MIT opencourse ware

[Hwyl]

I've taken a look at this site http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Ocean-Engineering/index.htm
My questions are:
Is anyone studying any of these courses?
Would this be an alternative to Westlawn?
It seems to be geared towards ships and oil rigs rather than smaller craft.

[Wild Dingo]

Me? Im tryin half heartedly to convince possumpoop that we NEED to move to the frozen wastes of Nova Scotia... then I'll dig out me bestest most convincing self to attempt to convince Michael Mason that he urgently and absolutely needs an offsider!... HA apprentice NA in the makin here :D

Somehow I think he can rest easy... tis too flamin cold up there for the likes of me to move to live for very long :rolleyes: ... okay another thought just struck me!! okay so what if I move up there to the far frozen wastes work with Michael learnin the trade sorta thing {tappin his noggin more like!} for the arctic summer when its not quite so flamin cold then I can be his rovin emissary down here in the warmer climes... now that sounds the go eh?!!! :cool: cause that would mean Id have to get to know all the big wigs he mucks about with drink that fine stuff eat all them lobsters sail around on an excellent Grand Banks schooner for publicity and marketing reasons... mmmmmmm aahhh aye twould be hard but Im up to the task!! :D

Sorry didnt mean to yarn on mate...
Re: the link? MIT has a long and very austere respectable history in the area mate {yes yes a West Aussie who knows about MIT would seem an anomalie but to be true Ive considered a course and in my searching Ive emailed a number of people who recommend it if I lived there that is which I dont so Westlawn makes a great alternative for such as I :cool: } and although I couldnt see it in the link Westlawn does do correspondence courses... okay I guess I need to clear something up here does an open course mean the same as corespondence in the USA? If so then go for it!

[Aramas]

Ocean engineering is a kind of parallel engineering course to naval architiecture, and while they share a lot of subjects, they don't focus on boats. They cover stuff like oil rigs, pipelines, dredges, harbour facilities etc - all the machinery associated with maritime industry.

If you want to learn boat design there are several options (in order of difficulty).

1) Self study - buy the books and equipment and get stuck into it. For people that basically just want to design variations on existing boats it's more than adequate. If you want to do multihulls or whacky bulb keels then you'll probably find it hard going. There's not a lot of current books available and you'll have to more or less teach yourself engineering.

2) Informal Yacht design course (eg Westlawn) - I rang a guy there once and asked about the course and how it compared to what I was doing at the time (B. Eng (Nav. Arch.)) and he said 'It's not an engineering course', meaning it's all rule of thumb stuff. They also still do a lot of pencil and paper stuff which is no longer done in any detail in NA courses. They're not recognised by any academic institution that I'm aware of, and certainly not by RINA - I have no idea about SNAME (they seem to accept anyone?). You can still go on into a career, but only on the periphery and the pay rates are not as high as for PE's/C. Eng's.

3) NA Diploma (Dip. Eng. (Marine Design)) or similar (associate NA) - covers most of what a NA degree covers but is much lighter on theory and classical maths and physics. All you need to design yachts really, but if you make a career of it you're options will be limited. A Dip. Eng. or similar will be recognised by most reputable academic institutions who will generally award advanced standing should you want to do a degree, and they permit associate membership of RINA and general engineering PA's - again no idea about SNAME.

4) NA degree (B. Eng. (Nav. Arch.)) or similar. An engineering degree focused on ship design. Allows full membership of RINA and engineering PA's and should you pursue it as a career you'll be at the top of the food chain. The head NA lecturer at the college that I went to collected warplanes - his collection included a mustang and 3 Migs - all airworthy, which is some indication of the earning capacity of a consulting NA smile.gif

Addenda:

The US academic and licensing systems are rather unique, and some things that are recognised nationally might be openly laughed at overseas. Generally any diploma or degree awarded by a state university, any of the preppie schools or an institute of technology will be recognised, but mostly it seems to come down to recognition from the appropriate PA's. Any other 'qualifications' are generally not taken seriously.

While it's possible to make a lot of money designing ships, I've heard it said that being a self employed yacht designer is the only known way of making less money than a self employed boatbuilder. There's an old joke about a boatbuilder that wins millions in a lottery, and the news crew turns up for an interview. When they asked him what he was going to do with the money, he said "I guess I'll just keep building boats until the money runs out".

