Charlotte Dodge MEng Ship Science/Naval Architecture 2018
Naval Architect, LOC
The course is very varied and all of the lecturers are very passionate and knowledgeable about what they teach, making it much more engaging.
Why did you choose to come and study at Southampton?
I was a keen sailor when I was younger and enjoyed maths and physics so Ship Science was the perfect degree for me and the University of Southampton was the right place.
What is it like studying here?
Ship Science is a relatively small course in comparison to many of the other engineering streams, and as a result you get to know everybody really well and it is a very close knit, friendly and supportive community, not just within our year but also across them all. The course is very varied and all of the lecturers are very passionate and knowledgeable about what they teach, making it much more engaging. Ship Science also opens up opportunities that you would get nowhere else, for example at the end of second year we travelled to China where we visited universities and shipyards in many cities (and also the Great Wall – a definite highlight), and it was an incredible trip.
The course itself prepares you for work in the Naval Architecture field, with many of the concepts that you learn being directly applied and used in industry. There is continual support from tutors and supervisors and advice about chosen careers and help with applications. There are also many industry-focused lectures throughout the course by industry professionals which give an insight into real projects and what work is like once you leave the university.
I’ve now got a job as a naval architect. It’s a four-year graduate scheme at London Offshore Consultants that will lead to chartered engineer status and we’ll see what happens after that.
What are the engineering facilities like at the University?
The University has great facilities, especially for Ship Science students with the use of the Boldrewood Campus. There are many lab facilities and support available which I made full use of when doing my Individual Project. The labs allow many practical experiments to be carried out which make the course a lot more interesting and show the more practical aspect to what we learn.