Hey
I am a first year eng student and i am starting to think about what stream i want to go into next year. My top choice so far is eng phys. From what i have found it looks like a very interesting program. My only issue is that i am not good at all at programming and someone told me that there is programming in eng phys. i was wondering if someone could verify how much programming is done in eng phys and whether it is a good idea to persue it without a strong programming backround.

Thanks alot

Hi

There is some programming in it, but it isnt the main purpose of the program. Everything you learn in first year will leave you sufficiently prepared.

The programming primarily happens for one course, though a couple other courses give might give you 1 or 2 problems where the easiest solution is to make some code to solve the problem for you. Most of the problems are like that actually. As long as you pass 1D04, you should have a sufficient base.

I wouldn't say the programming aspect should be what turns you off from phys, it is definitely not significant enough.

Hope that helps!

thanks for your insight. which language would you use in eng phys when you have to program?

In that one course you can use C, BASIC, Fortran, and one more (i forget the fourth)

I have pretty much used C exclusively for 90% of my work.

Originally Posted by ash0000

In that one course you can use C, BASIC, Fortran, and one more (i forget the fourth)

I have pretty much used C exclusively for 90% of my work.

What course?
I'm in my third year of Eng Phys and Society and I haven't had to program yet (thank god). Ughhh... i'm not looking forward to that...

To the OP... all in all, Eng Pys is a pretty awesome program, and I hope you end up choosing it!

Programming really doesn't make up that big of a part of Eng Phys.

In 3W04 we had to write code to solve a couple of the problems (such as performing a convolution, an FFT, or least squares fitting). The requirements were like Ash said, you could use C/C++, Fortran, BASIC (and maybe Java?).

It wasn't the easiest thing to pull off, but you could at least check your answers side-by-side with MATLAB to make sure things were running properly... and it did help understand the concepts more in depth. I also did most (if not all) of my work in C.

You'd also need to use MATLAB in your numerical methods class. I used MATLAB once or twice in 4X03 (solar cells) as well. And if you choose to do the computer systems option in the Eng Phys 4U04 class (Engineering Physics laboratory) you'll also be programming in one of the above languages (other options include optics labs, nuclear engineering labs, or solid state electronics).

Eng Phys is a good program if you're passionate about the subject material (like all of the engineering programs here). Talking to upper years (like you're doing), as well as program alumni is probably the best way to get a feel for it.

In industry its pretty hard to escape some amount of programming no matter what discipline of engineering you end up doing. Instead of thinking of it as an impediment, just think of it as learning a skill you'll almost certainly have to use during your career. While I didn't my undergrad here, from what I've seen from TAing, the requirement for programming in Eng Phys isn't enormous. From what I can see, most of the incoming students (graduate and undergraduate) have little to no programming background.

There's also lots of opportunities to ease into programming before you actually reach the courses. As an example, my supervisor hired two 2nd year students to work in our lab last summer and I was responsible for mentoring and teaching them various skills. By the end of the summer both of them had a pretty good grasp of the basics of C/C++ as well as MATLAB programming, and they got paid to do it. If you're keen and talk to professors, I'm sure you can find similar opportunities.

Derek
2nd year Master's in Eng Phys

Originally Posted by strackj

You'd also need to use MATLAB in your numerical methods class.

Haha, I'm taking that class now and I forgot about it. MATLAB programming is a lot easier than a first year programming course though.. or maybe I just like the way the course is run wayyy more than I liked 1D04. Don't let that class put you off picking a certain stream.

Or in general, don't let first year put you off picking a certain stream. In my experience, first year grades are very little indication of how well you do in upper years...

The best thing to do is look at the required courses, and look at their course descriptions.

I'm looking at the Chem/Bio Eng degree and I looked up all the courses and checked the class descriptions.