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MTE 111Structure and Properties of Materials

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Mechatronics 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 relationships between macroscopic physical properties (including mechanical, photonic, thermal, electrical, and magnetic properties) and microscopic causes based on fundamental principles (including electronic and atomic structures, atomic bonding, crystal structure, and microstructure); description of the differences in macroscopic physical properties of metals, polymers, ceramics, semiconductors, and composite materials in terms of microscopic causes.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • ME115 - 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 00146510 / 130MWF 15:30–16:20
MWF 15:30–16:20
Jan 28 11:30–12:20
Mar 11 11:30–12:20
Apr 1 11:30–12:20
Feb 24 10:30–12:20
LEC 70118750 / 9999Online or by arrangement
LAB 10146520 / 65W 08:30–11:20
W 08:30–11:20
LAB 10246530 / 65F 08:30–11:20
F 08:30–11:20
TUT 20146540 / 65F 09:30–10:20
F 09:30–10:20
TUT 20246550 / 65W 09:30–10:20
W 09:30–10:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

28% liked it36% easy55% useful

From 181 ratings and 36 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Honestly, I liked the course. The content itself was interesting and genuinely useful for technical interviews and whatnot, I think the reason most people don't like it is because the course itself is disorganized and taught in a "trivia/fun fact" way that makes you feel like you don't know what you need to know.
    I had Gerlich, and he was honestly a great prof, he did demos and showed videos and showed up to labs to help us, it's just the course itself is hard and people sometimes blame the prof.

    Apr 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • course is very dry but its good that you can just read the textbooks to prepare for the midterm and final. labs are also marked very easily. D2L quizzes can be difficult if you do them by yourself. got a 90 in the class.

    Apr 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The course was incredibly disorganized, and intended learning outcomes were never clear before the exams. Gerlich is an overhated prof, though - he made the lectures as interesting as is possible for materials, and I loved how he'd bring in samples and show videos of actual applications. Would have been a worse course without him.

    Mar 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Sucked in every way imaginable. Prof sucked, TAs sucked, labs sucked, exams sucked. This is a hard course and the prof especially did not do any favors.

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

  • Definitely a useful course that teaches principles that will be used in future courses. The content was sometimes interesting and sometimes extremely boring. The problem with this course as many have commented is the way it is taught - it is hard to see how different concepts tie together and just seems like content is thrown at you from all over. However, it is possible to do well in this course just by reading notes.

    Jul 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

15 posts and comments in 14 threads mention MTE 111, March 2016 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 2023

Spring 2022

Winter 2020

[Serious] What should I expect from TRON? 36 points, 34 comments

“Hi all, I recently accepted my offer for Mechatronics Engineering at Waterloo (yay). However, as I keep reading about people's experiences with the program on this subreddit, I'm not really sure what …”

u/ApatheticPost: “… - MTE 111 - Materials: Honestly didn't know what was going on during but it's the only course I remember anything from 1st year. - MTE 219 - MODS (Solid Mechanics): Pretty neat stuff. Everything is a spring basically. …”

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Fall 2019

In need of some help and guidance 2 points, 2 comments

u/sixclarks: “I failed MTE111 in 1b and definitely didn't pass the SUPP during my coop (didn't take it seriously and was at a point where I was contemplating why I was in uni). Got around my thoughts and am ready to just retake the course but I'm in a dilemma. …”

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Spring 2019

Winter 2018

Spring 2017

Best Laptop for Engineering 0 points, 9 comments

“Hello, I'm a Grade 12 student going into Mechatronics Engineering in the Fall, and I'm looking into getting a new laptop before starting University. …”

u/matty961: “… The only exceptions that I recall are ANSYS for MTE 204 and some material database thing for MTE 111, which were Windows-only and not on lab computers/remote desktop, but you should be able to use parallels/bootcamp on OSX or wine on linux just fine.”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

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