ECE 493Special Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Special courses on advanced topics will be offered from time to time, when resources are available. For current offerings, inquire at the ECE Undergraduate Office or check the ECE website.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Computer Engineering, H-Electrical Engineering, H-Mechatronics Engineering, H-Nanotechnology Engineering, or H-Software Engineering
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 4702 | 0 / 44 | TW 11:30–12:50 Jan 20 08:30–09:50 Feb 10 08:30–09:50 Mar 10 08:30–09:50 Mar 31 08:30–09:50 |
| LEC 701 | 1916 | 20 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
| TUT 101 | 4703 | 0 / 44 | Th 19:00–19:50 |
Resources
Around the web
Found by uwloo’s link finder, which checks that each page names ECE 493.
- RLCourseNotes: Course notes for UWaterloo course ECE 493 Topic 25 in Spring 2019 Course notes · Spring 2019 · github.com · by compthinking on GitHub Remove
- Mark Crowley Other · markcrowley.ca · from Mark Crowley’s site Remove
Reviewed on UW Flow
52% liked it38% easy70% useful
From 31 ratings and 15 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Took this course (Fall 2025) and the topic is Computer Arith, offered by Nachiket and I had to say that it is simply by far the single most confusing and unfair course I have ever taken. I mean I get it, it's a technical elective with a more "open" tendency on marking, but the sheer level of chaos and confusion caused by an incomplete course development is simply immeasurable. I might as well take an Oleg course for that will be less confusion in key deliverables, and the prof would actually be held accountable. There are simply so many things that are wrong with this course that I don't even know where to start.
Professor Kapre might be universally loved as a "cool prof", but it's almost…Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 9 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Long story short, don't take this if you value your sanity and grades. One of my biggest undergrad regrets is choosing this course. The labs were more rushed and hectic than your average ece student during finals season somehow, and prof definitely plays favourites in grading.
Fun update: instead of reflecting on any of these mistakes pointed out in the earlier reviews, now he's literally begging students on Discord to glaze him up on uwflow after seeing the earlier review. I'm honestly not sure how you guys are willing to glaze him up more, he's not gonna give u extra points for ur uwflow reviews, but i guess you'll only like him if he plays favourites on ur behalf 💀Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 8 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
I took Comp Arith with Prof. Kapre. The whole point of special topics classes is that you get exposure of newer niche stuff, which what the prof and department were going for. Warning, since these classes are new, there is no standardization and it gets pretty unorganized, This offering definitely felt that way. There were a lot of rough spots that made learning way harder than it needed to be and that took away from learning too. The content and labs themselves were cool, and I get and like what the course was trying to do, but execution matters and you can’t really separate that from course quality… which explains my useful, easy, and liked rating... Check other reviews. I’d say be…
Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 8 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Took Hardware Arith with Professor Kapre.
Kapre clearly play favourites and it's hilarious how many students suck up to him. One time a student gave some criticism on the course, white knight jumps in telling him to apologize and delete the message. Some other dude brings snacks every lecture for the prof 💀. Got some good laughs out of this.
Update: Bro really started begging his minions on discord to give him good reviews. He not gonna give yall an extra grade man just zip it up when you’re done 🤣Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 8 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
For future students reading these reviews, my apologies. There’s a lot of drama in these Nachiket courses especially around reviews. Be aware that yes, he cares for his students and wants them to learn and be successful. However, this mainly extends to his favourites who he also begs to write him good reviews (he also asked for good reviews for ECE 327). If you’re not a part of this group, good luck, I mean it. Just know that labs are tough and disorganized, even for established courses like ECE 327 (so I have a tough time believing this extreme disorganization is because this is a new course). Because of how messy the course is, there are many bugs in the labs and sometimes you have to…
Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
30 posts and comments in 24 threads mention ECE 493, December 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.
