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MTE 321Design and Dynamics of Machines

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.

Principles of the geometry and motion in linkages and mechanisms. Computer-aided kinematic and kinetic analysis of mechanisms. Synthesis of mechanisms. Static failure and yield criteria in ductile and brittle materials. Fatigue failure criteria due to fluctuating stresses. Shaft design under static and fluctuating loads. Shaft components, including shoulders, keys, and keyways. Deflections in shafts.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed the following:
      • MTE203 - Advanced Calculus (0.50)
      • MTE219 - Mechanics of Deformable Solids (0.50)
    • Complete 1 of the following
      • Must have completed the following:
        • SYDE288 - Physics 2: Dynamics (0.50)
      • Must have completed the following:
    • Students must be in level 3A or higher
    • Enrolled in H-Mechatronics Engineering

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • ME321 - Dynamics of Machines and Mechanical Vibrations (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 00149580 / 130TTh 11:00–12:20
LEC 7012012110 / 9999Online or by arrangement
TUT 10149590 / 130F 08:30–09:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

54% liked it64% easy39% useful

From 24 ratings and 4 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • the exams aren't heavily weighted and the projects cover most of the things from the lectures. doing projects keeps you pretty prepared for the exams and help to boost grades.

    Jul 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • In 2026, if you know your path, you don’t need to go to university. If you don’t, please go, the university will help you discover what you don’t want!

    Apr 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Kamyar was a prof who knew what he was doing. The course is not very difficult, basically just load analysis the entire term but some weird geometry related stuff at the end. Exams were relatively simple but were always two big questions. Marking is generous as long as your process wasn't bad

    Dec 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Midterm and final were both two fat questions

    Apr 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

4 posts and comments in 3 threads mention MTE 321, September 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.

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/SixLingScout: “… In general, the mechanical courses aren't really well received by the class (particularly MTE 321/322). …”

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Fall 2015

Transferring from Mechatronics to Systems (1A) 6 points, 10 comments

“Contemplating transferring from mechatronics to systems design. Love the electrical and programming components of mechatronics, but the mechanical design portion (especially mte100) is something I …”

u/annihilatron: “they're not that mechanically based. About 1/4 of your courses will be grounded in mechanics/kinematics only, 1/4 will be pure electrical/controlsystems, 1/4 will be motors and the mix of …”

u/annihilatron: “… Graph theory course which teaches how to set up and solve mixed systems algebraicly, which covers some of the stuff in MTE321 but the link between the courses is not obvious at the time. …”

u/straemer: “HAHAHA, you're kidding right? More like "oh lol, you don't have any pre-requisites for this course, so enjoy drawing random lines between boxes! Oh, and there's no textbook, so enjoy watching recordings of a prof talking into a microphone with lots of feedback! …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar