uwloo

SYDE 161Introduction to Design

Units
0.50
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.

In this course, students will learn about engineering design processes, engineering professionalism, and project management, while participating in a team-based design project. Student teams will apply an iterative, human-centered design process and systems perspective to understand, represent, and identify possible targets for design interventions, develop appropriate design specifications, ideate and prototype possible solutions, and evaluate solutions through verification and validation.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • BME161 - Introduction to User-Centered Biomedical Design 1 (0.50)

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 0014494107 / 110M 12:30–14:20
W 12:30–13:20
TUT 1014495107 / 110W 13:30–14:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

45% liked it55% easy58% useful

From 113 ratings and 27 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • What even are we doing why are we learning about a fever dream creature that the prof created? The classes are very boring and feels pointless.

    Sep 2022 · didn’t like it · 5 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • useless course. do not recommend

    Sep 2022 · didn’t like it · 3 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Needs to be more engaging. Designing for aliens seems like a good idea to generate creative designs, but I felt there was little passion among groups to actually create high quality designs that suited aliens. The concepts seem like they are useful but they did not seem to be clearly described or taught. It was very difficult to then apply these concepts to the many group and individual assignments given, especially most of the time others didn't want to learn or apply these concepts for the sake of fictional aliens. Lectures were also dry and grading was jank.

    Dec 2022 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The most useless course ever.

    Jan 2022 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Listen to the prof, and put as much crap in your design notebook as you possibly can.

    Nov 2012 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

7 posts and comments in 7 threads mention SYDE 161, 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

is SYDE useless? 0 points, 16 comments

“I’m a grade 12 student who applied to SYDE but I am now having second thoughts between syde and comp eng. …”

u/mynameisduckquack: “Hi! I just finished my first term of syde so maybe I can help you gain some insight into the program. I would agree that syde has a significantly lighter workload than comp eng, but it is an …”

u/mynameisduckquack: “In syde 161, we had to design gardening tools for aliens, which wasn't the most exciting thing, to be honest. But, if you search up "engineering design process", that will give you a good idea about the content of these design courses. …”

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Winter 2022

Spring 2021

Spring 2019

SYDE vs. BME 2 points, 11 comments

“I'm an incoming first year that got accepted to biomedical engineering, but I'm thinking of transferring to systems design engineering. …”

u/MindTheGap9: “… SYDE 161/162/261 were pretty rough times for me. …”

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Admissions Megathread (Fall 2019 Incoming Students) (Part 2 Electric Boogaloo) 145 points, 7,874 comments

“Part 1 can be found [here.] Hello UW applicants, This thread is specifically for those who are applying/applied to UW to discuss different admission issues and ask current UW students for help and …”

u/andrewt729: “For engineering students, are we able to swap/change the time of our classes in our schedule at all? If so how does that work”

u/Cave-of-Wonders: “… you can't switch around the courses that are the for specific eng faculty as there will only be one section of those (i.e SYDE 161 is only offered to systems design students so you can't switch those). …”

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Winter 2019

systems vs softeng 3 points, 3 comments

“currently unsure of what to do. i feel like i'll have a better chance getting into systems but I like programming and designing stuff. Are you able to take software electives in systems? …”

u/jassmall: “Are you interested at all in the design side of the SYDE curriculum (check out the descriptions for SYDE 161, 162, and 361 to get an idea of what that means)? …”

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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 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 553 SYDE 575 SYDE 631 SYDE 677 SYDE 682 …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar