Message from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering (OME) at FAU. The department offers exciting BS, MS, and PhD programs in both ocean and mechanical engineering, serving a diverse body of undergraduate and graduate students.
Why Choose Ocean or Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering (ME) traditionally combines principles of mechanical and thermal systems, manufacturing, and design to provide a broad education in engineering. Over the years it has become more multi-disciplinary and now includes robotics and bioengineering. Professional Mechanical engineers are involved in almost every industry, including the automotive, aerospace, biotechnology, computer and electronics, automation, and manufacturing industries. They design, develop, build, and test all sorts of mechanical devices, tools, engines and machines.
Ocean engineering (OE) is a specialized discipline that brings together elements of multiple traditional engineering, including mechanical, civil and computer engineering, to provide the engineer with the necessary background to effectively undertake engineering projects and operations in the deep ocean and coastal environment. Professional ocean engineers are involved in the design, development and operation of ocean systems, technologies and structures as well as in providing effective solutions for a host of endeavors in the energetic marine environment.
If you ask FAU Ocean or Mechanical engineering graduates what they value most from their time at FAU, they will likely point to the hands-on experience the department offers. Supported by a dedicated faculty, OME offers innovative curricula that offer programs in OE and ME.
At the undergraduate level, our programs are grounded in engineering fundamentals with an emphasis on hands-on experience. We strive to instill and cultivate knowledge, character, imagination, creativity, and innovation in educating and training our students. Many students become involved in undergraduate research and work on faculty research, as well as take up internship with industry, thereby gaining awareness of real-life engineering problems and the state-of-the-art of the OE and ME disciplines. To this end, the strength of our undergraduate program is the personal attention we offer to each and every student. As part of their extracurricular activities, our students are active in various local, national, and international design competitions including the Formula SAE Race Car event, Human Powered Submarine races, RoboBoat, Robot-X, assistive technologies, alternative energy and many other exciting opportunities.
At the graduate level, we offer Masters and PhD degrees in both Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. The OME department is heavily involved in research and scholarly activities funded by federal and state agencies and industry. Faculty research and technology development areas include autonomous marine vehicles, robotics and controls, bioengineering, renewable energy, fluid mechanics, acoustic, marine corrosion and coatings, and materials (nano, and composite) and structures. A high percentage of our graduate students are supported by sponsored research and teaching assistantships. Our graduate students work either on our Boca Raton campus or in our state-of-the-art Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering (SeaTech) facility located ocean-side in Dania Beach, Florida, a 45-minute drive from the Boca Raton campus.
Our faculty members at OME are world class in both education and research. Many have published successful textbooks in their respective areas of expertise and have received scientific and service to the field awards. Our faculty is also heavily involved in publishing their research findings in archival journals as well as presenting their works at national and international conferences.
We are delighted that you are visiting our website and hope that OME at FAU may become your home for your education and training towards a rewarding future in Ocean or Mechanical Engineering. To learn more about us here at OME, please visit our webpages related to education, research, and faculty.
If you are interested in finding out more about the OME program at FAU please contact me at 561.297.5345 or 954-924-7051.
Pierre-Philippe Beaujean, Ph.D.
Chair, Associate Director of the Center for Acoustics and Vibrations and Professor