65 undergraduate courses in the 2026–27 Undergraduate Calendar.
NE 100Introduction to Nanotechnology Engineering0.50 units
An introduction to nanotechnology engineering and its various applications from electronics to biology. Basic concepts related to nanomaterials and devices, fabrication approaches, and characterization methods. Introduction to engineering iterative design, computer aided design (CAD) and modelling. Application of CAD methods in relevant nanotechnology engineering problems. Engineering report preparation skills.
NE 102Introduction to Nanomaterials Health Risk; Nanotechnology Engineering Practice0.15 units
Introduction to types of nanomaterials hazards their identification, toxicity, and characterization; exposure health-risk assessment; cancer and non-cancer risks. Areas of research and professional practice in nanotechnology engineering; exposure to concepts from other engineering plans; support material for the 1B academic term, including aspects of co-operative education and professional or career development.
NE 109Societal and Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology0.50 units
Nanotechnology in society; health and environmental sustainability; introduction to environmental life cycle assessments; engineering ethics, policies, and regulations; Canadian legal system, tort, and intellectual property; examples of nanotechnology innovation and commercialization.
NE 110Introduction to Nanomaterials Health Risks0.50 units
Nanomaterial impacts on worker, consumer, and environmental health. Engineered nanomaterials and ultrafines. Chemical risk assessment. Nanomaterial exposure characterization. Introductory nanotoxicology. Environmental chemical impacts, transport, and bio-accumulation. Introduction to UN Sustainable Development Goals. Human nanomaterial health risks and benefits. Introductory epidemiology, including study design, strength of association, bias, confounding, and causal inference.
NE 111Introduction to Programming for Engineers0.25 units
Introduction to programming and numerical computing using a high-level interpreted programming language. Programming fundamentals, computer architecture, design and use of functions, strings and text input/output, relational operators, conditionals, lists, loops, designing algorithms, numerical computing, plotting, and file input/output.
NE 112Linear Algebra for Nanotechnology Engineers0.50 units
Matrices, operations on matrices. Determinants. Adjoints and inverses. Solution of linear equations: elimination and iterative methods. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors with engineering applications. Complex numbers.
NE 113Introduction to Computational Methods0.50 units
Spreadsheets for problem solving, plotting, fitting data. Problem solution plotting, and creating complex programs in an engineering prototypical programming environment. Elementary numerical methods: Taylor-series summations, roots of equations, roots of polynomials, direct and indirect solution methods for systems of linear, and nonlinear algebraic equations, integration. Applications in nanotechnology engineering.
Chemical reactions. Mass and charge balance. Introduction to the first, second, and third laws of thermodynamics. Chemical equilibrium. Applications of chemical equilibrium principles to proton-transfer reactions. Electronic structure of atoms and molecules. Periodicity and chemical bonding.
NE 125Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering0.50 units
Fundamentals of crystalline structure, crystal defects, and noncrystallinity. Mechanical, magnetic, diffusion, and thermal properties of materials, such as metals, ceramics, and polymers. Topics include, but are not limited to, elastic and plastic deformations, fracture mechanics, magnetic dipoles and magnetization, Fick’s laws, and Fourier’s Law. Application of phase diagrams and transformation in engineering materials. Processing and concepts of engineering design of materials.
Charge, current, and voltage. Resistance, Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's voltage, and current laws. Nodal, mesh analysis, and source transformation. Superposition, Thévenin, and Norton equivalents. Capacitance, inductance, electrical energy dissipation, and first-order transient response circuits. Phasors, impedances, and alternating current (AC) steady state analysis. Ideal operational amplifier circuits. Frequency filter types, and active filter circuits' configuration. Introduction to the fundamentals of electronic waste recycling.
NE 201Nanotoxicology; Nanotechnology Engineering Practice0.15 units
Nanotoxicology, including inhalation and dermal exposure effects; translocation, cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and neurotoxicity; carbon nanotubes as cancer hazards. Areas of research and professional practice in nanotechnology engineering; exposure to concepts from other engineering plans; support material for the 2A academic term, including aspects of co-operative education and professional or career development.
