Why Mechanical Engineering?
Design and build a better world. In Waterloo’s Mechanical Engineering program, you’ll put the principles of physics to work, learning to design and manufacture anything that moves. This will prepare you to work in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, robotics, aerospace, construction, green energy, oil, biomechanics and automotive.
You could be in charge of designing everything from life-saving robots and energy-efficient jet engines to adrenaline-pumping roller coasters.
Courses in Mechanical Engineering
Courses in first year concentrate on basic mathematics, physics, computation and engineering materials. Second and third-year courses go more deeply into Mechanical Engineering, and include topics such as the strength of materials, electromechanical devices, dynamics, kinematics of machines, machine design, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, control theory and manufacturing.
Sample first-year courses
This is a sample schedule. Courses are subject to change.
| 1A Term | 1B Term |
|---|---|
Upper year courses
For more information about courses past your first year, check out the Undergraduate Academic Calendar.
Customize your degree with options and specializations
Options
Options are a way to provide you with a path to expand your degree and get a secondary emphasis in another subject or area. Students should decide if they are interested in taking options as they enter second year. Some available options are:
Specializations
A specialization is recognition of selected elective courses within your degree. Specialization offerings are unique to your engineering program and are listed on your diploma. The specialization that is available to Mechanical Engineering students is a Welding & Joining Specialization.
Co-op for Mechanical Engineering students
You’ll have an unrivalled opportunity to gain paid work experience before you even graduate. We’ll help you navigate job applications, résumés, and interviews; you’ll have the added benefit of trying out different roles and/or industries to find the one that fits you while building your work experience and reinforcing your in-class learning out in the real world. It all adds up to a competitive advantage after graduation.
Your first work term will be halfway through first year
| Year | September to December (Fall) | January to April (Winter) | May to August (Spring) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Study | Co-op | Study |
| Second | Co-op | Study | Co-op |
| Third | Study | Co-op | Study |
| Fourth | Co-op | Study | Co-op |
| Fifth | Study | Study | - |
or after first year.
| Year | September to December (Fall) | January to April (Winter) | May to August (Spring) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Study | Study | Co-op |
| Second | Study | Co-op | Study |
| Third | Co-op | Study | Co-op |
| Fourth | Study | Co-op | Co-op |
| Fifth | Study | Study | - |
There are two options for co-op sequences. You can request your preference if you receive an offer of admission. Learn more about co-op.
Example co-op positions for Mechanical Engineering students
- Assistant design/production engineering
- Mechanical designer
- Project engineering
- Quality assurance
- Machine operator
- Manufacturing student
- Product developer
Making a difference in mechanical engineering
Aryaman Chaturani, Mechanical Engineering Student
For his fourth co-op term, Aryaman accepted a position at Avani Kuamon, a non-profit in India that aims to improve the livelihood of those in rural communities. One of their many initiatives involves generating and distributing electricity to local communities. Electricity is generated sustainably by harvesting pine needles that have fallen during shedding months. Although Aryaman had multiple responsibilities at Avani, he was mainly responsible for developing on-site power plant facilities.
Aryaman shared "When I saw the job posting on WaterlooWorks, I was intrigued because it was in a completely different part of the world. The work itself seemed very impactful and since Avani is a small company I knew that I would see the tangible impacts of my work from start to finish."
Example careers for Mechanical Engineering graduates
- Mechanical engineer
- Reactor designer
- Quality control engineer
- Production engineer
- Senior hardware engineer
- Nuclear and thermal engineer
- Medical device development
- Aerospace engineer
Capstone design projects in Mechanical Engineering
Capstone Design is the culmination of the engineering undergraduate student experience, creating a blueprint for innovation in engineering design.
Supported by numerous awards, Capstone Design provides Waterloo Engineering students with the unique opportunity to conceptualize and design a project related to their chosen discipline.
A requirement for completion of their degrees, Capstone Design challenges students teams to push their own boundaries, and apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom and on co-op work terms. It reinforces the concepts of teamwork, project management, research and development.
For a full list of previous capstone design projects, see our Capstone Design website.
HelioSolar (Capstone 2023)
Scott Watson, Julian Poon, Advika Sarathchandran, Ricky Wang, William Randall
Both in Canada and around the world, fixed-tilt solar collectors are widely deployed to generate cost-effective electricity. However, these installations typically lag other forms of solar collection in terms of efficiency. HelioSolar aims to improve the power generation capacity of fixed-tilt solar arrays by introducing a reflector system that can be retrofitted to existing arrays. The reflector will capture additional sunlight and direct it onto panels. The system will utilize previously wasted space to generate additional low-carbon electricity at a competitive price.
pAInt (Capstone 2024)
Ethan Bando, Yali Chen, Ashley Cho, Mu Ha, Alexandre Roman
The autonomous wall painting robot is an innovation designed to automate the process of painting walls in both residential and small-scale commercial settings. Equipped with advanced sensors, the robot can detect wall boundaries and obstacles precisely. It utilizes a customized painting system, capable of applying an even coating quickly and efficiently, making smart decisions to ensure a quality paint job in a fraction of the time. Its compact design allows easy transportation and operation, making it a reliable and simple solution.
Student design teams
The Sedra Student Design Centre consists of over 20,000 square feet of space dedicated to design teams and student projects. There are more than two dozen design teams, all of which are student-led, and many of which represent Waterloo internationally.
Some examples include:
Midnight Sun
The Midnight Sun Solar Rayce Car Team designs, manufactures, and races solar-electric cars capable of travelling on public highways. Our mission is to educate the public and promote innovation in sustainable energy technologies. The team competes in the American Solar Challenge and the World Solar Challenge.
Waterloo Rocketry
Waterloo Rocketry builds sounding rockets that deliver 10 pounds of payload to altitudes of up to 23,000 feet. This team competes annually at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition, the world’s biggest competition between undergraduate rocketry teams. The Waterloo Rocketry Team designs and builds their own rocket engine, and performs engine tests on campus.
Waterloop
The ultimate goal of Waterloop is to change the landscape of transporation within Canada and the world over. We’re constructing Canada’s first Hyperloop track right here in Waterloo with the intent to host a competition to promote further innovation, create real-world testing opportunities for transportation researchers, and scale up to a full-scale demonstration by 2025.
Mechanical Engineering alumni
Ronit Gandhi
Ronit graduated from Mechanical Engineering with a Management Sciences Option. He is now a Product Design Engineer at Apple.
Amy Charette
Amy graduated from Mechanical Engineering and is now a Management Consultant with The Poirier Group.
Siddharth Kumar
Siddharth graduated from Mechanical Engineering as valedictorian. He now lives in California and works as a full-time engineer at Apple.