PRR Project

Summary

The Bachelor, Master and PhD degree courses in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering have a set of specialized courses that are the responsibility of the scientific area of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. This discrepancy in designations results from the fact that when the designation of the degree courses was updated to the new, more applicable designation of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, the same updating was not yet made in the name of the scientific area due to administrative constraints, creating an apparent difference between the area of work of the faculty which is Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering and the area where the faculty positions are related to Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. The difference is related only to the subareas of Marine Engineering or Ocean Engineering, as both are subareas of Environmental Engineering, according to the FCT classification of scientific areas.The specific courses on Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering include several disciplinary areas defined by the affinity of the subjects, allowing one specialist to teach them with the appropriate knowledge derived from a common area of research. Ship manoeuvring is a very important subject in ship design as it explains how the ships can follow the desired trajectories and how the ship can effectively be handled to go from a departure point to a destination point. The motion characteristics of the ships are governed by a set of equations with many coefficients that cannot be entirely determined by analytical or numerical methods, which forces the combination of theoretical and experimental results to be used for their complete description. These characteristics make this field very specific and make it difficult for specialists in other subject areas to be fully competent in this subject.During the last 25 years, this set of courses has been taught by a foreign Associate Professor (at that time) who has recently reached the age limit and can no longer teach these subjects. It is thus imperative to fill this gap in teaching capability by hiring a new assistant professor specializing in this subject area.The tasks envisaged include:Development of teaching in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering: MSc course on Ship Manoeuvring and Control, PhD course on Dynamics and Control of Ocean Vehicles and the first degree (Bachelor) introductory courses on Ocean Resources and on Ocean Monitoring.Development of research into the broad area of Ship Manoeuvring, which has a substantial impact on the areas that are associated with navigation, control and manoeuvring of ships and underwater vehicles;Research is carried out based on the new developments in marine robotics, including artificial intelligence applications.Liaison and collaboration with local modern and traditional shipbuilding industry,Development of international collaborations with industry and research partners,This will require the employment of a full-time Assistant Professor with a Ph.D. in Naval Architecture and Marine (or Ocean) Engineering. The scientific profile required is academically highly successful and experienced in relevant research areas, including Ship Maneuvering and Control, Marine Environment and Ship Routing. Further, he/she must be experienced in teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as it is foreseen that the candidate would teach several classes for Bachelor,  Master and PhD Degrees in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, including the development of new courses, Implementing new and maintaining existing experimental facilities; Attracting talent in an academic Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering environment; Developing and completing international and national research and industrial collaborations. Experience supervising Master’s and PhD theses in Naval Architecture and Marine (or Ocean) Engineering. Experience in working on national and international research projects.A scouting initiative was recently carried out by the DEM to identify talented researchers in areas that need to be renewed or strengthened. Two researchers with the expertise described above were identified, and others may apply through the wide dissemination of the call for the position.