Have you ever wondered how scientists can make medicine target specific cells in your body, how sunscreen works to protect your skin, or how your phone screen can be so thin and responsive?
That’s where nanotechnology engineers come in handy!
These technologies rely on materials and structures engineered at a tiny scale that you cannot see with your eyes, sometimes 10,000 times smaller than a human hair!
The exciting part is that materials behave differently at the nanoscale! Their color, strength, electrical conductivity and chemical reactivity can change. That gives engineers new ways to solve problems. It also allows engineers to harvest quantum properties that are otherwise unattainable.
They use chemistry, physics, biology, math and apply engineering principles to design materials for new technologies. Nanotechnology engineering is the application of multiple engineering disciplines at the nanoscale.
Nanotechnology engineers may develop lighter and stronger materials for airplanes, improve batteries using nanomaterials, create new electronic components or design tiny sensors to detect harmful substances in water.
Nanotechnology engineering is about understanding and controlling matter at a very small scale to create things that have a big impact on our lives and in society!
Why Nanotechnology Engineering?
Nanotechnology Engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering field which combines concepts from chemical engineering, electrical engineering and chemistry. It also draws from and benefits areas such as materials science, physics, biology, quantum physics and medicine.
In Canada’s leading and first accredited Nanotechnology Engineering program, you will have a broad area of study that covers many subjects, from biology to coding. You will work with materials far too small to see with the naked eye. You will build both theoretical understanding and hands‑on experience through coursework, laboratory work, and co‑op placements. Students will work in a dedicated clean room with multimillion-dollar cutting-edge equipment for hands-on experiential learning.
Nanotechnology engineers are at the forefront of research and development related to a cluster of technologies that harnesses the unique properties and functions of nanoscale systems. Nanotechnology impacts many industries, ranging from medical to pharmaceuticals, electronics to automotive, and communications.
Check out our state-of-the-art labs! Our nanotechnology engineering undergraduate students have exclusive access to our multi-million-dollar clean room!
Where do our graduates work?
Careers that are alumni are engaged in:
- Pixel Development Engineer
- Optical Display Engineer
- Senior Project Manager
- Application Engineer
- Hardware Engineer
- Test and Process Engineer
- Product and Marketing Manager
- Professor
- IP Litigation Lawyer
- Process Development Engineer
Specializations
A specialization is available to interested students but not required. There are four specializations in the Nanotechnology Engineering program.
They are: Nanobiosystems, Nanoelectronics, Nanofabrication, and Nanomaterials.
Sample first-year courses
This is a sample schedule. Courses are subject to change.
| 1A Term | 1B Term |
|---|---|
|
MATH117 - Calculus 1 for Engineering NE100 - Introduction to Nanotechnology Engineering NE109 - Societal and Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology NE111 - Introduction to Programming for Engineers NE112 - Linear Algebra for Nanotechnology Engineers NE121 - Chemical Principles |
MATH119 - Calculus 2 for Engineering NE110 - Introduction to Nanomaterials Health Risks NE113 - Introduction to Computational Methods NE125 - Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering NE131 - Physics for Nanotechnology Engineering NE140 - Linear Circuits |
Co-op for Nanotechnology Engineering students
Through the University of Waterloo's world-renowned co-op program, you will gain paid work experience relevant to your field of study during your degree. We'll guide you through every step of the employment process—from crafting résumés to preparing for interviews—while giving you the freedom to explore different roles and industries. It’s a practical way to discover what suits you best, strengthen your professional skills, and connect your coursework to real-world practice. Altogether, it sets you up with a meaningful edge when you graduate.
From your very first year, you’ll typically rotate between academic terms and four‑month work placements, blending classroom learning with on‑the‑job experience. You can choose to return to the same employer for multiple terms to deepen your expertise and take on more responsibility, or you can branch out and work with different organizations to broaden your perspective.
| 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 | Co-op | Study |
| Fourth | Study | Co-op | Co-op |
| Fifth | Study | Study | - |
Your first work term will be at the end of first year. Learn more about co-op.
News
From Waterloo Nano to MIT: Manasa Kaniselvan builds bridges in computational materials research
Manasa Kaniselvan (BASc ’19) is embarking on a journey as an incoming Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a shared appointment through the Schwarzman College of Computing in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).
At MIT, Kaniselvan will establish a research group focused on computational materials simulation and semiconductor device modelling. Her work uses machine learning to bridge length and time scales between materials behaviour and device performance.
Kaniselvan began her academic career in the Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) Program at the University of Waterloo and remained at Waterloo for a master’s in electrical and computer engineering. She is currently a PhD at ETH Zurich, in the Computational Nanoelectronics Group.
Cultivating a resilient future for Ontario's greenhouse production
Nanotechnology technology engineering professor Dr. Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir is collaborating with government and academic partners to improve agricultural production in Ontario’s greenhouse industry.
In controlled greenhouse environments, growers can manage temperature, humidity, CO₂, and nutrients far more precisely than in open fields, extending productivity well beyond the outdoor season, but greenhouses also intensify the stakes.
Dense plant populations and precisely controlled conditions mean that when disease or pests take hold, they can spread quickly. Current monitoring relies on human scouts who walk the rows every couple of days, but sometimes less frequently, which leaves gaps in response times that can turn into significant losses.
“We are combining computer vision with metabolic models, so each plant gets checked far more frequently than a human scout walking the rows every couple of days,” says Abukhdeir.
Research grant supports Professor Juewen Liu’s new approach to treating dry eye disease
Nanotechnology Engineering professor, Juewen Liu has been awarded an $872,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to develop a more effective treatment for dry eye disease (DED).
Dry eye disease (DED) affects over a billion people each year and an estimated 30 percent of Canadians. The chronic condition occurs when people’s eyes do not produce enough tears to keep their eyes properly lubricated, leading to discomfort, irritation and potential vision problems.
Current treatments rely on eye drops that must be used multiple times a day at high doses. Much of the medication is quickly washed away, reducing its effectiveness and irritating healthy eye tissue. Liu’s research group aims to develop a longer lasting drug delivery system that could improve how DED is treated.
