SYDE 352Introduction to Control Systems
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
- Subject
- Systems Design Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 4 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Classical and state space representations of control systems. Stability, controllability, observability and sensitivity. Routh-Hurwitz and root-locus methods. Frequency domain behaviour, Bode plots, Nyquist stability criteria. Pole placement, PID, phase-lead and phase-lag controllers.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 3B
- Enrolled in H-Systems Design Engineering
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 4354 | 0 / 110 | TTh 09:00–10:20 |
| LEC 701 | 1759 | 60 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
| TUT 101 | 4355 | 0 / 110 | M 15:30–16:20 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
64% liked it24% easy90% useful
From 25 ratings and 6 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Basic course, taught well. Nasser is great.
May 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
This course took a decent amount of work but was a lot of fun. Content was clearly presented. Tests didn't always reflect what you expected, so make sure to study!
Mar 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
I still don't know how to do Nyquist plots or what they mean, but the nice thing for this is you don't actually have to do any of the transforms yourself, it's all charts.
Jul 2019 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
pretty standard controls course. same as you will find with any TRON/SE/MECH/ECE/Chemeng equivalent
Apr 2018 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Proper engineering course with interesting and useful concepts. However, not much focus on complete understanding, ends up being a lot of confused memorization.
Apr 2016 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention SYDE 352, November 2020 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
Undergrad courses I've taken tier list (details in comments) 161 points, 13 comments
u/MindTheGap9: “… - SYDE352 - I was gonna rank this course higher, but holy crap I'm so angry in hindsight. I love controls and this course put me off it. The content isn't that hard but the teaching made it seem like rocket science. …”
Fall 2020
Admissions / High School Megathread (Fall 2020) 316 points, 7,386 comments
“I think we lost track of the old one somewhere, and this is to also help reset the expiry date (these threads archive after six months) Engineering Admissions Blog: https://theroadtoengineering.com/ …”
u/Master_Parsley: “For SYDE students who have taken the more hands-on courses (involving circuits, hardware, prototyping, etc.), what did you think of these courses? …”
u/Master_Parsley: “… I expected more courses (like SYDE 263 and SYDE 352/352L) to be very hardware-oriented since they involve prototyping and control systems, respectively. …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them