Students wishing to participate in the design of structures such as docks or offshore mining platforms might do well to first complete a program in maritime engineering. Courses often included in these programs are hydrodynamics and ship design.

Education in the United Arab Emirates has its benefits: sun, sea, sand, tax-free earnings after graduation and some of the best universities in the Gulf region.In addition, a number of highly ranked universities based in other countries have branch campuses in the UAE.

The PhD is a doctoral degree, specifically called a "doctor of philosophy" degree. This is misleading because PhD holders are not necessarily philosophers (unless they earned their degree in philosophy!). That said, PhD recipients are able to engage in thought experiments, reason about problems, and solve problems in sophisticated ways.