Program overview
Marine Technology is an interdisciplinary major under the engineering category. Simply put, it teaches you how to use tools like sensors, robots, sonar, and satellites to 'read' the ocean. You might study marine acoustics (e.g., using sonar to map the seafloor), ocean remote sensing (satellites observing sea surface temperature and chlorophyll), underwater robot design, and marine data processing and visualization. Core courses include fundamentals of oceanography, signal processing, electronic circuits, fluid mechanics, and principles of marine instruments. China has distinctive strengths in this field, such as the Jiaolong manned submersible and the South China Sea seafloor observatory network. Many universities (e.g., Ocean University of China, Zhejiang University, Tianjin University) have dedicated labs where you can work with real deep-sea equipment. This major suits students who are hands-on, enjoy physics and math, and are curious about the ocean—you don't need to know how to swim, but it's best not to get seasick.