History of the Engineering Department

Introduction

The Department of Engineering at Maine Maritime Academy evolved steadily but not spectacularly until the mid-1980s, when the department diversified, splitting into four "major" programs and beginning to prepare for possible ABET accreditation.

Started Training In WWII

The Department of Engineering was one of the original departments of the Maine Nautical Training School when it was chartered by the Legislature of the State of Maine on 17 March, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor, coming less than two months after the first students arrived, transformed the program from a 3-year practical education program to an accelerated 18 to 22-month practical training program. The emphasis of this accelerated program was on providing trained officers as quickly as possible to sustain our hard-pressed merchant fleets against German U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic, and so placed little emphasis on general education.

During that transition period in 1941, the college name was officially changed to Maine Maritime Academy. In 1946, the original 3-year program was reintroduced, and continued in effect through 1963. The program of the Department of Engineering evolved slowly through this period, only gradually becoming more "academic" while retaining much of its hands-on tradition. The "engineering" portion of the program was only minimally mathematical throughout this period.

Four-Year Degrees in the Sixties

The college graduated its first 4-year class in 1964, but there were few changes in the department. The most significant changes in the program were taking place in another department, Arts and Sciences, where traditional "engineering science" courses were introduced as electives, for those students with interest and ability in mathematics and engineering analysis. In general faculty teaching those engineering science courses had Masters degrees in some field of engineering, whereas traditional Department of Engineering faculty had Bachelors degrees in Marine Engineering (or no degrees) but extensive at-sea experience and high-level professional licenses as shipboard operating engineers.

Accreditation by NEASC was obtained in 1971 and at the same time the degree awarded was changed from the Bachelor of Marine Science to the Bachelor of Science.

ABET Accreditation in the Eighties and Nineties

By the early 1980's, the great majority of students in the "Marine Engineering" major were enrolled in the "Engineering Science" minor, and so were taking all but one or two of the courses required by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) guidelines for an accredited program in engineering technology. The first proposal to modify our program so as to make it eligible for ABET accreditation as an Engineering Technology program was made in 1982. The proposal was discussed for two years, but never voted on, until in 1984 an ad hoc committee comprised of two department members (including the Department Chair) and three members of the Department of Arts and Science (including the coordinator of the Engineering Science minor, the Mathematics coordinator, and the Humanities coordinator) began planning a curriculum in Marine Engineering Technology. The original goal of this committee, after close consultation with other members of both affected departments, was to propose a curriculum to be taken by all students in the Department of Engineering; that is, to simply convert the existing unaccredited program in Marine Engineering to an accredited program in Marine Engineering Technology.

By the time the committee's results were presented to the Academy Faculty, however, not one but three "major" programs were proposed. The first was Marine Engineering Technology (MET), into which all students enrolled in the Engineering Science minor were enrolled. The committee also proposed to retain a modified version of the traditional Marine Engineering program, to be called Marine Engineering Operations (MEO), specifically for students not in the Engineering Science minor (the traditional designator, Marine Engineering, was unacceptable to ABET, whose definition of "engineering" required extensive mathematical analysis and design components not included in the MEO program), and a new 5-year program at the ABET engineering level, designated Marine Systems Engineering (MSE). All three programs were to retain the "quasi-military" Regimental lifestyle traditional to MMA programs, and led to a U.S. Coast Guard Third Assistant Engineer license. Each of these programs was approved by the Faculty and the MMA Board of Trustees in 1985, and with some curricular modifications, are still in place at the Academy. The Marine Engineering Technology program was awarded ABET "engineering technology" accreditation in 1988, the Marine Systems Engineering program was awarded ABET "engineering" accreditation in 1994, and the Power Engineering Technology (PET) received its ABET "engineering technology" accreditation in 1999.

The fourth and final program administered by the department was proposed in 1987. Soon after the Marine Engineering Operations program was instituted, a significant proportion of its students signed up for a new minor in Industrial Power Engineering and Management. The predicted decline in the US merchant marine and the predicted boom in industrial power led to a faculty proposal to make this into a fourth major, designated Power Engineering Operations and Management, requiring its students to be members of the Regiment of Midshipmen, and leading to a S Coast Guard license and a State of Maine Third Class Stationary Engineer license as well as a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1990, however, the Academy Administration changed this to a non-Regimental program without access to the merchant marine license, and the revised program was designated Power Engineering Technology (PET). This program is still the only non-Regimental technology-level program at Maine Maritime.

Partly as a result of these program changes, the engineering-science faculty were formally transferred from the Department of Arts and Science to the Department of Engineering effective 1 September, 1987.

ABET accreditation and program diversification has led inevitably to faculty diversification as well. The combined effects of ABET restrictions on faculty qualifications and the relatively high salaries required to hire experienced operating engineers have resulted in a decrease in the proportion of faculty with professional operating engineering licenses and at-sea experience, and an increase in those with advanced degrees and analytical and design experience. In general, the disparate elements making up the engineering faculty are quite well integrated into a coherent unit, but there has been increasing concern that these changes are weakening the "hands-on" component which is such an essential part of MMA's overall educational experience.

Partnership with Industry in the Nineties

In 1997, Maine Maritime Academy, in conjunction with Bath Iron Works (BIW), began offering an Associate in Science degree via a satellite program in Bath, Maine, for apprentices of General Dynamics Corporation's BIW Shipyard.  The Engineering Department administers this degree program, with majors in either Ship Design or Ship Production. Students enrolling in these programs must be employed by Bath Iron Works and meet Maine Maritime Academy entrance requirements; it is possible for a student, once in one of the programs, to continue as an MMA student after terminating employment with the company.