Architecturally in demand
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"A naval architect is responsible for design, construction and repair of ships marine vessels." Prof. C.V. Gopal Rao.
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CRUISE ALONG: It needs a good design to move this iron mass and it's the job of the naval architect to get it right. Photo: AFP
THE MOMENT one introduces oneself as engineer, invariably the next question will be, "are you a computer engineer?" Well, the present era belongs to computer nerds you see!
But apart from ECE and IT, there is another branch of engineering -- naval architecture -- having a lot of demand. There are only five institutes in the country imparting this course. ``A naval architect is a professional engineer who is responsible for design, construction and repair of ships, marine vessels and offshore structures -- both civil and military,'' says C.V. Gopal Rao, a naval architect and visiting professor of Andhra University's Naval Architecture Department.
According to him, the course enables an aspiring naval architect to have an understanding of many branches of engineering. He or she is trained to be an expert in high-tech areas such as computer-aided designs and calculations, apart from other technical subjects required to design a marine vessel. "A naval architect is trained to be creative and enquire with a logical mind,'' says Mr. Gopal Rao. The scope for naval architecture in the present day is vast. Naval architects are in demand in the entire shipping industry -- both commercial and defence-related.
With the shipbuilding industry growing at a faster pace, a naval architect could use one's skills to design marine vessels like merchant ships, oil and gas tankers, general cargo ships, cruise liners, warships, aircraft carriers, submarines and underwater vehicles, hovercraft, offshore drilling platforms and high speed craft.
Enormous scope
``The scope is unlimited. Foreign companies are on the lookout for new designs. Earlier, the entire shipping industry was dependent on one variety of cargo ships, but today there are specialised vessels to ferry different cargoes," Mr. Rao says.
Ship owners are always on the lookout for innovations. In India though the scope is limited as far as commercial vessels are concerned, it is vast in the defence sector, he surmises.
Institutes offering the course
* IIT Kharagpur
* IIT Madras
* Marine Engineering Department/Naval Architecture, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam
* Cochin University of Engineering and Technology, Kochi
* Institute of Ship Technology, Goa
Except for the institute in Goa, which imparts a diploma course, the other colleges offer a four-year B.Tech degree course. The intake is limited (12-15 seats a year) in each college.
Career opportunities
* Shipyards (commercial and defence establishments in India and abroad)
* Classification societies (like Lloyds Register of Shipping, Indian Register of Shipping)
* Shipping companies (both Indian and foreign).
* Ship survey companies (Mercantile Marine Department and Director-General of Shipping).
* R&D institutions (Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, National Ship Design and Research Centre)
By Sumit Bhattacharjee
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