Welcome to the Department of Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
SYDE is an innovative and multidisciplinary community of students, staff and faculty. Our work is fundamentally about understanding complexity and designing solutions at the intersection of people, technology and society. Our department brings together engineering science, human factors, data-driven decision-making, and design thinking to address real-world challenges across domains such as healthcare, sustainability and intelligent systems.
In addition to the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) degree in Systems Design Engineering, our department is the home of the collaborative undergraduate program in Biomedical Engineering (BME).
We also support a vibrant community of graduate students engaged in cutting-edge research and advanced professional training. Our research graduate programs include the Master of Applied Science (MASc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in SYDE and BME. The department is a collaborator in the Collaborative Aeronautics Program (CAP) and the Collaborative Nanotechnology Graduate Program. SYDE also offers a Master of Engineering (MEng) program and an MEng in Health Technologies.
SYDE is home to the Centre for Society, Technology and Values (CSTV), an interdisciplinary centre that sets out to explain and examine social aspects of technology and technological change. CSTV offers courses and a diploma available to all current, post- and non-degree students across the whole university.
Our administration, teaching and research work takes place across several buildings on Waterloo’s main campus, with focus areas in Engineering 5, Pearl Sullivan Engineering (PSE), Douglas Wright Engineering (DWE), and East Campus 4 (EC4). DWE is a hub for our BME labs. EC4 is a hub for our human factors and vision and image processing groups. Our faculty and students use the driving and flight simulators in the AVRIL building. Others of us focus on socioenvironmental systems, design processes, nanotechnology, complex systems, neuroscience, and so much more.
Systems is how we understand the world and design is how we advance it. We welcome you to visit us and look forward to connecting with you.
