Hey I will (hopefully) enter Eng II next year and am considering going into Materials engineering!

It seems like an interesting program but there isn't much interest in the program itself.

I was hoping I could get some more info about the program from upper year materials students. (I have already talked to some profs on faculty info day)

Is the program interesting? Hard? Are all the profs enthusiastic? Does the future in terms of employments look good for matls grads? Is mac a good school to learn matls? And anything I missed

Thanks!
~Piotr

I'm also interested in applying for matls engineering next year too. It was definitely something I didn't even consider up until a few weeks into the course. I really enjoy learning the material covered, probably partly due to Dr. Zurobs awesome lecturing skills and enthusiasm. Are all materials profs this good lol?

Hey guys, I'm in my second year of Materials, so I can give you an idea of what next year will be like if you do go into it (beyond that I don't know how much help I could be).

It was my first choice when I was in second year basically because I thought I would find it the most enjoyable - I like tiny stuff as opposed to big stuff, which is why I'm not in Civil. I also found 1M03 interesting, in fact it was probably my favourite course.

Here's a list of the courses you'd take next year:

CHEM 2WW2 - Inorganic Chemistry (Term 1): This is basically chemistry of anything that doesn't contain carbon, but I'd say most of the focus is on metals. Lots of crystal structure and bonding (orbitals) stuff. 1 midterm + 1 assignment + exam.

MATLS 2B03 - Thermodynamics (Term 1): Start out with gas laws (ideal, Van Der Waals) and then get into the 3 Laws of Thermodynamics, enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs energy. The math doesn't get any harder than simple integration; there will be partial derivatives all over the place but you won't actually have to do any. Dr. Gu Xu is a pretty good prof but he likes to remind you how you're going to fail if you don't pay attention/go to class. 2 midterms + assignments + exam.

MATH 2M03 (Term 1): An entire course on differential equations. Learn about Wronskians, Laplace Transforms and Fourier series. This course is, as Dr. Childs would say, a destroyer. 2 midterms + exam. Everyone in 2nd year takes this except ECE and Phys but their math is almost the same anyway.

ENGINEER 2P04 - Mechanics (Term 1): Basically the statics portion of Physics 1D03 on steroids, combined with stress and strain. This one is basically Civil Engineering 101, and you'll be taking it with people in Civil and Eng Phys. Try not to giggle every time the prof says "rigid member". 2 midterms + quizzes + exam.

ENGINEER 2MM3 - Electrical Circuits and Power (Term 1 or 2): Remember how in Physics 1E03 they said you wouldn't look at AC circuits? Well now you do. Think things like phasors and transformers sound fun? Think again. It seems like everyone either does really well or really badly in this one. Once you figure out WTF Dr. Howlader is talking about then it's actually pretty easy. No calculus in this one. Software (embedded systems), Tron and 3rd year Mech take this one as well. 2 midterms + assignments + exam. You get a cheat sheet for the exams, 1 side for the midterms and both sides for the final.

MATLS 2X03 - Crystal Structure of Materials (Term 1): I think this was my favourite course. I don't know why, it's actually kind of boring. Anyway, this is basically 3 topics from 1M03 in more detail: unit cells (there's more than 4!), Miller indices and X-ray diffraction. Do labs with a cool program called CaRIne. Dr. Zhitomirsky is an awesome prof - thick Russian accent but he speaks very clearly, and occasionaly a great sense of humour. There's only 1 lecture per week but it's 2 hours. 2 midterms + exam.

MATLS 2D03 - Solution Thermodynamics (Term 2): All about phases, equilibrium, mixing and separation. Make your own phase diagrams! Dr. Zhu is hilarious- he loves to make analogies with going partying on a Friday night. Assignments + 1 midterm + exam. Midterm and exam are completely open-book.

MATH 2MM3 (Term 2): Vector calculus! Partial derivatives, gradients, line/surface integrals, double and triple integrals. The first bit is basically a review of vectors from grade 12 but after that, watch out. Not as much of a destroyer as 2M03. 2 midterms + exam. Again, everybody takes this and ECE/Phys basically cover the same stuff.

CHEM 1AA3 (Term 2): Yes, this is the chem that all your science friends are taking right now. As such, you will be astounded by the male/female ratio the first time you go to this class. Lots of organic chemistry, then get into acids/bases and kinetics. It's structured pretty much the same as Chem 1E03 - 2 midterms, labs every other week and WebCT quizzes.

CHEM ENG 2A04 - Heat Transfer (Term 2): Conduction, convection, radiation and the various laws corresponding to each. A bit of calculus involved but nothing too tough. Dr. Hoare is an awesome prof, this is his first year teaching and he's doing a great job - to the point but explains things very clearly, and he's extremely helpful if you ask him any questions. Assignments + 3 midterms + exam. Midterms and exam are open-textbook with a double-sided cheat sheet.

