Research activities in Subsea Engineering have the following objectives:

At the present time there is only limited research in Australia on mechanical aspects of Subsea Engineering, such research is carried out mainly in the UK, Norway, Italy, USA, France and some other countries. with research in the field of Subsea Engineering. Thus local oil producing companies and their suppliers of subsea equipment must depend on overseas expertise with a subsequent large economical loss to Australia. Mr. Beghini, President of Marathon Oil, USA, when recently asked what is the future of the oil and gas industry, stated that ".. we see a whole new world of opportunity opening up, with economic growth fuelling energy demand and a diversity of nations seeking both technological expertise and investment capital to develop their resources". Australia's balance of payments and strategic position, relative to the emerging SE Asian region, is vitally dependent on the development of our offshore (subsea) natural resources. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that these resources will play a major role in Australia's positioning relative to our APEC partners.

The Subsea Engineering Research Group was formed mid 1994 to provide a focal point for research and development activities in this area of offshore engineering. With the appointment of Dr.W.K Chiu (materials and structures), Assoc. Prof. Bijan Shirinzadeh (robotics and mechatronics)  the creation of the Subsea Engineering Research Group, building on A/Prof. Stecki's  involvement in this field (subsea control systems and automation), becomes viable.

Monash is one of the few Universities with an Offshore Engineering Program which is strongly established in two Departments (Civil and Mechanical) and the Australian Maritime Engineering Research Centre. In addition the Centre for Machine Condition Monitoring also has a strong interest in monitoring of offshore equipment. Although research and development into offshore structures and pipelines is well serviced by existing research groups, the field of subsea mechanical systems e.g.. completion equipment, valves, control systems and the safety assessment of such systems has not, either at Monash or other research organisations in Australia. This state of affairs, was to a large degree, due to a lack of a combination of the required skills, support and willingness, at any Australian research organisation, to carry out research and development activities in the field of subsea engineering.  The Group is complementary to current offshore and condition monitoring activities being pursued in the Faculty thus fostering interdepartmental collaboration. At the same time it will strengthen and expand existing links with major Victorian based companies (e.g.. BHP Petroleum, ESSO, Cooper, Woodside).

The initial period of activity of the Group is concerned with development of in-house experience based on a number of consulting projects undertaken with various oil companies. Specifically, various members of the group were involved in Dai Hung, Griffin Projects with BHP Petroleum, and North Sea projects. seven final year projects concerned with control systems, design of subsea equipment and application of expert systems. The results of these projects were published by the group in book form, in a series "The Research in Subsea Engineering". These books outline developments in:

The group members, organised and also took part in a short course on Subsea Completions in conjunction with a short course on Pipelines run by AMECRC and the Monash Offshore Engineering Programme. To reach its strategic objectives Monash Subsea Engineering Research Group is going to: