Training
The department has numerous training facilities for students to learn foundational concepts and skills and engage with the technologies and equipment they will use in their chosen fields. With access to several labs, simulators and maker spaces, students engage in the hands-on experience needed to become industry leaders in the blue economy.
Featured Facilities
TS Kennedy
The receipt of TS Kennedy in April of 2023 expanded the Texas A&M Maritime Academy’s ability to educate highly trained and professional U.S. Coast Guard-licensed deck and engine officers to serve on oceangoing and inland waterway vessels and commission officers to the Navy. It is the latest in a long line of ships providing essential deck and engine training to cadets.
Marine Engine Simulator
This complex computer program in a dedicated lab allows students to practice problem solving in realistic situations. The ability to introduce real time factors such as stress and efficiency into scenarios prepare students to respond instinctively to the environment of a ship’s engine room.
Ship Bridge Simulator
The ship bridge simulator is a series of three spaces housed at Texas A&M University at Galveston. It utilizes cutting edge technology to provide cadets valuable training to prepare them for any number of maritime situations and conditions.
Marine Engineering Technology Training Facilities
Electrical Power Lab Dr. Irfan Khan
This lab facility is critical in introducing Marine Engineering Technology students to the basics of electrical distribution systems. This lab facility adds infrastructure to perform experiments related to electrical machines, power electronics based motor drive systems, and the power system basics.
Fluids and Heat Transfer Laboratory Gerard Coleman
The laboratory equipment comprise the following training elements: Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer Fluid pumping and piping systems Operation of pumps and shaft alignments Fundamentals of Automation, Instrumentation and Control Systems The equipment components are able to demonstrate and teach thermodynamics analyses on steam and refrigeration cycles; hydrostatic pressure effects; hydrodynamic pumping power, pressure and head loss calculations; dynamic flow in venturies, flow tubes, pipes, jets, and valves; and ship stability and damage control.
Machine and Welding Shop Kevin Winn
Measurements of electrical quantities including voltage, current, reactive power, real power and power factor in both single and three-phase configurations. Mechanical quantities include rotational velocity torque are also measured. Equipment for the winding of inductor and transformer coils is also available as is equipment for the measurement and analysis of low-frequency signals. Programmable logic controllers and solid-state drives are also used to provide students with the use of these devices.
Marine Propulsion Laboratory Frank Pedersen
Teaching our students the complexity of overhaul and maintenance of a modern ship diesel engine and operations management.
Propulsion Plant Simulator Laboratory Andrew L. Moore
The simulators can demonstrate and teach basic engine room operations, emergency operations and troubleshooting, and optimal fuel economy and energy conservation through realistic simulation of a real engine room.
Full Mission Engine Simulator Andrew L. Moore
The ERS TechSim Full Mission Simulator provides a detailed replica of the vessel systems and simulates machinery and engine room compartments. This lab was developed for engineering staff and provides hands-on experience in watch-keeping, troubleshooting and resource management. This lab is capable of innovative training environments in virtual reality.
Damage Control Flood Trainer Adam Reeves
The Damage Control Flooding Trainer simulates flooding due to cracked bulkheads and damaged pipes. The trainer provides realistic experiences in flooding situations in a safe and manageable manner. Damage control repairs are taught and employed through pipe patching (soft and jubilee) and shoring (K and I wood shores).
Driving The Blue Economy
We also support the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, one of six state maritime academies in the nation, through our programs that combine an undergraduate or graduate degree with U.S. Coast Guard license to serve as officers on ocean-going vessels. These licenses prepare graduates for research, industry and maritime service throughout the world. In addition to a rigorous classroom curriculum, hands-on training takes place annually during summer semesters at sea aboard our training ship, the TS Kennedy. This vessel serves as a floating classroom, laboratory and dormitory for students to earn practical experience to apply classroom theory.
Texas A&M Maritime Academy