NE 202Nanomaterials and Environmental Impact; Nanotechnology Engineering Practice0.15 units
Environmental fate and behaviour, bio-availability, consumer exposure, environmental exposure-assessment, aquatic toxicology, bio-accumulation and biomagnification. Areas of research and professional practice in nanotechnology engineering; exposure to concepts from other engineering plans; support material for the 2B academic term, including aspects of co-operative education and professional or career development.
Elementary probability theory. Random variables and distributions. Binomial, Poisson, and normal distributions. Elementary sampling. Statistical estimation. Tests of hypotheses and significance. Regression. Goodness-of-fit tests.
NE 216Advanced Calculus and Numerical Methods 10.50 units
Ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients. Boundary value problems and applications to quantum mechanics. Laplace and Fourier transforms, Fourier series and applications. Numerical solution of ordinary differential equations.
NE 217Advanced Calculus and Numerical Methods 20.50 units
Gradient, divergence and curl: applications. Line and surface integrals. Green's, Gauss', and Stokes' Theorems: Applications to electromagnetism and fluid mechanics. Numerical solution of partial differential equations.
NE 220LMaterials Science and Engineering Laboratory0.25 units
Labs following the NE 125 (Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering) course. This laboratory course introduces students to techniques for the characterization of various materials, such as metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites. Experimental exercises will study the physical properties and characteristics of materials, including mechanical, thermal, electrical, and structural/morphological properties at different length scales.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE125 - Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering (0.50)
NE 222Organic Chemistry for Nanotechnology Engineers0.50 units
Nomenclature, stereochemistry, and reactions of important classes of organic compounds. Reaction mechanisms and energetics. Aromaticity and simple molecular orbital theory of conjugated systems. Applications to nanomaterials and/or devices.
NE 225Structure and Properties of Nanomaterials0.50 units
Electronic orbitals in atoms, molecules and the solid state. Structures and properties of covalent and ionic solid nanoparticles including their catalytic, electrochemical, electrical, optical and magnetic properties. Semiconductors and carbon/silicon-based nanoparticles. Examples discussed include carbon nanoparticles, dendrimers, micelles, and quantum dots.
Materials structure analysis. Materials composition and chemical bonding analysis. In-situ analysis and monitoring of fabrication process parameters. Materials properties characterization.
NE 226LLaboratory Characterization Methods0.25 units
This laboratory course introduces students to six materials characterization techniques employed routinely by nanotechnology engineers in their practices. Specifically, the six techniques are: Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR), Raman light-scattering, and ultra-violet and visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopies, ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This course is intended to familiarize students with the instrumentation involved, prior to its application to nanomaterials in a follow-up laboratory course, NE 320L.
Coulomb's law, electric field and electric flux, Gauss's law, electric potential, potential and field, magnetic field, Ampere's law, solenoid, electromagnetic induction, magnetic flux, Lenz' law, Faraday's law, capacitors and capacitance, inductors and inductance, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic fields and waves, polarization.
Introduction to the physical principles and electrical behaviour of semiconductor materials and devices: electronic band structure, charge carriers, doping, carrier transport, pn-junctions, metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors, transistors, and related optoelectronic devices (photodetectors, light emitting diodes, solar cells).
NE 301Nanomaterials and Human Risks, Benefits; Nanotechnology Engineering Practice0.15 units
Detoxification and bioactivation pathways; surface modification; biopersistence; quantum dots and cellular imagining; biomedical applications of nanomaterials. Areas of research and professional practice in nanotechnology engineering; exposure to concepts from other engineering plans; support material for the 3A academic term, including aspects of co-operative education and professional or career development.
NE 307Introduction to Nanosystems Design0.25 units
Introduction to the engineering design process: problem definition and needs analysis; process synthesis, analysis, optimization and troubleshooting; safety and environmental protection in design; written and oral communication for design reports. Students form four-person design teams and start a team-oriented project based on the knowledge and skills acquired in previous courses and on co-operative work terms, culminating in a design proposal presentation.
