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CHE 161Engineering Biology

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Chemical Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 4 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Introduction to basic concepts of biochemistry and cell biology. Overview of the chemistry of amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. Properties and functions of biopolymers. Elements of cell structure and diversity, and relationship of biochemistry with cell metabolism. A focus on biotechnologically relevant examples such as biomimetic engineering design, proteomics, system biology, and high throughput biology.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Students must be in level 1B or higher
    • Complete 1 of the following

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00144860 / 120TTh 08:30–09:50
TTh 08:30–09:50
Jan 22 15:30–16:20
Feb 12 15:30–16:20
Apr 2 15:30–16:20
LEC 70117864 / 9999Online or by arrangement
TUT 10144870 / 120F 14:30–15:20
F 14:30–15:20
TST 20150890 / 120Feb 25 10:30–12:20

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

68% liked it47% easy61% useful

From 56 ratings and 11 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • I loved the bio debates and the variety of topics. The class got really fired up with Q & As and I really learned a lot, (I even heard one guy in our class got a job based on one of the bio debate topics he learned about because he told his interviewer all the info he got from the debates.)

    Nov 2015 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • A very basic biology course from an objective perspective. There are many concepts and processes that are taught, but we weren't expected to learn any of them in depth. Pre-midterm is about biomolecules (Sugars, fats, amino acids, nucleic acids) and very introductory cell biology and growth kinetics. Very easy to cram for midterm and do well. After midterm it gets a little messy because before you were learning easy concepts and expected to know most of it, whereas now you're learning very complex processes, but only needing to know a very surface level amount of it. I think this is what can make the course frustrating at times. It feels like you're constantly missing a key piece of…

    May 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I have never done bio before. I don’t like bio (the subject either personally), but this course was fine. Even though I had Yilan, where her accent is hard and her slides are messy, she made the assessments easy so that I just have to cram myself in the slides before tests and I can get a good score. So if you have her, you will be ok.

    Apr 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I didn't take gr 12 biology and I didn't feel left behind or anything, though I'm sure taking hs bio would have helped. Assignments for each unit aren't too much work (maybe just a couple of hours per assignment), Vitelli made the exams tough but manageable imo.

    Dec 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • high school bio with a lot of new words long and hard to remember.

    May 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

8 posts and comments in 6 threads mention CHE 161, April 2016 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2022

1A chem eng vs 1B chem eng 27 points, 5 comments

u/Quiinzy: “… You also do AutoCAD and not the P&ID thing from 180 CHE161 —> grade 12 bio review for the first little bit but accelerated of course. You go through the simple organisms all the way up to DNA replication and the Krebs cycle. …”

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Which course would be best/useful to take in 2B if you are in Arch Eng or Eng in general? 2 points, 3 comments

“I need to take at least one so any help would be great. Thanks! https://preview.redd.it/hmayw61r6w2a1.png?width=698&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d37ed0bda3d29a4d4b2726601ae3f0708ffd310”

u/Quiinzy: “CHE161 is high school biology review + a little bit more (gel electrophoresis, Michaelis-Menten) not a bird course by any means so would not recommend that”

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Fall 2019

Engineering Seminars 2 points, 7 comments

“&x200B; &x200B; I'm in stream 8 of first year chemical engineering and I just got my schedule. For ChE 181 it says that on Friday's we have a seminar and I was wondering if anyone has thoughts or …”

u/Cave-of-Wonders: “Che 181 is a new course for che 2024 so you’ll have to wait and find out, usually seminars aren’t required attendance but you never know until you get to the class”

u/anon-uwaterloo: “I'm assuming you're in chem eng? What about ChE 161? Are the tutorials usually mandatory or are they just for extra help? I learned from 1A that I learn best by teaching myself, so if I want to waste as little time as possible going to class if it doesn't help me.”

u/Cave-of-Wonders: “For che161 it completely depends on the prof, for us some were mandatory, but most weren’t. However we needed all of the help we could get on account of a terrible che 161 prof and tutorial answers weren’t posted online.”

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Winter 2018

Fall 2017

whats one of the worst things youve heard a prof say 97 points, 98 comments

“could be a slip up/a joke gone bad i.e. one of my profs said "the midterm's weight can be shifted to the final, so don't kill yourselves.... we've had that happen enough"”

[deleted]: “skips like 8 questions while doing a midterm review session “We’ll skip these, you should know it”. -Perry Chou Yea no shit Perry. We should know all of it because it’s REVIEW. …”

u/DelirationOn69: “was this che 161”

[deleted]: “It was Che 361 but I’m sure he makes an equally useless Che 161 proff”

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Winter 2016

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar