John P. Dietz, Ocean Engineer
Science Applications International Corporation
The deep ocean is often
called one of the last exploration frontiers. Only in the past few
decades have people begun to understand what lies beneath the surface.
My goal has been to become one of the people who explore the ocean
and make discoveries.
I grew up and went to high school
in Rhode Island. In 1991, I graduated with a bachelor of science
degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maine at
Orono. When I graduated, I looked hard for a job in oceanography.
I like to scuba dive, and while it might sound ridiculous, after
reading The Discovery of the Titanic, written by Bob Ballard and
Rick Archbold, I knew that my heart was in oceanography. I applied
for a job at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) but at the time there was a recession and because I was inexperienced,
I was not accepted. I then applied to be an officer and engineer
in the U.S. Coast Guard. When I was offered a job in 1992, I had
to decline, as I had already started my master's degree in ocean
engineering at URI. I had also been hired as an engineer with a
small underwater acoustics instrumentation company, Datasonics,
in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I completed my master's degree in 1995
and continued to work in underwater acoustics. Recently, I decided
to move to a larger company, Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) in Newport, Rhode Island. SAIC's Marine Division
works with integrated oceanographic instrumentation systems and
surveying.
As an engineer in the oceanographic
community, I have been involved with numerous challenging projects
and applications. I have worked through the concept and design process;
researched, developed, and prototyped components; integrated the
parts into a system; and finally, after much painful testing and
partial redesign, delivered completed systems. By far the most exciting
part of my job has been the field work. Service, customer training,
and operating equipment has allowed me to travel throughout the
world and have great adventures, meeting many good people. I have
visited Brazil, Ghana, Italy, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Much
of my work has been very rewarding: searching for lost shipwrecks
off the coast of Albania, exploring deep geophysical terrain, and
surviving stormy weather in Norway.
I see oceanography expanding in the
future with more offshore work such as routing underwater fiber
optic communication cables and searching for new oil reserves. Technical
skills such as computer programming, drafting, and engineering design
are in high demand. My advice to college graduates interested in
a career in oceanography: search the Internet, read trade magazines,
and attend trade shows in order to meet and talk with some of the
leaders in oceanography. There are many opportunities for those
who are persistent.