uwloo

ME 115Structure and Properties of Materials

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Mechanical 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.

The relevance of materials to engineering practice. The microstructure of materials, crystallinity and crystal imperfections, glasses, and amorphous solids. Elastic and plastic deformation in metals, viscoelasticity of plastics. Strengthening mechanisms in metals, polymers, and ceramics. Fracture of brittle and ductile solids. Electrical and magnetic properties of materials.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • ME235 - Materials Science and Engineering (0.50)
    • MTE111 - Structure and Properties of Materials (0.50)

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 00144040 / 140MW 14:30–15:50
MW 14:30–15:50
Jan 12 13:30–14:20
Mar 9 13:30–14:20
Mar 30 13:30–14:20
Feb 23 08:30–10:20
LEC 70118660 / 9999Online or by arrangement
LAB 10144050 / 70T 09:30–12:20
T 09:30–12:20
LAB 10244560 / 70Th 09:30–12:20
Th 09:30–12:20
TUT 20144840 / 70T 08:30–09:20
T 08:30–09:20
TUT 20244850 / 70Th 08:30–09:20
Th 08:30–09:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

51% liked it55% easy85% useful

From 126 ratings and 28 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • One of the worst courses I have ever taken. This was also the most universally hated class in 1B for my class. While other courses were generally hated but still had that occasional person that found a way to like it, I couldn't find a single person that didn't hate this course. The lectures were really boring, which motivated about half the class to never even show up. Those that did attend every lecture didn't seem to understand the content any better though. The tutorials rarely ever reflected the content learned in the week, and labs were difficult when the material hadn't been covered in class yet. Both the midterm and final are legendary for not resembling the course content at all.…

    Apr 2016 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Read the textbook. The slides are horrible and most stuff from lectures is unrelated tangents.

    Jul 2023 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This class normally was supposed to be easy. The prof made it terrible, unstructured and just brutal. I think I'm the only person in our whole class that thoroughly enjoyed this class and these are still my comments on it.

    May 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The course experience heavily relies on the professor's quality. With a good professor, the content might be interesting, but with someone like Michael Mayer, not so much. His lecture notes lacked organization, making the textbook a better learning resource. The labs were so tedious, and exams assessed obscure random knowledge about things mentioned only once or twice.

    Jan 2023 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Pretty useful knowledge for an engineer.

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

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

20 posts and comments in 13 threads mention ME 115, January 2013 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 2022

For Strem 4 Mech eng people (and others if they have MATH 118 , ME 105 or ME 101) 0 points, 5 comments

u/ForceBetter8972: “… Can someone please tell me how do ME 115, MATH 118 and ME 101 work? like can I manage without going to campus for a month? Are the assignments and quizzes are online for these courses? …”

u/loryk_zarr: “Why don't you just ask your profs/read the syllabuses?”

u/ForceBetter8972: “ok i just found math 118's outline here. Do you know anyone enrolled in ME 101 and ME 115?”

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Spring 2021

Mechanical engineering undergrad retrospective 201 points, 42 comments

u/doAbr00talroll: “… • ME115: I don't know how I passed, it's really interesting but I was lulled into a sense of security by Gerlich and didn't study enough. • STV202: I beat both portal games during lectures and finished with a very good (>80) grade. You have to write essays though. …”

u/radioactivetomato87: “… 1B was online, the programming assignments sometimes took a long time to complete, ME115 I honestly feel like I barely learned anything from it. 123 in 1B was hard at first then I grinded and it was good post mid term. …”

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Spring 2019

Mechanical Eng. Students, what was your first year like? 8 points, 14 comments

“If you couldn’t guess from the title, I’m a grade 12 student who has an offer from UW for an undergrad in Mechanical Engineering. …”

u/_AsianPotato: “… I had a few classes (ME115, and PHYS115?) Where it just wasnt going to because the prof cant speak English and I'm just doing nothing half the time, or the boi was just kinda not good, so my time is better spent elsewhere. …”