NE 318Continuum Mechanics for Nanotechnology Engineering0.50 units
Tensor operations. Kinematics of a continuum: material and spatial frames, strain and displacement, conservation of mass. Stress, conservation of momentum, energy, and mass. Linear elastic solids: Hooke's Law, infinitesimal elasticity theory. Introduction to Newtonian viscous fluids: hydrostatics, Navier-Stokes equations, flow regimes, and the Reynolds number. Engineering applications in anisotropy, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics will be discussed.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE216 - Advanced Calculus and Numerical Methods 1 (0.50)
NE217 - Advanced Calculus and Numerical Methods 2 (0.50)
NE 320LCharacterization of Materials Laboratory0.25 units
Follow-up labs associated with the NE 226 (Characterization of Materials) course. The laboratory exercises focus upon the synthesis and characterization of nano-based materials. Specifically, the synthesis of carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, magnetic ceramics, or other common nanomaterials will be investigated, and sample preparations for various characterization tools will be carried out. Characterization techniques such as infrared and Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and magnetic inductive heating will be utilized.
Historical background; the differential equation approach to quantum mechanics; treatments of solvable problems such as the particle-in-a-box, harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor, and the hydrogen atom; introduction to approximation methods for more complex systems; application to solid state problems, including band theory.
Basic definitions, polymer types and nomenclature, molecular weight averages and distributions, structure and properties. Chemical kinetics, step-growth and free-radical chain-growth polymerizations, polymer recycling and sustainable design.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE225 - Structure and Properties of Nanomaterials (0.50)
Statistical mechanics vs. thermodynamics. Review of statistical concepts. Canonical and grand canonical ensembles. Entropy. General formulation of statistical thermodynamics. Fermi-Dirac, Bose-Einstein, and Boltzmann statistics. Quantum ideal gases. Specific heat of solids. Electrons in metals and semiconductors. Radiation: the photon gas.
Introduction to the applications of macromolecules in nanotechnology. Block copolymers and self-assembled polymerization. Micelles and colloids. Dendrimers and molecular brushes. Supramolecular polymers, polymeric blends, and macromolecular nanocomposites. Polymer templates. Applications in the manufacturing of nanostructured materials and nanoscale devices.
NE 336Micro and Nanosystem Computer-Aided Design0.50 units
Modelling and simulation. Lumped versus distributed approaches. Review of differential-equation systems, constitutive relations, boundary conditions, and solvers for complex, coupled transport problems pertinent to micro and nanosystems. Coupling strategies. Numerical schemes for nonlinear systems. Basic modelling and simulation of micro and nanosystems, and fluidic systems. Relevant nanotechnology applications: optical, thermal, mechanical, and fluidic microstructures, and nanoscale devices.
NE 343Microfabrication and Thin-Film Technology0.50 units
Key processes for electronic device fabrication. Single crystal growth. Substrate preparation. Homoepitaxy, heteroepitaxy, and molecular-beam epitaxy. Ion implantation. Oxidation and diffusion. Physical and chemical vapor deposition. Sputtering and evaporation. Etching. Micromachining. Spin coating and printing. Photolithography. Effects of device scaling on chip performance. Process integration. Yield and reliability.
Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), circuit biasing and load-line analysis. Small-signal equivalent circuits and single stage amplifier configurations. Differential and multistage MOSFET amplifiers. The cascode configuration, current mirror and active loads. Feedback circuit configurations and stability. Oscillators, waveform shaping circuits and delay analysis. Introduction to digital circuits, the transistor switch, inverter circuits and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic circuits.
Wave nature of light, refractive index and dispersion, group velocity, irradiance and Poynting vector, Snell's law, Fresnel's Equation, antireflection coatings, absorption of light, temporal and spatial coherence, dielectric waveguides and optical fibers, planar waveguides, dispersion in waveguides; light emitting diodes (LED), pn junction, LED materials, stimulated emission, lasers, photodetectors, photovoltaic devices, solar cells.
