Hey guys, back again. So, I had a lot of time to think about what steps to take going forward. I am actually kind of torn right now. I really like nano stuff, and as john.john23 said, materials might be the best option. However, I have thoroughly gone through all courses in academiccalendar for all courses. Some cool courses like MATLS 2X03 - Crystalline Structure of Materials seem to be interesting, but the third and fourth year mtls courses like

MATLS 3B03 - Materials Production
MATLS 3C04 - Thermodynamics of Multicomponent Systems
MATLS 3E04 - Mass Transfer
MATLS 3F03 - High-Temperature Materials Production
MATLS 3J03 - Statistical Methods for Materials Engineers
MATLS 3M03 - Mechanical Behaviour of Materials
MATLS 3T04 - Phase Transformations
MATLS 4I03 - Sustainable Manufacturing Processes
MATLS 4L04 - Materials Manufacturing
MATLS 4Z06 - Industrial Projects

are all chemical engineering stuff.

Only nice nano stuff courses are from that stream:
Nanomaterials MATLS 3Q03, 4FF3, 3 units from MATLS 4G03, 4H03
And of these, the only ones that appeal to me is:
MATLS 4G03 - Characterization of Nanomaterials

3 unit(s)
Interaction of electrons and photons with matter. Imaging methods with electron microscopy, scanning probe techniques, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption analysis with high spatial resolution.

So, basically 2-3 courses on atomic stuff and everything else is a complete gibberish(TO ME).

So, as I have stated from the beginning, I really donot think that any program at Mac suits me at all. But, I really like Mac and have been doing pretty good here. I managed a cGPA of 3.92, or 11.2/12 on 6 courses on semester 1. I really like atoms and softwares(atoms first then software). But, at Mac, even if I go into Materials, neither society option nor technical electives at Materials have any software engineering stuff on the list. Should I transfer to Nanotechnology Engineering at University of Waterloo? They do also have a software engineering minor option over there. I am really torn right now. I have the grades for transfer too. The courses really appeal me over there.
https://ugradcalendar.uwaterl oo.ca...gy-Engineering

Am I missing something here at Mac? Any help will really be appreciated. I know that the only program at Mac that best suits me is Materials Science and Engineering. Maybe engineering physics, but everyone at Mac have made me feel that there is no future with it, and it is a joke, which obviously is not true, but as many in this forum have mentioned, it is too broad and is really a jungle.

Thanks

1. With respect to upper year courses, if the abstracts / course descriptions don't interest you, then they don't interest you... Not much anyone at Mac can do/say about that. If, in comparison, you like the ones at Waterloo's nano program, go ahead and jump into that: Maybe it really is your match.

2. I also don't think you have the strongest appreciation for just how far you can steer your own outcome by simply taking Materials or Eng Phys at Mac (Item #3 will discuss your Eng Phys concern). This is fair, especially if you aren't hanging out and socializing with mature upper years too frequently (the best ones can really help you grow as an engineer). While Waterloo's Nano curriculum might do all that steering for you, you can end up at the exact same point as those Nano students by the end of it, if you guide yourself there while at Mac. The key is: You are really guiding yourself.

3. Eng Phys is not a difficult program to get a job in, as long as you are not a useless person throughout your undergrad, and you figure out how to sell yourself (which applies for getting a job in any other field anyways). If you want to do Nano stuff anyways, you aren't likely to get into any super cool jobs from ANY undergrad program... So right off the bat, Eng Phys puts you a leg up for the grad studies you may need (it's generally well known); if you decide to go work afterwards, the rather significant background you get (especially in electronics) is appreciated at a lot of technical companies.

4. Don't be so determined to take software and nano technology classes... Any courses you are likely to take will have enough MATLAB or other software development challenges, that this should suffice for developing your programming skills. This is especially true for Eng Phys --- you're programming some pretty complex stuff by the end of that degree. Lest you want to be a software development engineering, the software engineering courses will just be torture...

I gave you a hard time before ralts, so i guess i'll be a little more respectful since i can tell you're actually looking pretty deep into this. Looking through that course list at UW, in majoring in MSE and society, and minoring in chemistry (and dabbling a bit in biochemistry), and having research terms, I have taken just about everything they have with the exception of the more eng phys related stuff (electronic properties). I had the option to take electronic properties courses, but i don't really like that type of stuff so i chose other things like polymer chemistry, bio-inorganic chemistry and a full year senior thesis in nanomaterials & electron microscopy.

You can't just "jump into" nanoscience without the fundamentals. How would you make multi-component thin films, solar cells, nanoparticles and monolayers without taking courses on the thermodynamics of multicomponent systems (MATLS 3C04), the phase transformations to get there (MATLS 3T04), synthesis routes (MATLS 3B03), and characterization methods (nanomatls tech electives). Just because Mac doesn't put the increasingly annoying buzzword "Nano" in the title, doesn't mean the content isn't similar.

You can't make your miracle devices if you don't know how to mass produce them and understand how high purity reagents are achieved first (MATLS 3F03, MATLS 3B03, MATLS 4L04). Mass transfer (MATLS 3E04) is literally the motion of atoms and the partial differentials that describe it - that is without a doubt the single most important course for you if you love "atomic stuff". You can't understand quantum processes whatsoever if you don't know statistics (MATLS 3J03).

There are software options. There is a computational methods and simulations course as a matls tech elective, or you can take cross-listed eng phys courses as tech electives, or as society electives. I don't know where you're getting your information from, but our department chair is from Berkeley and specializes in computational & simulation methods of materials. To quote him, "I studied nanomaterials before it was cool".

With all that said, if you can transfer, do it if you think that program matches all of your expectations. If you want to stay in mac i think it would be easier for you to do an eng phys degree with society (5 year program, same length as UW) and do an interdisciplinary minor to take chem courses and materials courses. That would be nearly identical to UWs program.