78724 - Ocean and Coastal Engineering

Academic Year 2025/2026

Learning outcomes

The student at the end of the course is able to perform basic characterization of the ocean environment (sea water level, sea waves, currents and wind) and to estimate the climate and design conditions and sea actions on the offshore and coastal structures.

Course contents

The course will introduce and describe the processes that characterize the ocean environment (wind, tide, waves and currents), their loads and interaction with marine structures.

 

The second part will regard the coastal sediment transport, the fundamentals of design of coastal  structures and the use of nature Based Solutions for coastal protections.

 

Teaching methods

The course is taught through lectures. Part of them are dedicated to the solution of practical problems, that will be developed at the computer.

Exercises will regard:
- statistics of extreme waves;
- dispersion relationship for evaluating wave transformation from off-shore to on-shore;
- reconstruction of the typical annual wave climate;
-Design of a coastal structure.

Some lessons will be held by well known professionists in the research and design of coastal and ocean structures.

 

 

Assessment methods

The student will prepare for the exam a report of the exercises and simple application design that were developed during the course.

The preparation of the student will be assessed through an oral colloquium whose duration is about 30 minutes.

Higher grades will be awarded to students who demonstrate an outstanding understanding of the subject, a high ability for critical application, and a clear and concise presentation of the contents.

To obtain a passing grade, students are required to at least demonstrate a knowledge of the key concepts of the subject, some ability for critical application, and a comprehensible use of technical language .

A failing grade will be awarded if the student shows knowledge gaps in key-concepts of the subject, inappropriate use of language, and/or logic failures in the analysis of the subject.

Office hours

See the website of Renata Archetti

See the website of Maria Gabriella Gaeta

SDGs

Quality education Affordable and clean energy Climate Action Oceans

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.