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ME 481Mechanical Engineering Design Project 1

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 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

The first of two required courses for the mechanical engineering capstone design project. This course is intended to enable students to engage in in-depth engineering design and decision-making using engineering science while encouraging creativity and resourcefulness, and addressing the criteria listed in the faculty of engineering design rubrics. Students will work in small groups on a design project of their own choosing, or as part of a major student team project. The goal is to develop a design proposal, consisting of the needs analysis, design specifications and project plan, followed by the initial and detailed design work.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed the following:
      • ME380 - Mechanical Engineering Design Workshop (0.50)
    • Students must be in level 4A or higher
    • Enrolled in H-Mechanical Engineering

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • MTE481 - Mechatronics Engineering Design Project 1 (0.50)

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
PRJ 0014626115 / 104TTh 16:00–17:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

81% liked it39% easy80% useful

From 31 ratings and 8 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Kwon gave feedback weeks after Kamyar and it was clearly written by AI. I'm honestly quite disgusted that we had to 2 large reports and 3 presentations just for no one to actually read it. The double standard is astounding.

    Aug 2026 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • UPDATES AS OF SPRING 2026: Kamyar Ghavam dropped a bomb on S8s by saying groups of 5 are no longer allowed, even though many groups had formed and been working on their capstones for many months. So make a group of 4 and keep it set.
    Also, if you can choose between Ghavam and Kwon, choose Ghavam. He gives actual feedback, pays attention, and is a fair marker. Kwon will put your presentations and reports into ChatGPT and give you an AI generated response about why your design is bad. Kwon was also super slow in giving back marks.

    Aug 2026 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Kamyar should not be a prof for this class as I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand anything outside of mechanical engineering. He seems to think electrical/software design is not engineering, and goes on his phone during presentations when people are talking about these parts of their project. You realize that profs don't really know as much once the topics are outside their scope of research or teaching.

    Aug 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Pick a good FYDP group.

    Aug 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Pick something you enjoy or you will regret the next 8 months

    Apr 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

4 posts and comments in 4 threads mention ME 481, June 2015 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.

Winter 2022

Fall 2017

Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”

u/Jackhofmann: “… ME 322 ME 351 ME 353 ME 360 ME 362 ME 380 ME 400A ME 401 ME 423 ME 435 ME 436 ME 456 ME 459 ME 481 ME 482 ME 548 ME 559 ME 561 ME 566 ME 599 ME 620 ME 627 ME 632 ME 651 ME 659 ME 662 ME 673 ME 680 ME 682 ME 720 ME 738 ME 753 ME 760 ME 765 ME 770 ME 780 MEDVL 115 MEDVL 250R MNS …”

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Spring 2015

Free Talk Friday 24 points, 116 comments

“Welcome to Free Talk Friday, where you are able to talk about whatever you want. Please keep it respectful and remember that subreddit rules still apply.”

u/Victawr: “Still don't have an FYDP group or idea...”

u/wanTron_Soup: “… mixed review about his ME481/482 classes. Not sure what you can expect from him. Kind of sucks if you can't take it considering how Waterloo likes to show off it's "collaborative and innovative environment" . …”

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Any mech eng doing/done the tron option? 1 point, 6 comments

“I just wanna know if there are any mech eng that are doing/done the tron option. I wanna know what courses you took to complete the option (ECE or MTE courses?) and if doing the option itself was …”

u/annihilatron: “https://uwaterloo.ca/mechanical-mechatronics-engineering/future-undergraduate-students/mechanical-engineering/specializations-and-options bottom of the page; link to http://mecheng1.uwaterloo.ca/mechatro/ from that, so I'll rattle off courses I know from there. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar