SYDE 332Introduction to Complex Systems
- Faculty
- Engineering
- Last listed
- Spring 2020
No longer offered. It was in Waterloo’s course catalog since at least Winter 2020 (as far back as Open Data goes) to Spring 2020 and last ran in Winter 2020. It isn’t in the 2024–25 or later calendars.
When it ran
- W20
Ran in 1 term, Winter 2020 to Winter 2020.
The overwhelming majority of societal and ecological issues of pressing importance are complex systems; nonlinear interacting systems poorly characterized by linear analyses and Gaussian statistics. This course introduces the mathematics needed to understand such interactions, including nonlinear dynamics, critical and bifurcation behaviours, large-scale systems, power-law distributions, and statistical inference. The mathematical methods will be motivated by a set of case studies comprised of pressing large-scale interconnected problems such as global warming, energy shortages, desertification, overpopulation, poverty, and economic instability, to be investigated from a systems engineering perspective that will connect the mathematical analyses to real-world examples. [Offered: W]
Requirements, as last listed
Prereq: Level at least 3A Biomedical Engineering or Level at least 3B Systems Design Engineering
Reviewed on UW Flow
83% liked it40% easy80% useful
From 6 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Covers a large breadth of material detailing the challenges and patterns found in modeling complex systems. Largely a qualitative course with a few math problems thrown in here and there. This course is Fieguth's creation/baby, so you essentially have the best prof in SYDE giving it his all. Strong recommendation, even if the material doesn't seem interesting on paper. Easy contender for best course in Systems.
Apr 2016 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
This is not easily the best course I've ever taken in university - that comment was unfortunately misleading. One would have to be heavily interested in environmental problems (which are given much more attention than societal problems) to enjoy this course, otherwise analytical techniques are broadly covered without much rigor or depth.
Apr 2016 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Best course I've taken at university.
Oct 2012 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
One post or comment in 1 thread mentions SYDE 332, January 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 2016
AMA Request: Someone in SYDE 0 points, 1 comment
u/Victawr: “… My suggestion to you would to buy the SYDE 332 textbook, as it just came out like last week and is written by the SYDE chair and he really explains what systems is as a whole and why we take the courses we do.”
Check it elsewhere
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2019–20Its last calendar entry, on ucalendar
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them
In the scanned calendars
How it read in each calendar from 1971–72 to 1990–91, newest first. The text is OCR of the scanned pages; years whose wording matches are shown once, from the clearest scan. Each year links to its page on uwloo and to that page of the scanned PDF.
1982–83 to 1990–91 8 calendars
Theory and algorithms for non-linear constrained optimization problems: convex set, convex functions, convex programming, Kuhn-Tucker conditions, duality, quadratic programming, quasi- Newton methods, geometric programming, dynamic programming.
16:153
Offered Winter · 3 class, 1 tutorial hours a week · 0.5 credit
1974–75 to 1981–82 8 calendars
Theory and application of linear programming, techniques; simplex, the transportation and assignment problems, duality and degeneracy. Industrial applications to production and inventory control. Selected problems from nonlinear and dynamic programming.
Offered Winter · 2 class, 1 tutorial hours a week · 0.5 credit
Not in the 1972–73 to 1973–74 calendars.
1971–72 1 calendar
Another title: Statistical Models for Socio-Economic Systems, probably a different course under the same number (or a misread scan).
Applications of econometric models, regression analysis, factor analysis, Statistical decision theory, and other methods and models for the policy analysis of socio-economic systems. Selected references will be assigned.