SYDE 101LCommunications in Systems Design Engineering-Visualization

Units: 0.25
Faculty: Engineering
Subject: Systems Design Engineering

When it runs

Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This laboratory course introduces students to visual communication methods relevant to engineering analysis and design. 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 level of detail to demonstrate and improve upon their skills in graphing, freehand sketching, technical drawing, and computer-aided design (CAD).

Prerequisites

Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 1A
- Enrolled in H-Systems Design Engineering

Antirequisites

Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
- BME101L - Communications in Biomedical Engineering-Visualization (0.25)

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

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
LAB 001	7777	0 / 110	W 14:30–16:20
LAB 701	7993	0 / 9999	Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

89% liked it60% easy90% useful

From 115 ratings and 26 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

Love this class, and the structure is neat. Hunter's super nice and approachable. You'll leave this class as a SolidWorks baddie.

Dec 2025 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this
Lots of assignments where you get marks for completion. Extremely useful. You learn about sketching, solidworks, graphing, etc. Prof. Hunter was very engaging and extremely supportive throughout the term. It’s well balanced in terms of difficulty but it is the most useful course in SYDE 1A.

Nov 2025 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this
Easily the most enjoyable 1A course.

Aug 2024 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this
Good foundations for CAD modelling in SOLIDWORKS. Taught in a super easy-to-digest manner.

Mar 2024 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this
Wasn't a super hard course, though it was more time consuming than expected. Assignments were marked really harshly, but you quickly got used to it after the first few assessments. I really enjoyed the content but that's just a personal preference. Prof was really understanding and approachable which definitely helped. Main puzzle project was super time consuming but it was fun so can't really complain. One of my favourite courses of 1A

Dec 2023 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention SYDE 101L, 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 2022

Apr 26, 2022 Undergrad courses I've taken tier list (details in comments) 161 points, 13 comments

u/MindTheGap9: “… 1A - SYDE101/101L - Igor saved this course from disaster, he spent 3 hours teaching me how to draw straight lines once. - SYDE111 - "Oh boy, a chance to use a telescoping series", said nobody, ever. At least I learned epsilon-delta proofs? - SYDE113 - Conic Sections. …”

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Fall 2017

Oct 28, 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: “… 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 SYDE …”