The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra will create a new naval architecture degree to ensure the future of Australia’s shipbuilding needs will be met.
The new program, which will commence in 2022, follows an agreement between Defence and UNSW Canberra. Key academics from the university’s Sydney and Canberra campuses will together develop the new curriculum and course offerings.
Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC, said naval shipbuilding is a key Defence priority for the federal government.
“This program will enhance our university sector’s ability to support this important industry, by providing world-class education and training to future Navy, Australian Public Service (APS) and defence industry staff,” she said.
“UNSW Canberra’s co-location with the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) makes it the ideal place to prepare young Australians for future work in our shipbuilding industry.”
Once established, each year the Naval Architecture program will see up to 15 Bachelor of Engineering (Naval Architecture) students at UNSW Canberra undertake a specialised stream of courses in their third and fourth year of study.
Naval architecture is a specialist engineering role working at the forefront of high technology areas to design, develop, evaluate and calculate complex data to enable Navy vessels to operate effectively in a range of maritime environments.
UNSW Canberra rector Michael Frater said that the new Bachelor of Engineering: Naval Architecture program will continue UNSW’s long history of educating naval architects, but in a refreshed context in Canberra that is responsive to the future needs of the country.
“This new program is planned to be offered from 2022 and will support the current Defence White Paper, the continuous naval shipbuilding policy and the requisite foundational skills development in the discipline,” he said.
“UNSW Canberra has been educating members of the Australian Defence Force for over fifty years, and this program is the next step we are taking in developing capabilities in this important Defence sector.”
The Naval Architectural program at UNSW Canberra is planned to run in parallel with Mechanical Engineering for the first two years.
“What this means is that students who satisfy the requirements of the first two years of the Mechanical Engineering four-year degree program, having studied at any Australasian tertiary institution, may be admitted into 3rd and 4th year of the proposed program leading to the award of a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Naval Architecture,” Professor Frater said.
“This is exciting as it means the very first students who will be admitted to the degree, and form the first graduating class, are already studying and have begun their career towards contributing to this ship design, production, maintenance and operation capability.”
UNSW has had a long and successful history in delivering Naval Architecture as an engineering discipline on the Kensington Campus (at UNSW Sydney) since 1962.