Education & Training

The following institutions offer coursework that may be of interest to students wanting to work with or design ROVs. Click here for professional programs. For more information on ocean careers, check out www.oceancareers.com, which provides listings of educational institutions, guidance on ocean careers, and employer listings.

California Maritime Academy
Vallejo, CA
Phone: (707) 654-1000
Majors: Marine Engineering Technology, Marine Transportation and Mechanical Engineering.

California State University- Monterey Bay
Seaside, CA
Phone: 831-582-4120
Degrees offered: BS (Earth Systems Science and Policy), MS (Marine Science)
Year program began: 1994
Time to complete after general education requirement: 4 semesters

Florida Atlantic
Department of Ocean Engineering
Boca Raton, FL (SeaTech Campus: Dania Beach, Florida)
Phone: 561-297-3430
Degrees offered: BA/BS, MS, PhD
Year program began: 1965

Florida Institute of Technology
Dept. of Marine and Environmental Systems
Melbourne, FL
Phone: 321-674-8096
Degrees offered: BA/BS, MS, PhD (Ocean Engineering)
Year program began: 1970

Florida State
Academic Diving Program
Tallahassee, FL (Marine Lab at Turkey Bayou)

Global Marine Subsea Training
Portland, UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1305 828104
Global Marine Subsea Training, offer IMCA aligned ROV training courses for new entrants into the industry as well as a certificate of competency scheme, and further training and development courses that takes new entrant ROV Pilot Technicians through to ROV Supervisors.

Grays Harbor College
Natural Resources Technology Program
Alberdeen, WA
Phone: 800-562-4830
Degrees offered: Associate in Applied Science (Fisheries Technology, Natural Resources Technology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology)
Year program began: 1968
Time to complete after general education requirement: 6 quarters

Johns Hopkins
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Baltimore, MD
Phone: 410-516-6451
Degrees offered: BS (Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Mechanics), MSE and PhD (Mechanical Engineering)

Maine Maritime Academy
Corning School of Ocean Studies
Castine, ME
Phone: 207-326-2206
Degrees offered: BS (Marine Science, Marine Systems Engineering)
Year program began: 1990
Time to complete after general education requirement: 5 semesters

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Department of Ocean Engineering
Cambridge, MA
Degrees offered: BS, Combined Bachelor's and Master's, (Ocean Engineering); MS (Ocean Engineering / Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering), M.Eng (Ocean Engineering), PhD (Ocean Engineering, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Oceanographic Engineering, and Ocean Systems Management)

Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Buzzards Bay, MA
Phone: 508-830-5000
Degrees offered: BS (International Maritime Business, Marine Engineering, Marine Transportation, Facilities and Environmental Engineering and Marine Safety and Environmental Protection)

Monterey Peninsula College
Marine Science and Technology Education
Monterey, CA
Phone: 831-645-1393
Degrees offered: AS
Year program began: 2 semesters

National Polytechnic College of Engineering and Oceaneering
College of Oceaneering Division Wilmington, CA; San Diego, CA; and Honolulu, Hawaii
Degree offered: Associate of Science Degree in Marine Technology (includes for example, commercial diving, dive medicine, and underwater nondestructive testing and wet welding).
Requirements to complete: 90 quarter credits

Rutger University - Coastal Ocean Observation Lab (RUCOOL)
New Brunswick, NJ
Phone: (732) 932-6555 x501
Degrees Offered: MS (Operational Oceanography)

Scripps Institute of Oceangraphy
University of California- San Diego
San Diego, CA
Degrees offered: Ph.D. (Oceanography, Marine Biology, and Earth Sciences)

Stanford University
Underwater Robotics (Aerospace Robotics Laboratory)
Palo Alto, CA

Stevens Institute of Technology
Davidson Laboratory
Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering
Hoboken, New Jersey
Phone: 201-216-5290
Degrees offered: M.Eng (civil, environmental and ocean engineering; maritime systems), PhD (environmental or ocean engineering)

Texas A&M University
Coastal and Ocean Engineering
College Station, TX
Phone: 979-845-4515

United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
Degrees offered: BS (Naval Architecture, Ocean Engineering)
Switchboard: 410-293-1000

United States Merchant Marine Academy
Kings Point, New York
Degrees offered: BS (Marine Transportation, Maritime Operations and Technology, Marine Engineering, Marine Engineering Systems)

University of California- Berkeley
Ocean Engineering
Berkeley, CA
Phone: 510-642-6000
Degrees offered: MS, PhD

University of Delaware
Center for Applied Coastal Research, Ocean Engineering Laboratory
Newark, DE
Phone: 302-831-6531
Degrees offered: Through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, graduate students working in the center can earn a Masters or a Ph.D. degree in coastal engineering, ocean engineering.

