CO 434Combinatorial Designs
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Mathematics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Pairwise orthogonal latin squares. Transversal designs and finite planes. Balanced incomplete block designs, group divisible designs, and pairwise balanced designs. Symmetric designs and Hadamard matrices. Recursive constructions. Wilson's fundamental construction.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Resources
Around the web
Found by uwloo’s link finder, which checks that each page names CO 434.
- Chris Godsil: CO 434/634, Winter 2026 Course website · Winter 2026 · math.uwaterloo.ca · from Chris Godsil’s site Remove
Reviewed on UW Flow
100% liked it0% easy0% useful
From 4 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
The math of shoving thing into a bunch of different boxes in very nice, symmetric ways. It's nice when it's not linear algebra-ey.
Mar 2014 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention CO 434, February 2012 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 2017
C&O Course Suggestions? 8 points, 12 comments
“Interested in pursuing a minor in CO which requires three 3rd/4th year CO courses. To CO majors: which courses do you recommend?”
u/GenesisTK: “From the ones that look super cool: CO 446, CO 434, CO 450, CO 471, CO 463, CO 452, CO 466.”
Winter 2012
Has anyone taken CO 380 - Mathematical Discovery and Invention? 6 points, 5 comments
“Opinions? The course looks pretty cool but I'm already going to have a busy term in the spring so I wouldn't want to take it if it's a major time suck.”
u/abering: “… or 'main approach' like most of the other CO courses (exceptions that stick out are CO434, CO480).”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them