Engineering our Future

As AMC alumni you are all too familiar with the rapid growth in demand for maritime engineering graduates.  

This demand is being generated by both the $90 billion Naval Ship Building Program and the non-defence sector where demand for Australian designed and manufactured maritime assets (ferries, offshore renewables, etc.) is booming. 

Despite this record investment in the maritime industry, the number of people enrolling in maritime engineering degrees is at an all-time low. 

AMC’s experience has seen enrolments in Naval Architecture, Ocean Engineering and Marine and Offshore Systems Engineering degrees decline significantly in recent years. 

Unfortunately, AMC is not immune from this decline, where enrolments in key maritime engineering degrees has dropped markedly in recent years. 

This decline in enrolments presents a real threat to the Australian maritime industry, and if the trend continues, will compound the workforce supply pressures already facing the industry – there will simply not be enough maritime engineering graduates to service the sector. 

The decline is caused by several key factors, including an apparent cultural reticence within high school students to study STEM subjects, a lack of awareness of career opportunities and no targeted student recruitment campaigns. 

AMC is working on a solution to fix the maritime engineering enrolment decline and will run a bespoke student recruitment campaign targeting year 9-12 high school students over the next five years. 

Called “Engineering our Future”, this tactical student recruitment campaign will include maritime engagement activities, strong branding at school career expos, a Maritime Engineering Maths in Schools program and dedicated conversion activities that will help to build one-on-one relationships with potential students. 

We cannot do this alone and will be calling on industry to help. 

In coming weeks, we will be reaching out to industry seeking its involvement and we are calling on the AMC alumni to get involved and help us to make the campaign a success. 

For more information on how to get involved in Engineering our Future, please contact Dr. Robert Palmer (robert.palmer@utas.edu.au or 0474 474 073) at AMC Search who is coordinating the campaign.