Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Our program was started in 1879 with an act of Congress authorizing a Navy officer to teach “steam engineering and iron shipbuilding.” Since this modest beginning, NAME has grown into a worldwide leader in education and research, with 25 faculty and 11 staff, serving our undergraduate and graduate students along with a network of some 3,000 living alumni. Our department continues to develop engineers and technology to advance the state-of-the-art systems operating in the marine environment.

The department’s students and faculty engage in a wide range of research, with specialists working in hydrodynamics; marine and offshore structures; dynamics, control and marine system integration; robotics and autonomy; yacht design; design, production, and management; marine renewable energy; and structural and hydro-acoustics. Our Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory with its large physical modeling basin continues to serve as a vital resource for our department. NAME’s externally sponsored research expenditures are averaged around $10 million annually in the past five years.

NAME places strong emphasis on the education and mentoring of our undergraduate students. As a small department in a large college, our students can experience close relationships with peers and instructors, while taking full advantage of the diverse opportunities across the campus. We help our students participate in summer internships in the U.S. and around the world, and many of our student’s senior design projects have gone on to win international awards.

Our system-oriented curriculum and training provide our students with broad engineering and leadership skills, not only making them sought-after by ship design and marine engineering companies, but also preparing them for careers in other industries such as automotive, aerospace, and energy.

Go Blue!

David Dowling
Professor and Chair