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Job Definition
Design, develop, and take responsibility for the installation of ship machinery and related equipment including propulsion machines and power supply systems.
Job Zone

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Most of these occupations require a four - year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Interests
Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Knowledge
Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Skills
Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Technology Design - Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Tasks
Act as liaisons between ships' captains and shore personnel in order to ensure that schedules and budgets are maintained, and that ships are operated safely and efficiently.
Perform monitoring activities in order to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life saving equipment and pollution preventatives.
Check, test, and maintain automatic controls and alarm systems.
Supervise other engineers and crewmembers, and train them for routine and emergency duties.
Maintain and coordinate repair of marine machinery and equipment for installation on vessels.
Maintain records of engineering department activities, including expense records and details of equipment maintenance and repairs.
Schedule machine overhauls and the servicing of electrical, heating, ventilation, refrigeration, water, and sewage systems.
Prepare technical reports for use by engineering, management, or sales personnel.
Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients in order to ensure completion of work at minimum cost.
Evaluate operation of marine equipment during acceptance testing and shakedown cruises.
Analyze data in order to determine feasibility of product proposals.
Determine conditions under which tests are to be conducted, as well as sequences and phases of test operations.
Procure materials needed to repair marine equipment and machinery.
Confer with research personnel in order to clarify or resolve problems, and to develop or modify designs.
Review work requests, and compare them with previous work completed on ships in order to ensure that costs are economically sound.
Wages

Data not available

Outlook

During 2004, there were approximately 150 people employed in this field in California. It is projected that there will be 140 employed in 2014. This occupation will have about -1 openings due to growth and about 7 replacement openings for approximately 6 total annual openings. This occupation experienced moderate decline.

Colleges and Training
Below are college programs that are generally associated with this occupation. To view colleges that offer these programs, click on the titles below.
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering - A program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development and operational evaluation of self-propelled, stationary, or towed vessels operating on or under the water, including inland, coastal and ocean environments; and the analysis of related engineering problems such as corrosion, power transfer, pressure, hull efficiency, stress factors, safety and life support, environmental hazards and factors, and specific use requirements.
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