Coastal and Ocean Engineering

Scope and Objectives 

The graduate program in coastal and ocean engineering at Oregon State University emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of research and education on emerging themes related to coastal climate change including sea level rise and coastal storms, natural coastal hazards including tsunamis and hurricanes, marine renewable energy, and coastal ecology and sustainable communities. Our program seeks to enable students to pursue research topics that cross the traditional boundaries of coastal engineering, and to prepare students for leadership positions in academia, private, and public sectors.

Program of Study

The program of study for the M.S. and M.Eng. degrees consists of a minimum of 45 credit hours, of which two-thirds of the work must be in the major area and one-third in the minor area. For the M.S. degree, a student with major professor approval may elect a thesis or non-thesis (technical report) option; a maximum of 12 credit hours is allowed for the thesis and 6 for a non-thesis option. Students who are supported with a GTA or GRA position must produce a research thesis. Alternatively, the M.Eng. degree requires coursework only; students pursuing the M.Eng. degree are generally not supported with GTA or GRA positions. Graduate courses offered by CCE in Coastal and Ocean Engineering are described below:

Course Frequency
CE 411/511 Ocean Engineering Annually (Winter)
CE 415/515 Coastal Infrastructure Annually (Fall)
CE 417/517 Hydraulic Engineering Design Annually (Winter)
CE 630 Ocean Eng. Wave Mech. I Annually (Fall)
CE 631 Ocean Eng. Wave Mech. II Annually (Winter)
CE 634 Long Wave Mechanics - Alternate years  (Spring, odd years)
CE 635 Applied Modeling of Nearshore Processes Alternate years (Spring, odd years)
CE 639 Ocean Structure Dynamics Alternate years (Winter, even years)
CE 640 Selected Topics As needed
CE 642 Random Waves Alternate years (Spring, even years)
CE 643 Coastal Engineering Alternate years (Spring, even years)
CE 645 Wave Forces Alternate years (Winter, odd years)
CE 647 Ocean and Coastal Engineering Measurements Annually (Fall)

External Course Offerings

In addition to the courses offered by CCE, there are courses relevant to Coastal and Ocean Engineering taught by several other schools and departments. An incomplete list of these classes is provided below. Students are encouraged to explore other offerings at OSU that are in line with their interests and to work collaboratively with their advisers to develop their program of study.

Course Frequency
GEO 433/533 Coastal Geomorphology Alternate years (Winter, odd years)
GEO 599 Coastal Hazards Alternate years (Winter, even years)
OC 664 Nearshore Sediment Transport Alternate years (Spring, even years)
OC 669 Nearshore Hydrodynamics Alternate years (Winter, even years)
OC 670 Fluid Dynamics Annually (Fall)
OC 671 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Annually (Winter)
OC 674 / ME 569 Turbulence Annually (Spring)
ME 560 Intermediate Fluid Mechanics Annually (Fall)
ME 565 Incompressible Fluid Mechanics Annually (Fall)
OC 599 Matlab for Oceanographers Annually (Fall)
OC 682 Data Analysis in the Time and Space Domains Alternate years (Spring, even years)
OC 683 Data Analysis in the Frequency and Wavenumber Domains Alternate years (Spring, odd years)
MTH 551 Numerical Linear Algebra Annually (Fall)
MTH 552 Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations Annually (Winter)
MTH 553 Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations Annually (Spring)
OC 530 Principles of Physical Oceanography Annually (Fall)
OC 533 Coastal and Estuarine Oceanography Alternate years (Spring, even years)

 

Core Courses

In order to provide all graduate students with a common and strong foundation in the fundamentals essential to Coastal and Ocean Engineering, CCE developed the following list of core classes.

MEng MS/PhD
Ocean Eng. Wave Mech. I Ocean Eng. Wave Mech I
Ocean Eng. Wave Mech. II Ocean Eng. Wave Mech. II
Graduate-level Fluid Mechanics

Graduate-level Fluid Mechanics

 

CE 507 Grad. Seminar (1 term - fall). MTH 581/582
  CE 507 Grad. Seminar (2 terms - fall and spring)

For the Fluid Mechanics requirement, CE 640 (Hydrodynamics for Ocean Engineers) is recommended. Alternate courses that fulfill this requirement are CE 547, ME 560, and OC 670. Students are encouraged to discuss with their advisers the most suitable course for their program of study.

O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Lab Facilities

Coastal and Ocean Faculty