How's that for a tangent? tongue.gif

[ 12-27-2003, 08:58 AM: Message edited by: Aramas ]

[Hwyl]

Dingo,I think you may have missed the point, the whole course can be done online for free. It seems you get all the instruction that the students get but not the degree. You don't get the one on one tutorials of course, but it seems pretty nice of MIT to post this stuff.

[Wild Dingo]

WOW~! okay that sounds cool... maybe if you did it and down the track wanted to do the official course some brownie points would be gained since youve done it once already prior knowledge sorta thing..

Anyway sounds great :cool:

[mmd]

An assistant, eh? If you can draw as prodigiously as you post, we ought to be able to give Olin Stevens a run for his vast output. tongue.gif :D

[On Vacation]

Can you fathom the mixed sound of the transplanted Dingo with the lingo of the downest Nova-Newfoundlanders?? ANd just think Steve Irwin sounds and acts goofy. :D :D

[mmd]

Oyster, it can't be any worse than in the middle 'eighties when the oil exploration boom was on in St. John's, Newfoundland and the conversation in any of the downtown drinking establishments was carried out in some weird combination of Newf/Louisiana drawl/"Arabic is my native tongue" dialect. By the time the Big Easy guy managed to say, "How'r y'all doin'?", the Egyptian had told you in detail about his whole day, and the Newf had drank all the beer and left to play darts. :D

[Wild Dingo]

Originally posted by mmd:
An assistant, eh? If you can draw as prodigiously as you post, we ought to be able to give Olin Stevens a run for his vast output.aye capn ah can draw a tad... will need a few pointers along me way to keep me on the fair and tidy but thats what yer there for capn :rolleyes: ta teach me!

So now weve opened discussions matey tis time fer yer to sign me on ta the good ship MMD :cool:

mind here mate... I will put one crevet on that signin up thing... I expect fair time given to purusin sailin on and generally droolin all over those flamin great Grand Banks Schooners you fellas have... AND... yeah yeah I know I said one but hey while Im on a roll and all that :rolleyes: ...I shall have to be given ample time in which to pursue the loverly Elly with calipers and rule in hand of course :cool: ooooh and Lobster for brekkie lunch and tea thankee kindly!!! never have been able to get enough lobster :D

Now aint this a grand place this woodenboat.com forum?? I mean where else in the world can a fella from downunder offer himself to a designer as an apprentice be accepted and set the wheels of contracts in motion all on one wee thread about MIT courses!!! AMAFLAMIZING!!! :cool:

Oooohhh and Orlin Stephens would have nothin on the Crazy Canuk and the Mad Aussie :D leave em all in our wake we would mate! no worries ;) ooohhh an cause I wont have a vehikle for a bit when I gets there Id need yer to drag that loverly ol motorbike out of the shed for me to hoot around on... yeeeeeeeeeflaminhaa!!! sounds fanbloodytastic from where I sit.... mind of course your probably thinkin what the "bloody hell eh! what have I done eh!!"

[ 12-28-2003, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: Wild Dingo ]

[mmd]

Shane, would this mean I'd have to change my company name to "Mason & OZ-sociates"? Maybe we could set up a production shop and turn out ferro-cement small boats called "MasonEyrie Dingoies"?

< oh, groan! Did I really type that crap? :eek: :D >

[Wild Dingo]

Originally posted by mmd:

< oh, groan! Did I really type that crap? :eek: :D >ROFLMAO!!!! :D yep mate you sure did tongue.gif ... but then do I really wanna work with someone quite as crazy as you who would think up such??? :eek: aahhh I dont know you'll have to let me cogitate on what other crevats Id need to come up with before Id accept your generous offer ;)

Oh and mate no you can keep it as MMD.. "Mad Maniacs Designs" :D

Gawd have we hyjacked this thread too??? HA!!! oops sorry about that mate we will behave... sorta... maybe??? :rolleyes:

So okay whens the movers comin eh?? tickets ready for the new year eh? did yer find the house for us eh? HA!!! ...tis a worry mate eh?

Im gettin into practice with the "eh's" and Ive run out of flamin smilies again!! damnation and conflamgoogle it all... eh!

[ 12-29-2003, 04:10 AM: Message edited by: Wild Dingo ]