uwloo

SYDE 101Communications in Systems Design Engineering-Written and Oral

Units
0.25
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Systems Design Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course introduces first-year students to systems design engineering with a focus on the engineering profession, and technical communication skills. Through in-class and independent activities leading to formative and summative assessments, students will consider and reflect on communication intention, audience, content, medium, format, and tone to demonstrate and improve upon their listening, written and oral communication skills for academic, engineering, and professional context.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • BME101 - Communications in Biomedical Engineering-Written and Oral (0.25)

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0014713106 / 110F 13:30–14:20
TUT 101479053 / 55Th 08:30–10:20
TUT 102495053 / 55M 14:30–16:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

25% liked it95% easy31% useful

From 102 ratings and 27 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Class is meant to teach you about professionalism in engineering and all that. Kinda of a waste and is boring at times, but no exams in this course so pretty easy and has some boring assignments which aren't hard at all.

    May 2017 · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Not the most interesting class, but some of the guest lecturer's had great topics. It was a good chance to learn about how co-op works, etc.

    Dec 2016 · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Get some sleep if this course is early in the day

    Dec 2014 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Chillest class yet we literally had a whole sandwich making class, it still taught great skills that helped with presenting though. Prof and TAs are the goats.

    Dec 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The TAs don’t look at your work they just give you a grade. It’s interesting but a lot of the content is pretty self-explanatory. The prof was great though and there was some interesting guest speakers.

    Nov 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

5 posts and comments in 5 threads mention SYDE 101, October 2017 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

Winter 2022

Winter 2020

Winter 2019

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: “… SWREN 441R SWREN 442A SWREN 442B SWREN 442R SWREN 443A SWREN 443B SWREN 443R SWREN 470R SYDE 101 SYDE 101L SYDE 111 SYDE 113 SYDE 121 SYDE 161 SYDE 181 SYDE 182 SYDE 202 SYDE 212 SYDE 252 SYDE 262 SYDE 283 SYDE 286 SYDE 292 SYDE 292L SYDE 401 SYDE 411 SYDE 461 SYDE 533 SYDE 543 …”

View on RedditRemove this

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar