Alexandra H. Techet's Teaching & Education

In parallel with research, I am dedicated to educating our students in core areas of ocean engineering. My educational efforts emphasize marine hydrodynamics and the design and operation of vessels in the ocean environment, through integrated classroom and laboratory experiences. In hydrodynamics for ocean engineers (13.012, now 2.016), taught at the junior level in the fall term, I teach marine hydrodynamics drawing on examples from current research in this field. Laboratory exercises are designed around ongoing research projects my laboratory, including topics such as advanced, biomimetic underwater vehicle design, high-speed ship hydrodynamics, and offshore power generation, to demonstrate fundamental concepts. At the graduate level, I have taught design principles for ocean engineers (13.42, now 2.22) for three terms, emphasizing the random ocean environment and extreme hydrodynamic loading on ships and offshore structures. Broadly defined laboratory exercises and design projects drawing on emerging research areas, such as offshore liquid natural gas terminals, high speed naval combatants and offshore wind farms, are used to illustrate the complexity of ocean systems design and applications of advanced hydrodynamics theory in the design process. With the addition of new and updated laboratories and projects each year in both courses, I am able to extend my research interests into the classroom. These “hands-on” initiatives have been well received by the students and will continue to evolve to keep up with current research topics in the coming years, as my research program grows.