University of Hawaii- Manoa
Dept. of Ocean and Resource Engineering
Honolulu, HI
Phone: 808-956-7572
Degrees offered: MS, PhD
Year program began: 1966
Time to complete after general education requirement: 4-8 semesters

University of Michigan
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Ann Arbor, MI
Phone: 734-764-6470
Degrees offered: B.S.E. (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering), M.Eng., M.S., M.S.E., Professional and/or Ph.D. degrees

University of New Orleans
School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
New Orleans, LA
Phone: 504-280-7180
Degrees offered: BS, MS in Engineering (Concentration in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering), Ph.D.
(Engineering and Applied Sciences- Research in Applied Mechanics).

University of Rhode Island
Department of Ocean Engineering
Narragansett, RI
Phone: 401-874-6139
Degrees offered: B.S., M.S., and Ph.D

University of South Carolina
Marine Science Program
Columbia, SC
Phone: 803-777-2692
Degrees offered: BA/BS, MS, PhD (marine science/oceanography)
Year program began: 1972
Time to complete after general education requirement: 8 semesters

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
Woods Hole, MA
Phone: 508-289-2219
Degrees offered: Ph.D and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.)
(MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering)

Professional Programs

Divers Institute of Technology
Professional Commercial Diving
Seattle, WA
Phone: 800-634-8377
Vocational certificates offered: Non-Destructive Testing Level II, HAZWOPER, 1st Aid CPR, HAT Repair, Commercial SCUBA, OSHA Rigging, Job Safety Analysis Certification, International Commercial Diving Certification
Year program began: 1968
Time to complete after general education requirement: 7 months

Diver's Academy
Professional Commercial Diving
Camden, NJ
Phone: 800-238-3483 (DIVE)
Year program began: 1977
Time to complete after general education requirement: 5 months

Florida State University's Academic Diving Program
FSU main campus in Tallahassee, FL and Edward Ball Marine Laboratory at Turkey Bayou (northwest Florida coast).
The 40-hour surface supplied diving certificate course comprises four days of intense training sessions designed to support the operations of public safety dive teams and the scientific diving community. Course curriculum includes regulatory compliance training including OSHA, DOT, and ADC diving regulations, advanced diving medicine, physiology and physics, and line-tended/surface-supplied diving searching. The training program is open to any interested divers with a minimum of advanced diver certification and training in first aid and CPR.
Year program began: 1975

Interdive Services
Offers training in Great Britain or at a clients own facilities abroad.
Phone: + 44 (0)1752 558080 (Great Britain)
Commercial diver training, technicians courses, diver medic courses, management and supervisory courses.
Year program began: 1985

Memorial University of Newfoundland
Fisheries and Marine Institute, Center for Marine Simulation
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Phone: 800-563-5799
Degrees offered: Vocational
Year program began: 2003

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
Research and Development Division
Moss Landing, CA
Phone: 831-775-1700
Current Projects: ROV and AUV enhancements are technology-based projects.

Naval Postgraduate School
Center for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Research Monterey, California
Phone: 408-656-3462

Ocean Corporation
Houston, TX
Phone: 1-800-321-0298 or 281-530-0202
Offers commercial diver training, underwater welding, ROVs, ROV Technician, and NDT weld inspector training.
Year program began: 1969

Santa Barbara City College
Marine Diving Technology Program
Santa Barbara, CA
Phone: 805-965-0581 x 2426 or x2427
Degrees offered: Vocational, AS
Certificates offered: Marine Technician, ANSI/ACDE Certification, ADC Commercial Diving Certification Year program began: 1968
Time to complete after general education requirement: 2 semesters

Subnet Services Ltd.
Courses held in the Philippines at IDESS (International Development and Environmental Shipping School) in cooperation with IDESS Maritime Centre
(Subic) Inc.
Time to complete: 3 weeks with an electrical or electronics qualification and/or working history required.
Cost: USD $4750
Phone: Philippines: 63 (0)27060413, UK: 44(0)8458692038, USA: 1 281-220-6710
Email: mobile1@subnetservices.com

Subserv Ltd
Courses take place at Global Marine Systems Ltd's training school in Chelmsford, Essex in Great Britain for the first two weeks of classroom/simulator training and at their depot in Portland, Dorset for the final week of practical maintenance & piloting skills.
Phone: +44 (0) 1245 703314 (Great Britain)
Offers ROV Pilot/Technician induction courses.

Underwater Center
Fort William/Aberdeen, Scotland or Tasmania, Australia
Phone (The Underwater Centre at Fort William): +44(0) 1397 7003 786
Phone (The Underwater Centre at Tasmania): +61 3 6383 4844
Commercial diver training includes a course on ROV handling, repair and piloting that has run for over ten years. Module 1 is Electronics Understanding and Fault-Finding skills; Module 2 is the ROV Pilot / Maintenance Technician aspect.
Time to complete: 7-weeks; course is designed for the novice with no experience so experienced electronic engineers can start at week 5.

Below are several articles regarding underwater training printed previously in Underwater Magazine, the official publication of The Association of Diving Contractors International, Inc:

The Marketplace: Underwater Personnel Training By Daron Jones, January/February 2004

ROV Pilot Training: The Industry Prepares for the Future By Daron Jones, Summer 1998

Who Sets the Training Standards? By Jim Joiner, Summer 1994

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