Brief History
The Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Program at the University of Florida had its origin in the 1950’s in response to a recognized need to manage the state’s valuable beach resources of more than 700 miles of sandy shoreline. At that time, there were only minimal coastal construction regulations and limited requisite knowledge to guide appropriate construction, a legacy which, in some locations, still affects coastal stability and hazards today. In response to the need for experimental facilities, the Florida Legislature provided funds to establish a Coastal Engineering Laboratory at the University of Florida, and the academic unit was founded by Professor Per Bruun in 1955. The Master’s and Engineer degree programs were established in 1967 and the first graduate with a master’s degree was in 1969. Doctoral students working with coastal and oceanographic engineering faculty received their degrees through other departments in the College of Engineering, such as Civil Engineering, Engineering Mechanics/Aerospace Engineering, and Environmental Engineering. The first such Ph.D. student graduated in 1969. The program was awarded Ph.D. status in 1987 and the first Ph.D. degree in Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering was presented in 1990. The Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Department was established in 1980. In 2000, the Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Department was merged with the Civil Engineering Department to form the new Civil and Coastal Engineering (CCE) Department. The Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Program continues to grow as an independent graduate program, granting Master and Ph.D. in Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering, in the new CCE Department.
Research in Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering
A characteristic of the field of coastal and oceanographic engineering is that the problems generally are complex and unique, thereby precluding a standard “one size fits all” approach to solutions. Today, faculty and students of the Coastal and Oceanographic Program are actively engaged in a broad spectrum of research topics including coastal and estuarine circulation, coastal and shelf waves, surf zone hydrodynamics, sediment transport, hurricane-induced storm surge and inundation, estuarine and coastal water quality, wave-sediment interaction, bridge scouring, and beach re-nourishment. Coastal faculty and students conduct fundamental research in coastal processes, develop state-of-the-art numerical models of multiple scales and coupled processes, carry out field observations throughout Florida and Gulf coasts, as well as conduct laboratory experiments in the Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Laboratory. Coastal faculty and students conduct interdisciplinary research and collaborate with faculty and students in other programs in the CCE Department as well as faculty in other departments and colleges throughout UF. Research projects are funded by National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Sea Grant, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Water Management Districts, and Florida Department of Transportation. Research results produced by faculty and students of Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Program are published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, including Journal of Geophysical Research, Continental Shelf Research, Journal of Physical Oceanography, Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Coastal Engineering, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Journal of Environmental Engineering, Journal of Marine Systems, Limnology and Oceanography, Marine Technology Journal, and Journal of Estuarine, Coastal ,and Shelf Sciences, etc.
In addition to the numerous journal publications, Coastal faculty and students have also produced numerous well documented case studies, including historical information regarding natural and human-induced coastal changes. To address this need, the Coastal Engineering Archives was established in 1974 through funding from the State of Florida and the National Sea Grant Program. The Coastal Engineering Archives serves as a repository of unique documents, as well as other standard publications in the field. In addition to substantially contributing to the research program, the archives enjoy active usage by consulting firms and governmental agencies. Beyond the direct problem-solving and knowledge gained through its research efforts, a most valuable product of this program is a well-trained cadre of talented engineers effectively equipped to handle future coastal and oceanographic engineering problems. In 2007, many of the books in the Coastal Engineering Archives were moved to the Science Library, while many of the unique publications remain.