MSE 261Engineering Economics: Financial Management for Engineers

Units: 0.50
Faculty: Engineering
Subject: Management Science and Engineering

When it runs

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

Introductory finance: time value of money, cash flow analysis. Investment evaluation methods: present worth, annual worth, and internal rate of return. Depreciation models and asset replacement analysis. The impact of inflation, taxation, uncertainty, and risk on investment decisions.

Prerequisites

Enrolled in H-Chemical Engineering, H-Computer Engineering, H-Electrical Engineering, H-Management Engineering, H-Mechanical Engineering, H-Mechatronics Engineering, H-Nanotechnology Engineering, or H-Software Engineering

Antirequisites

Complete all of the following
- Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
  - AE392 - Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (0.50)
  - BME364 - Engineering Biomedical Economics (0.50)
  - CIVE392 - Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (0.50)
  - ENVE392 - Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (0.50)
  - GEOE392 - Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (0.50)
  - SYDE262 - Engineering Economics and Sustainability (0.50)
- Not completed any of the following:
  - ECE390
- Not open to students enrolled in H-Architectural Engineering, H-Biomedical Engineering, H-Civil Engineering, H-Environmental Engineering, H-Geological Engineering, or H-Systems Design Engineering

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.
Section	Class	Enrolled	Meets
LEC 001	5032	0 / 100	TTh 13:30–14:50
LEC 002	5033	0 / 134	TTh 16:00–17:20
LEC 003	5034	0 / 100	M 10:30–12:20 W 10:30–11:20
LEC 701	2032	241 / 9999	Online or by arrangement
TUT 101	5035	0 / 100	W 11:30–12:20
TUT 102	5036	0 / 134	W 10:30–11:20
TUT 103	5037	0 / 100	W 11:30–12:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

37% liked it79% easy42% useful

From 339 ratings and 68 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

Poorly formed assignments, unhelpful staff.

Jun 2016 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this
This course leaves me with a bad taste. Confusing assignments and staff.

Jun 2016 · didn’t like it · 3 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this
Absolutely waste of time. Plus if you have Rasha Farouk Ibrahim Kashef as your prof, its simply a disaster. A course that will waste a lot of your time and will make you nothing but extremely upset. May get acceptable grades depending on how lucky you are. Worst course ever taken at UW, not because of how hard it is. It's simply disgusting.

Aug 2016 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this
If this course wasn't taught by Fuat it probably would've been easy. Very unorganized, low quiz grades, case studies were given late and without enough information to solve. holy fkn airball

Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this
I don't think this class is typically very difficult, but the prof made it frustrating

Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

One post or comment in 1 thread mentions MSE 261, June 2024 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

Jun 15, 2024 How hard is 2A compared to first year? 3 points, 1 comment

“MGTE student that completed 1A and 1B, can I expect 2A to be just as hard, or would it get easier from here on out? …”

u/ConsequenceNo3618: “… assignments MSE 251 (Stats): High school review but with a bit more distributions MSE 261 (Econ): Mostly new content and will require a fair bit of work, but its of moderate difficulty MSE 271 (Calc III): Mostly review from AP Calc BC but will be difficult if you've never taken …”

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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

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar

2024–25
2025–26
2026–27 requisites changed (shown here)
2019–20 and earlier on ucalendar