Academy of Coastal, Port, Ocean, and Ocean Engineers (ACOPNE)

Body of Knowledge for Ocean Engineering*

 

The ACOPNE Ocean Engineering Body of Knowledge (OEBOK) is to be used by ACOPNE evaluation panels to determine if candidates for Diplomate certification qualify for certification.

The intent of the OEBOK is not to establish a checklist of requirements, but to provide a template by which the Academy can more uniformly evaluate a candidate’s education and experience, reducing but not eliminating subjectivity.

The ASCE BOK lists the outcomes necessary for Professional Licensing in 24 Categories. Ocean Engineering Certification requires that level plus mastery of at least one advanced technical outcome in Ocean engineering under ASCE BOK Outcomes 5 through 24.

We define “Mastery” of an outcome to mean that the engineer has reached the level of expertise such that more challenging, complex, and difficult problems may be solved than can be addressed by an ordinarily competent licensed engineer.

Mastery of a topic can be demonstrated by planning, designing, constructing, operating, managing, regulating, or researching ocean engineering projects of geographic or type diversity at the expert level with increasing levels of responsibility and difficulty, teaching advanced courses on these topics, authoring or coauthoring papers and contributing to books, and contributing to the profession on these topics.  Mastery may be manifested as exceptional expertise in a single area or as recognized expertise in multiple topic areas.

Mastery of a topic can be demonstrated by planning, designing, constructing, operating, managing, regulating, or researching ocean engineering projects of geographic or type diversity at the expert level with increasing levels of responsibility and difficulty.  It can also be demonstrated through teaching advanced courses on these topics, authoring or coauthoring papers and books, and contributing to the profession on these topics.  Mastery may be manifested as exceptional expertise in a single area or as recognized expertise in multiple topic areas.

The OEBOK consists of:

• Fulfillment, at the level required for licensure, of all 24 outcomes in the ASCE BOK.
• Fulfillment, at the expert level of at least one outcome from the ASCE BOK Outcomes 5 through 24 as related to one or more Ocean Engineering categories from Table 1 so as to demonstrate mastery of the discipline.

Table 1. Ocean Engineering Topics Scoring Guide

 

CATEGORY	TOPIC (as related to Ocean Engineering)
Planning and Project Management	Project Management Practices and Procedures Codes and Standards Risk and Integrity Management Engineering Economics Sustainability Life Cycle Cost/Benefit Analysis
Environmental Conditions	Site Conditions:
	MetOcean (including icing) Geotechnical Seismic
	Design Criteria Setting
	Remote Sensing
	Satellite Acoustic
Design and Analysis (Static and Dynamic)	Practices and Procedures:
	Fixed Structures Floating Structures Subsea Structures Cable-like Structures (e.g. Moorings) Mechanical Components Underwater Instrumentation & Measurement Systems Underwater Vehicles (e.g. AUV, ROV) Numerical and Physical Modeling
Fabrication, Installation and Operation	Practices and Procedures
	Fabrication/Manufacture Materials and Joining Methods (e.g. welding) Corrosion and Protection Methods Testing (e.g. factory acceptance, system integration) Installation Operation In-service inspection and maintenance
Forensics	Practices and Procedures
	Failure Investigations

 

* Approved by the ACOPNE Board of Trustees November 14, 2010

 

RESOURCES

Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future, Second Edition, American Society of Civil Engineers 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Virginia. 2008. (http://www.asce.org/Content.aspx?id=2147486178)

Sustainability and ASCE's New Action Plan

http://www.asce.org/Content.aspx?id=7232

http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Sustainability_-_New/SustainabilityActionPlan.pdf

ASCE Code of Ethics

http://www.asce.org/Content.aspx?id=723