The New Maritime Engineering Education at the Technical University of Denmark

Until 2010, the maritime engineering education at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) followed the rather classical naval architecture approach with the main focus on marine hydrodynamics and strength of ship structures. The number of students was rather modest and constant. However, at that time the last major ship yard in Denmark was closing down and ship operation, together with ship design, became the main working area for the students after graduation. It was then decided to broaden the naval architecture education to a maritime engineering education taking marine logistics, management, transport optimization and engine system design into to the curriculum. Furthermore, the concept of green shipping was introduced wherever relevant in teaching modules at DTU and two new maritime engineering courses were introduced: (1) Sailing practice in a merchant vessel or DTU’s research vessel (guided by the experience gained from Australian Maritime College in a similar course) and, (2) Green transportation dealing holistically with global ship transport. Furthermore, study trips to Asia visiting ship yards have been made possible by support from the various private funds. This new maritime engineering education has so far been very successful with the number of students increased by a factor of two and with very good job opportunities in the Danish maritime industry. A spin-off of this change is DTU's participation in a dual MSc degree engineering program: Nordic Master in Maritime Engineering where DTU is responsible for the study track Ship Operations. This change has also led to the creation of the centre Maritime DTU as a one-point entry for the industry and maritime authorities regarding R&D related maritime issues. The paper will discuss the process and the way ahead for further strengthening the interaction between maritime industries, ship owners, maritime authorities and universities dealing with maritime engineering in Denmark and internationally.