Surfaces and interfaces in microelectronics and nanofabrication. Physicochemistry of interfaces. Capillary phenomena and molecular self-assembly. Structure and properties of clean and adsorbate covered surfaces (metals, semiconductors, oxides). Reactions at surfaces and catalysis. Surface electrochemistry, growth and diffusion, nanoscale structure formation/surface patterning, biological interfaces.
Theory and application of nanoprobing based on scanning probe microscopy (scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning near-field optical microscopy). Nanolithographic techniques (extreme-UV lithography, X-ray lithography, e-beam lithography, focused ion beam lithography, nano-imprint lithography and soft lithography).
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE343 - Microfabrication and Thin-Film Technology (0.50)
NE 380LNanobiotechnology Engineering Laboratory0.25 units
This laboratory course introduces students to biotechnology topics including bacterial transformations, isolation of plasmids, biomacromolecule analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and design of nanobiosensors and encapsulation techniques for drug delivery.
NE 381Introduction to Nanoscale Biosystems0.50 units
Molecular biology and biochemistry required for the engineering of nanobiotechnological applications. Structure and characterization of nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Introduction to lab-on-chip systems and microfluidic devices. Application to medical diagnostics, protein and nucleic acid tools including polymerase chain reaction and blotting techniques. Elements of design required for the development of modern instrumentation and biosensors.
NE 409Nanosystems Design Project and Symposium0.50 units
Completion and presentation of the design project from NE 307 and NE 408. Teams communicate their design in the form of a final report, a poster, and a seminar presentation.
This course provides an introductory overview of computational methods that are currently employed to the structural and bulk properties of materials at the nanoscale, with particular emphasis on molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The course also introduces density functional theory (DFT) and offers an introduction to machine learning.
NE 452Special Topics in Nanoscale Simulations0.50 units
Topics in this theme area include a sampling of modern computational methods and algorithms in nanoscale materials, using a selection of molecular dynamics, path integral approaches, density functional theory, and machine learning techniques. Real-world applications in materials discovery, catalysis, and biophysics will be highlighted.
NE 453Special Topics in Nanotechnology Engineering0.50 units
Special topics that significantly span two (or more) areas of concentration in or that provide methodologies relevant to nanotechnology engineering will be offered from time to time when resources are available.
Application of experimental tools and techniques in nano-electronics. Experimental exercises may involve circuit simulation and design, circuit prototyping, design of a driver circuit for a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), printed circuit board (PCB) design and layout optimization, and the use of various characterization instrumentation.
NE 454BNano-Instrumentation Laboratory 10.25 units
Application of experimental tools and techniques involved in nanotechnology. Experimental exercises may involve simulation, design, optimization of micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) devices, and the generation of a mask layout.
Application of experimental tools and techniques in nanobiotechnology. Experimental exercises may involve simulation and design, optimization, nanoparticle formulation reactions, microfluidics, and the use of various characterization instrumentation.
NE 454DNanostructured Materials Laboratory 10.25 units
Application of experimental tools and techniques in nanomaterials. Experimental exercises may involve design, use of image analysis software, optimization, electrodeposition, encapsulation and templating, synthetic chemistry protocols, and the use of selected characterization instrumentation.
Application of experimental tools and techniques in nano-electronics. Experimental exercises to complete the design cycle involve printed circuit board (PCB) assembly and soldering, measurement of the formation of a nonanethiol self- assembled monolayer, determination of the partition coefficient for a solvent vapour into a monolayer-protected-cluster film deposited on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and the use of various characterization methods. These exercises also stress the safe handling of chemicals in the process.
NE 455BNano-Instrumentation Laboratory 20.25 units
Application of experimental tools and techniques employed in nanotechnology. Experimental exercises may involve microfabrication (photolithography, film deposition, and etching) and testing of micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) devices based on the design from NE 454B. These exercises also stress working safely in a clean-room environment.
Application of experimental tools and techniques employed in nanobiotechnology. Experimental exercises may involve investigation of microbial culture protocols, biosensor applications, and the use of various characterization techniques. These exercises also stress the need for safe handling of micro-organisms and biomaterials.
