Please note that this program is under review and will not be offered to commencing students in 2013. You may wish to consider the Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical), Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics) or Bachelor of Engineering (Naval Architecture).
Maritime electronics is the application of electronics in the maritime industry, be that naval, commercial or recreational. Electronic engineers working on ships, submarines, offshore platforms and other maritime locations have to have a strong understanding of the differences in deploying devices in these environments. In addition, although also used on land, there is a greater focus on some forms of device at sea such as battery, sonar, surveillance and navigation technologies and electronics capable of being used in harsh or extreme conditions.
Career Opportunities
There is already a substantial shortage of electronic engineers in South Australia. South Australia's Technology Industry Association (TIA) indicates that the electronics-based industries will continue to grow rapidly with a sustainable growth rate of 20% per year and with exports in excess of $1 billion per annum. The Electronics and IT sectors together employ about 18,000 people in South Australia. However, the electronics industry strategic plan also identifies the shortage of skilled personnel as the most significant factor that could limit the growth and development of SA's electronics industry (source: TIA).
With the release of the defence white paper outlining substantial increases to defence capabilities including substantial naval capability, these shortages can only worsen. The government has decided to acquire 12 new Future Submarines, to be assembled in South Australia. This will be a major design and construction program spanning three decades, and will be Australia's largest ever single defence project. Australian industry involvement will need to be factored into the design, development and construction phases, and the sustainment and maintenance life cycle of these boats, which will extend well into the 2050s and possibly beyond. There is clearly a strong requirement for specialist maritime electronics engineers.
Courses in Maritime Electronics
The Bachelor of Engineering (Maritime Electronics) degree is the result of a collaboration between Flinders University and the Australian Maritime College (part of the University of Tasmania). Designed to address a substantial opportunity in South Australia and strongly supported by industry, students spend time in both Adelaide and Launceston studying using state-of-the-art equipment. The Australian Maritime College is generally regarded as the premier institution in Australia for Maritime Engineering.
One of Flinders' major strengths is in our electronics-based engineering degrees and Flinders has had a good reputation for producing employable graduates since electronics was first taught early in the 1990s. Graduates from Flinders degrees have gone on to win Fulbright scholarships, and a number of Institution of Engineering and Technology prizes over the years.
For more general information on electronic engineering see Wikipedia's Electronic engineering, the TIA (for an industry perspective), or search My Future (for a jobs perspective).
Courses offered:
Research in Electronic Engineering
Flinders research in electronic engineering is particularly strong with substantial research in control systems, signal processing instrumentation and embedded systems. In particular, a research strength of the School is in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and we currently have research links with the AMC and CSIRO in this area.
Research in maritime electronics is included in strengths such as the Centre for Maritime Engineering, Control and Imaging. This group has an enviable research record and students wishing and capable of undertaking postgraduate research in electronics are particularly welcomed.
