ENSTA Bretagne offers France's most comprehensive naval architecture and engineering program with the highest enrollment. It also offers, with its partners, a course 100% devoted to marine renewable energies.

All types of ships and platforms: sailing and motor yachts, offshore racing boats, cruise ships, passenger boats, cargo vessels, LNG carriers, container ships, ro-ro ships, offshore platforms, civil professional vessels, military ships, submarines, marine renewable energies platforms (MRE).

All the parameters required for the proper operation of the system are considered: hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, durability, stability, propulsion, structural calculations, maneuverability, seaworthiness, ergonomics, etc.

Innovating for the future also means seeking more environmentally-friendly and more energy-efficient materials and propulsion systems. The Mechanical Science Research Department at ENSTA Bretagne contributes to this effort through the IRDL (Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme), a CNRS Joint Research Center which is leading the way on these issues.

Program strengths

International renown

Each year, the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, in partnership with Bureau Veritas, awards a prize to the top student in this major. Other examples of academic partnerships around the world: United Kingdom (Cranfield University), Australia (Australian Maritime College, University of Australia, Flinders)…

Applied research in support of education

Through the Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme (IRDL) and shared research laboratories with industry, the research work conducted on campus focuses on : 

• improving ship performance and in particular on ship-sea interactions, in all conditions, including the most hostile,
• durability of MRE systems at sea in order to reduce their operating costs and on the optimization of their seabed connection,
• the composites used in the naval and MRE sectors. The use of composites, together with a composite-to-metal bonding technique, boosts the competitiveness of the MRE sector. The challenge lies in integrating the life cycle analysis from the design phase to produce systems able to operate durably at sea, with minimal maintenance and optimized dismantling.

They also focus, within the Lab-STICC, on embedded systems, and their adaptability and their reliability.

This applied research is conducted in collaboration with many businesses and organizations in the maritime sector based both in France and around the globe.

Extensive experimental equipment

Digital simulation tools for fluid mechanics and fluid-structure interactions are developed to meet the challenges raised during the naval design phase: advance resistance assessment during the pre-project phase, assessment of the hydrodynamic performance of propulsion systems, behavior of marine structures in swell, structures exposed to impact.

Many scientific studies, ranging in scale from that of the material to that of the entire structure, are validated using our extensive and unparalleled experimental facilities. These facilities, which form the MASMECA platform, at the ENSTA Bretagne campus, are also used by students for applied projects.
In addition, every year hydrodynamics study days are organized at the DGA Techniques hydrodynamiques center and throughout the year at Ifremer's test tanks, situated only a few kilometers from the campus, as part of joint scientific programs. 

Deeply invested in developing the maritime sector

In addition to the teaching programs and research on offer, ENSTA Bretagne contributes to the development of the maritime sector by injecting its expertise into numerous networks: as a board member of the Pôle Mer Bretagne-Atlantique, a globally-oriented competitiveness cluster, and as a member of GICAN, the French Maritime Cluster (CMF), the Institut Français de la Mer (IFM) and the business network Bretagne Pôle Naval, as well as France Energies Marines for the development of the MRE sector.

In the context of student projects, the ship design loop in particular, engineering students in the naval and offshore architecture major make use of dedicated professional software, in partnership with Bureau Veritas, DNV-GL, MARIN, Sistre and NDAR.

There are also many opportunities in the naval sector open to students studying information and communications technology.

The only one of its kind in France, the Pyrotechnic Systems program trains students to analyze and design explosive systems and integrate them in mechanical systems, for purposes such as propulsion.

Its applications cover a broad array of sectors: defense, aerospace (rocket propulsion, satellite launch), automotive (airbags), public works as well as industrial risk prevention.
In this field, innovation focuses mainly on developing more environmentally-friendly and safer energetic materials as well as on reducing blast effects for human and environmental protection. These new trends are included in the syllabus and are the focus of research on campus.
 

Our vehicle architecture courses offer a comprehensive approach to vehicles: vehicle design and architecture, engine and motor systems, vehicle dynamics, power transmission, system engineering, etc.

The programs and research conducted in relation to vehicles cover a broad spectrum: from everyday cars to the most innovative designs, from two-wheelers to the most sophisticated industrial vehicles (earthmoving and farming machinery, military vehicles, etc.). A large proportion of the methodologies developed can also be applied to the aeronautic industry.

The researchers in ENSTA Bretagne's Mechanical Science Department work on materials, assemblies and structures with a view to reducing vehicles' weight and environmental impact.
In information and communication science and technology, research work is also conducted on embedded intelligence, sensors, signal processing and human-machine interfaces. All these topics are fundamental building blocks for the development of autonomous vehicles.
 

This program focuses on the design of communicative digital systems, including telecommunications, digital circuits, IT and security. Taking a systemic approach to security (cybersecurity, operating safety and personal data protection) enables the design of more reliable and durable systems.

The many research projects carried out by ENSTA Bretagne's Lab-STICC research professors feed back into the program. Researchers develop high-quality methodological approaches based primarily on software engineering for embedded systems and on model-driven engineering related to cybersecurity issues.

Robotics is a field of the future that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of ENSTA Bretagne.

Research at ENSTA Bretagne delves more particularly into the challenges of autonomous, mobile and underwater robotics: how can the robot be located? Monitored? How can a fleet of robots be coordinated? … in complex environments like the marine setting.

Multidisciplinary skills need to be brought together to tackle the issues encountered. On the one hand, physics of the marine environment, sensors, design of mobile platforms and programming are required to design robots. On the other, localization and control algorithms enable creation of their embedded intelligence.

The multiple scientific challenges involved in this work (robot autonomy, coordination, stealth, etc.) form the basis of numerous research projects at ENSTA Bretagne, for which it partners with innovative small businesses and corporations in France and abroad.
 

In response to the needs of civilian and military firms and public organizations, ENSTA Bretagne has focused its extensive expertise on designing embedded systems, multi-sensor observation systems and advanced data processing technology for decision support.

These research and training programs bring together skill sets in electronic systems, software, systems engineering, automation, AI, design and simulation, signal and image processing, etc. 

Many current fields of application require a background in these fields: for example, underwater environment monitoring, space remote sensing, maritime surveillance and security, autonomous vehicle driver assistance systems, drone navigation, mobile telecommunications, etc.

Hydrography and Oceanography ?

These disciplines encompass the methodologies of water body (oceans, seas and lakes) and watercourse measurement and description necessary for all human activities at sea and along coastlines and rivers. These can include shipping safety, port and coastline development projects, offshore infrastructure installation (platforms, turbines, etc.), underwater infrastructure inspection, and monitoring water levels in flood risk areas. 

• The goal of hydrography is to map underwater topography (water levels and relief). It deals with the entire information chain, from data gathering at sea to map making. 
• Oceanography is concerned with the dynamic mechanisms of the water column: currents, waves and tides. 

Career prospects

•    Public organizations (SHOM, Ifremer, other research institutes and international organizations) 
•    Coastal and offshore hydrographic survey companies 
•    The marine and river energy sector (oil and gas, marine renewable energies and hydroelectric)
•    Dredging and specialized construction (coastal, port and river) 
•    Engineering firms (development, monitoring) 
•    Marine engineering (technology and software development)