Spring 2024
Overriding into Eng courses for Math majors 9 points, 10 comments
“How hard is it to override into Eng courses for Math majors or any major? Specifically for machine learning, computer vision, image processing, and embedded systems. …”
u/vkoj1221: “I was able to override into ECE 493 a long time ago just by asking the professor. I imagine that core/required courses might be harder to override into compared to topics courses or graduate level courses since I've found it very easy to override into graduate level courses. …”
Winter 2024
Social Robotics (ECE 493/ECE 750) 5 points, 0 comments
u/Pure-Vibes: “Are there any undergrad/grad students or alumni who have taken this course? How was it? Did the course material match your expectations going in? How was the individual term project? It's being offered this term and I'm considering taking it. Thanks!”
Winter 2023
CE 4A TEs 8 points, 30 comments
u/OkCelery1514: “… 457C, Reinforcement Learning ECE 458, Computer Security ECE 481, Digital Control Systems ECE 493, Special Topics: IOT Signal Processing I took ECE 358, ECE 356, & ECE 351 in 3B and performed at the average in all these courses. …”
Fall 2022
Has anyone taken Social Robotics (SYDE 750/ECE 750/ECE 493)? 3 points, 0 comments
u/Co-opPlease: “Maybe a long shot, but if there are any grad students or alumni who have taken the course, how was it? Did the course material match your expectations going in? It's being offered next term and I'm considering taking it. Thanks!”
Winter 2021
ECE 493 IoT Signal Processing w/ Otman Basir? 3 points, 2 comments
u/napabobawhore: “Does anyone have thoughts on this prof or the course content? I heard it’s very focused on electrical concepts and the workload is heavy. Wondering if anyone knew or knew of people who took it. Thanks”
ECE 4th Yr Courses Thoughts 2 points, 2 comments
u/ece_te: “I don't think you can compare ECE 493 with other ECE X9X courses like that. These are generally technical electives that profs want to teach right now but don't have an appropriate course code for it. …”
Fall 2020
Need some advice from ECE fellows 2 points, 12 comments
u/dwandred: “… I am thinking about taking ECE493/495, which is a quite flexible course about some interesting topics like reinforcement learning/autonomous vehicles. I have a little CS backgrounds (CS135/136) but I learned coding in python by myself. …”
u/Throw-away-560: “I don't know, I haven't taken ECE 493/495 before.”
u/Frozen-Penis: “looks like ece 495 used to be a special topics course before (ece 493 T21), I didnt take it myself but you can probably look up the syllabus and people talking about the course such as this thread: …”
Spring 2020
Thoughts on ECE493 T25: Reinforcement Learning? 3 points, 4 comments
u/DoNotUseAdmin: “Workload, exams, etc. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!”
Winter 2020
how is Mark Crowley (ece493 S20) 2 points, 0 comments
u/DoNotUseAdmin: “he is teaching ece493 t25: reinforcement learning next term, how is his workload and exam? Is he a tough marker?”
[deleted]: [deleted]
u/DoNotUseAdmin: “on ece493 website(in progress) he mentions a "test bank"for exams. Do you have something similar?”
Graduated exactly 1 year ago today, AMA about ECE or Waterloo 43 points, 63 comments
“I just realized that my last exam ever was exactly one year ago today: Music 246, Apr 24, 2019 - 7:30PM at STC 1012 Kind of bored with this quarantine shit so feel free to AMA about ECE, Waterloo or …”
u/ddddc1: “What technical electives did you take? And what rating would you give each course?”
u/evilcubed: “… The other TE I took was ECE 493 (autonomous vehicles). The course sounded really interesting on paper, but in execution, the prof was super unorganized so most people didnt really learn anything. …”
ECE 493 Internet of Things 9 points, 0 comments
u/Maplethtowaway: “Has anyone taken this course before? How is it like?”
CS 480 this term - anyone else feel scammed? 9 points, 23 comments
“I was SO excited to take ML this term but I'm extremely disappointed after attending the first lecture yesterday. Does anyone else feel this way? …”
u/Nyxeal: “That’s why I decided not to take cs480 unless Prof. Poupart is teaching since it looks like he is the only decent instructor for that course.”
u/Nyxeal: “CS489 (Neural Networks) and CS451. And CS486 if I am lucky (currently in waitlist :/). You can try other courses that touch ML like syde522 or ECE493 (autonomous vehicle).”
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