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Spring 2018

Acceptances Megathread [Fall 2018 Incoming Students] 142 points, 1,897 comments

“Hi all, This thread is specifically for those who got accepted to UW to discuss different issues (residences, courses, student life, etc.) and celebrate the hard work and efforts of those who have …”

u/Beautiful_Psychology: “Mech Eng here, What kind of specific/particular software or file etc would I have to download on my laptop for my courses ahead.”

u/Beautiful_Psychology: “First\-year courses September to December ME 100 \- Mechanical Engineering Practice 1CHE 102 \- Chemistry for EngineersMATH 115 \- Linear Algebra for EngineeringMATH 116 \- Calculus 1 for EngineeringPHYS 115 \- Mechanics January to April or May to August ME 100B \- SeminarME 101 …”

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Winter 2018

Advice for MECH 1B midterms? 3 points, 9 comments

u/ArtiTheApple: “Looking at fellow mechs or anyone who took the following courses: ME115, MATH118, GENE123 and ME101. I'm a bit worried because I am quite behind in all my classes and it at this point, I'm fine with a 60% pass. …”

u/spaceneedlesky: “… ME 115 is hard because I studied a lot and still almost failed. I recommend reading the textbook and trying some of the harder problems. Also, try to understand the content and not just memorized it (this is important). …”

u/ArtiTheApple: “… I'm not too stressed out about ME 115, but that's also due to the fact that I know nothing about it so I'll be panicking in due time.. …”

u/Neonorangehats: “ME115 is a disorganized shitshow of a course. It seens like none of the concepts are related and equations are pulled out of sone random dude's ass. Who's your prof? Gerlich? You're fucked. Study the most randomest things and it will probably be on the midterm. …”

u/loryk_zarr: “We have a (relatively) new prof for ME115 who seems to be on top of things so far.”

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Spring 2017

Fall 2016

Winter 2016

Mental Health Monday 18 points, 57 comments

“Welcome to Mental Health Monday. Use this topic to talk about anything on your mind regarding university life, or to seek advice from others who might be in similar situations. …”

u/IamA_Hobo_AMA: “I finally managed to land a coop at the vehicles systems lab in E3. Kinda makes up for the horrible ME115 final”

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mech vs tron 0 points, 12 comments

“might be considering a transfer, from what I can gather it's mech-(in depth materials knowledge)-(manufacturing processes)+(stronger programming background)+(more electrical knowledge)=tron does that …”

u/shamshir12: “MTE 111 is Materials knowledge doe! (I am taking this course, and it is materials knowledge fam) https://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/page/ENG-Mechatronics-Engineering We also take statics, mechanics …”

u/Aqulight: “… and yes we have ME 115, which is materials too(actually it's an antireq for the course you mentioned), but we also have 219, 220, 230 which all sound materials-related so we probably cover a lot more”

u/FunnySoYou: “ME 219 is more mechanics like more so than it is materials. Its a lot more calculations and analysis of how something deforms rather than studying material properties in ME 115.”

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Spring 2015

Switching to Mech Eng After 1B 0 points, 4 comments

“Hi, I finished my 1B term in Civil Engineering back in April and I am currently on co-op. Recently I have been considering switching to Mechanical engineering, but I am not sure how the process would …”

u/starkwahlberg: “… You have to make up ME100, ME101 and ME115 which is probably enough that they'll make you do a non degree term which is what I'm doing. …”

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Winter 2015

What (if any) course has an exam where the max 2.5 hrs given wasn't enough? 0 points, 28 comments

“Is there a course with an exam where practically all the students stayed for the whole exam duration bc of how long, tedious, etc it was? Having finished my last exam I have yet to experience this”

u/nguyentrungtu: “ECE 124”

u/HackedToaster: “So glad they did. The ME 115 exam corrections (which were being announced in PAC UB) made it somewhat hard to concentrate.”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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