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The U.S. Coast Guard's Great Lakes Ice Breaker was designed and built at Marinette Marine Corp., a partner in developing the new, cutting-edge Applications of Modern Shipbuilding Design course offered by UW-Marinette.
Photo courtesy of Marinette Marine Corp.
UW-Marinette offers leading-edge shipbuilding design course
Like the price of gas and groceries, the cost of building a ship is going up. According to experts in the shipbuilding industry, the cost of building commercial, pleasure and defense vessels is increasing in part because of a shortage of skilled designers.
UW-Marinette leads in offering training
The Applications of Modern Shipbuilding Design course, offered by the UW-Marinette and University of South Alabama, is intended to prepare and increase the number of technically trained marine designers who can begin using their skills immediately.
The 60-hour introductory course, a result of collaboration by shipyards, design agencies, software experts and universities, is the first continuing-education shipbuilding course using industry standard 3D software in the United States. UW-Marinette Continuing Education and the University of South Alabama premiered the course in bricks-and-mortar classrooms in May, with UW-Marinette also offering the course online.
Flexibility for working adults
"We saw an exciting opportunity to partner with the shipbuilding industry and are now honored to be the only university that will provide this course via distance delivery," says UW-Marinette Campus Executive Officer/Dean Paula Langteau. "The course will be available to learners throughout the world."
Mike Hoard, vice president of engineering at Marinette Marine Corp. not far from the UW-Marinette campus and one of the project's shipyard partners, says, "The online nature of the course offering is particularly beneficial to working professionals. It allows individuals to continue with their current job at the shipyard while affording them the opportunity to improve their skills."
Core design skills
Students will learn about shipbuilding terminology, marine materials, classification societies, safety issues, fabrication strategies and shipyard drawing standards. They will practice their skills modeling structural piping, HVAC and equipment parts with the ShipConstructor 3D shipyard production and modeling software tool. They will also create realistic production output such as assembly drawings and parts nesting.
Partners from across North America
Applications of Modern Shipbuilding Design was developed under guidance from shipyards and design firms including Art Anderson Associates, Austal USA, Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Bollinger Shipyards Inc., Elliot Bay Design Group, Genoa Design International Ltd., Gibbs & Cox Inc., Manitowoc Marine Group, Northrop Grumman, Todd Pacific Shipyards and VT Halter Marine.
Additional project partners include the University of South Alabama, Memorial University of Newfoundland and ShipConstructor Software Inc. Course development was funded as part of a grant from the National Shipbuilding Research Program under the Department of the U.S. Navy.
Follow-on courses available in 2009
Project collaborators learned in April that funding has been granted by the U.S. Navy to develop four follow-on advanced marine courses in structure, electrical, piping/HVAC, and manufacturing and producibility. The courses will be developed over the next year, with a target of offering them beginning in summer or fall 2009.
For more information:
www.marinette.uwc.edu/continuinged/Shipbuilding.htm
Department of Continuing Education
UW-Marinette
(715) 735-4300
Adapted from articles by Raina O. Clark, writer, Great Lakes Maritime Industry Issues