NE 455DNanostructured Materials Laboratory 20.25 units
Application of experimental tools and techniques employed in nanomaterials. Experimental exercises may investigate and design the production and performance of electronic double layer capacitors (EDLC) for battery applications through the use of dispersion and mixing protocols to prepare carbon materials. Performance of the materials may be quantified using defined testing methods for measurement of electrical storage metrics. The exercise also stresses safe handling of nanomaterials.
NE 459Nanotechnology Engineering Research Project0.50 units
A nanotechnology engineering research project that requires students to demonstrate initiative and to assume responsibility. Students will select projects at the end of the 4A term. Although students may propose their own projects, a faculty member will provide supervision. A project report is required at the end of the 4B term.
Fabrication technology for development of micro and nanosensors, actuators, and modules (e.g., micro or, nano-electromechanical systems, micro or nanofluidics channels). Integration using examples drawn from chemical analysis micro and nano-instrumentation. An overview of current micro and nano-instrumentation.
Tactile sensors, wearable sensors and applications. Principles of transduction including capacitive, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, percolation, and tunneling-based sensing. Designing bendable and stretchable sensors, and self-powered sensors. Applications including robotics, electronic skin, biometrics, and bio-vitals.
Transport phenomena. Quantum confinement. Single molecule transistors. Resonant tunnelling devices. Large area and mechanically flexible electronics. Deposition and patterning techniques.
Electronic structure of conjugated molecules. Photophysics of organic molecules, singlet and triplet states, the transition moment, radiative and non-radiative transitions. Excited state kinetics. Excitonic processes in organic solids, Forster and Dexter transfer, quenching processes. Electronic conduction in organic solids, band and hopping transport, morphological disorder and traps. Introduction to the main types of organic electronic devices, such as light-emitting devices, solar cells, field-effect transistors, photodetectors and imaging devices. Aspects of device design and fabrication technology.
NE 481Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology0.50 units
Overview of biomedical engineering principles. Formulation and manufacturing processes for production of nanoparticles for medical applications. Pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and human physiology in drug administration. Route of administration and controlled delivery strategies. Formulation and manufacturing process for drug delivery in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 4A or higher
Complete 1 of the following
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE381 - Introduction to Nanoscale Biosystems (0.50)
Introduction to biosensors. Chemical, optical, and pattern recognition-based sensing. Sensors for metal ions, small molecules, proteins, cancer cells. Deoxyribonucleic acid/ribonucleic acid (DNA/RNA) properties and chemical synthesis. DNA aptamer-based sensors and devices. Combinatorial selection of functional DNA. Applications in drug screening and diagnostics.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 4A or higher
Complete 1 of the following
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE381 - Introduction to Nanoscale Biosystems (0.50)
NE 487Microfluidic and Nanobiotechnological Systems0.50 units
Principles, design, and fabrication methods for biomedical devices. Techniques for disease diagnosis, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, current state-of-the-art technologies, lab-on-a-chip devices and biosensors. Microfluidic device design and fabrication. Cleanroom fabrication, soft lithography, hot embossing, micro-milling, and testing.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 4A or higher
Complete 1 of the following
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
NE381 - Introduction to Nanoscale Biosystems (0.50)
NE 488Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering0.50 units
The course provides an overview of the recent advances in medicine and nanotechnologies for development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Strategies and technologies for designing, testing, and manufacturing of biomaterials and tissue-engineering products will be introduced. The biological and clinical applications will be discussed. The unmet medical needs, challenges in manufacturing, regulatory approval and commercialization for tissue engineering applications will also be discussed.
Application of inorganic nanostructured materials and nanocomposites. Synthesis and processing techniques for inorganic nanomaterials and the devices that use them. Students will be required to provide critical analyses and seminar presentations of patents utilizing nanomaterials.
NE 496Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Systems0.50 units
Nanomaterials in electrochemical energy systems, electrochemical reactions, and cell potentials. Nernst equation. Electrode kinetics and mass transport. Electrochemical reactor design. Fuel cells, electrocatalytic reactions, and hydrogen economy. Rechargeable batteries. Design aspects of energy systems. Applications in hybrid and electric vehicles.