The maritime industry plays an important role in global economic development. It requires professionals with strong interdisciplinary education to work with shipbuilding and ship repair or offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

The Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering undergraduate course of Polytechnic School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro was established in 1959, following the deployment of the modern Brazilian shipbuilding industry to train engineering professionals related to ship design, shipbuilding and marine engineering.

In the long run, the course has expanded its curriculum, putting in place a number of disciplines covering areas such as oil and gas exploration and production, maritime transport, fast ships, and, more recently, ocean renewable energy technologies. According to the deep knowledge in hydrodynamics, marine structures, naval architecture and logistics, the graduate students will be able to work in the shipbuilding industry, oil and gas industry and ports and shipping industry, besides, varied range of activities associated with the use of technology for the sustainable exploitation of oceanic resources.