UW Engineers...Questions??

I'm sure there are some prospective or current University of Waterloo Engineers out there. I just wanted to start a thread mostly for the prospective ones who have and questions or concerns they would like to have addressed, because I know I had a ton of questions I would have liked to ask but didn't get to.

I am just finishing up my 3B term in Computer Engineering at UW, so I can accurately answer any questions about ECE (Electrical and Computer Eng), while other engineering courses are only common during first year, I may still have some insight into questions you have about them ( I have friends in every engineering program so that helps a bit ). Other than that I am also quite involved with the Engineering Society here so I can answer questions relating to that as well as general UW,campus, residence and other random topics. Oh ya, I have also completed 4 work terms and doing my 5th in the fall so Coop questions are welcomed too.

If there are other experienced UW Engineers reading this than feel free to jump in and correct me, throw in your 2 cents, answer questions about specifics I don't know, etc...

Is it true that a significant number of profs are past CEOs who can't teach?

Um, I don't know about profs being past CEOs. But like all programs, you'll have some great profs and you'll have some bad profs. Overall, engineering has more good profs than bad. Though most people tend to remember the very bad ones which sends the impression that all engineering profs suck. I've been through good and bad profs and you just learn to adapt to it.

As mentioned above like every school and every program you are going to get some bad profs sometimes. I would say that so far during my academic career I have never had a terrible professor yet, there have been a couple bad ones but nothing I couldn't overcome or just ignore. For the most part they are pretty good, and I have definitely had more amazing professors than I've had bad ones.

As for the CEO comment...never heard that and I never asked so I am not sure.

Word on the street PDEng sucks.

Originally Posted by moyboy

Word on the street PDEng sucks.

Word on the street is oh-so-right. I'm just finishing up pdeng25 for the second time. It's not fun. At all. Also, there's the infamous "what type of animal are you" assignment.

oh PDEng...I wasn't sure whether or not that would come up as a topic here. You're right about the word on the street being that is "sucks", however there are thing you have to understand.

For those that do not know, PDEng is a Professional Development for Engineers course, it is all online based and UW Engineering student have to take it on 5 of their 6 work terms. Now that thats out of the way, being in the graduating class of 2009, I along with the rest of my peers have had to suffer the worst that PDEng has had to offer, since we are the first ever class to take this class. Most of the "word on the street" is heard from students of the class of 2009 since PDEng was basically test driven on us and it wasnt properly prepared. However the idea of the course is not a bad one and it can benefit many students, maybe not all but many. From what I have seen/heard the classes taking PDEng now have a more stable and improved course than we did, however for now it is still a work in progress, as is anything new.

To be honest although it is quite annoying to have to do addition school work during a coop term (very little work required though) it isn't as bad as the word on the street makes it out to be. Fairly simple assignments, multiple attempts at an assignment if you fail one...I mean its not hard to pass. The only thing that really really bothers me about the course is how disorganized it is, however that is my class of 2009 opinion, and now that they have our feedback and the course laid out, classes to come should be fine.

Most of the complaints you will hear are people who don't want to do school work on coop, people that failed a level of pdeng multiple times since they didn't put in any effort and just random screamings about how it sucks. I mean I won't praise it, I don't like PDEng but since when do we like everything about school or life for that matter....its not even close to as bad as most people make it out to be.

oooh. is the 'what animal are you' assignment only for engineers?

i want to take it! maybe i'll be a penguin... i like penguins =D

PDEng does indeed suck. I lost all my faith in UW the moment I found out what it was. Hopefully it'll be better for the new kids.

Also, prepare for a very boring 5 years of your life.

is PDENG as bad as PD2 for math, cs and arts students?

Any questions Nano Engineers have feel free to shoot. Entering 2A in the fall.
For Nano: They are still working out the kinks in the program, and they are shuffling around the courses, and seeming to make the terms easier and more manageable.

As for PDEng:
I don't think it really helps out too much, but it IS NOT as bad as people make it. However I have always enjoyed writing so I don't mind that aspect. People make WAY too much of a deal out of it, and wind and complain incessantly. It has problems, I don't think it's very useful, but give me a break when you say it "takes up all your time" and other arguments. I spent 2 hours on each assignment (6 assignments during your work term, about one every other week), along with about 15-30 min on resubmits when needed...

I don't understand how people can't find approx 1-2 hours a week during their summer to do PDeng...

You hopefully realize that none of you are "Engineers" and legally can't label yourselves as such until you have a P.Eng?

The correct thread title would be "UW Engineering Students...Questions??".

Originally Posted by khtm

You hopefully realize that none of you are "Engineers" and legally can't label yourselves as such until you have a P.Eng?

The correct thread title would be "UW Engineering Students...Questions??".

Here is my summary of UW Engineering
(i'm in my 3B Civil Engineering doing structural major)

#1. PDeng = I dont like it period....
#2. Co-op program = Awesome !.. Although your first job might be office B@!^(, after you get your feet wet, jobs can be really cool. (worked for TTC, Pearson airport and now Olympics 2010 in Whistler)

#3. Wei-Chow Xie all the way !! (he's a really awesome prof)

If you have any questions please feel free to ask me as well ..

Oh btw, i've just started a club on campus called
HAPN - Healthy Active Promotion Network

So if you're on campus this fall, stop by our booth on clubs day and say hi :P
The club website is still under major construction but the forum is accessable

www.hapn.info (under construction, but some of it is up)
www.hapn.info/forum (you can learn more here as well)

How did the constitution writing process go for you?