is concerned with the installation, operation and maintenance of machinery on board ships and on off-shore systems. Marine engineers ensure all engines and ship-related machinery are operating efficiently, they repair and maintain equipment, and record and analyse data collected from engine room instruments. Electrotechnology, marine thermodynamics, engineering knowledge, electronics, computing, applied mechanics, ship operation and maintenance, management and law, engineering economics, project management, offshore operations and hydrodynamics of offshore structure and design of offshore systems.