The predecessor of the Department of Intelligent Water Transportation and Ocean Engineering is the major of port and hydraulic structures and the major of waterway regulation engineering of Nanjing navigation engineering school founded in 1955. It has rich historical heritage and good social recognition, and has trained a group of senior professionals including academician Lin Ming. The major of intelligent water transportation and ocean engineering includes the intelligent inland waterway and maritime transport networks, smart port and waterway infrastructure hub nodes, and marine floating engineering. It is an applied interdisciplinary subject that serves the Jiangsu’s water transport development and the national maritime power strategy, and is closely integrated with intelligent, ecological and environmental protection technologies.

The department responds to frontier trends in the intelligent and digital transformation of waterway and marine science, technology, and engineering. Through university–enterprise collaboration and cross-disciplinary integration, the department trains students to ground in the fundamentals of traditional water transportation ocean science and engineering, and verse in modern information technologies, including artificial intelligence and big data analytics. It is dedicated to cultivating high-level interdisciplinary talents with strong political commitment, deep patriotic values, solid professional knowledge, and an international perspective, thereby advancing the high-quality development of intelligent water transportation and ocean engineering.