MATLS 2H04 - Measurement and Communication (BOTH Terms): I call this one "the 1P03 of 2nd year". In the tutorials you'll learn about silly stuff like how to use Word/Excel/PowerPoint, write lab reports and give presentations, and you'll have to give a presentation in Term 1. The labs however are pretty cool; you get to do things like metallography, tensile tests and quenching things in liquid nitrogen. Gu Xu runs this course but you won't see much of him. No tests or exams!

So I hope that gives you an idea of what next year would be like. I'd say Materials is probably one of the harder streams of engineering simply due to the nature of the field, but it's not impossible. Overall I'd say the profs are pretty good; they're all very knowledgeable about their respective fields. Materials is also one of the smaller programs, if not the smallest. I think there are about 60 people in my level right now. By the end of 2nd year you almost feel like a family - everybody knows everybody. In terms of future employment opportunities, I think Materials is a great field to go into right now, especially with things like fuel cells and nanotechnology. Mac probably has one of, if not the best Materials programs in Canada.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope this helps.

P.S. Piotr, is that Brad Gregus' redsuit in your avatar? I think I recognize the Transformers patch and the slightly-darker-than-red colour.

Hey Kevin! Thanks for the epic post, just what I was looking for.

CHEM 2WW2 - Inorganic Chemistry (Term 1): This is basically chemistry of anything that doesn't contain carbon, but I'd say most of the focus is on metals. Lots of crystal structure and bonding (orbitals) stuff. 1 midterm + 1 assignment + exam.

Sounds like a fun course. I really enjoy chemistry! Is this almost like a continuation of Chem 1E03?

MATLS 2B03 - Thermodynamics (Term 1): Start out with gas laws (ideal, Van Der Waals) and then get into the 3 Laws of Thermodynamics, enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs energy. The math doesn't get any harder than simple integration; there will be partial derivatives all over the place but you won't actually have to do any. Dr. Gu Xu is a pretty good prof but he likes to remind you how you're going to fail if you don't pay attention/go to class. 2 midterms + assignments + exam.

Again is this a continuation of what was learned in Chem 1E03?

MATH 2M03 (Term 1): An entire course on differential equations. Learn about Wronskians, Laplace Transforms and Fourier series. This course is, as Dr. Childs would say, a destroyer. 2 midterms + exam. Everyone in 2nd year takes this except ECE and Phys but their math is almost the same anyway.

Looks like I won't be escaping math

ENGINEER 2P04 - Mechanics (Term 1): Basically the statics portion of Physics 1D03 on steroids, combined with stress and strain. This one is basically Civil Engineering 101, and you'll be taking it with people in Civil and Eng Phys. Try not to giggle every time the prof says "rigid member". 2 midterms + quizzes + exam.

Arrg. I was really hoping to get away from physics as I do not enjoy 1D04/1E03. I hope it is an interesting class because Jopko makes me want to ZZzzz....

ENGINEER 2MM3 - Electrical Circuits and Power (Term 1 or 2): Remember how in Physics 1E03 they said you wouldn't look at AC circuits? Well now you do. Think things like phasors and transformers sound fun? Think again. It seems like everyone either does really well or really badly in this one. Once you figure out WTF Dr. Howlader is talking about then it's actually pretty easy. No calculus in this one. Software (embedded systems), Tron and 3rd year Mech take this one as well. 2 midterms + assignments + exam. You get a cheat sheet for the exams, 1 side for the midterms and both sides for the final.

Again physics is not my forte Is this similar to what is done in the 1E03 labs?

MATLS 2X03 - Crystal Structure of Materials (Term 1): I think this was my favourite course. I don't know why, it's actually kind of boring. Anyway, this is basically 3 topics from 1M03 in more detail: unit cells (there's more than 4!), Miller indices and X-ray diffraction. Do labs with a cool program called CaRIne. Dr. Zhitomirsky is an awesome prof - thick Russian accent but he speaks very clearly, and occasionaly a great sense of humour. There's only 1 lecture per week but it's 2 hours. 2 midterms + exam.

Sounds like a fun and easy class! Going into detail of the interesting 1M03 stuff.

MATLS 2D03 - Solution Thermodynamics (Term 2): All about phases, equilibrium, mixing and separation. Make your own phase diagrams! Dr. Zhu is hilarious- he loves to make analogies with going partying on a Friday night. Assignments + 1 midterm + exam. Midterm and exam are completely open-book.

Is this a fun and easy class?

MATH 2MM3 (Term 2): Vector calculus! Partial derivatives, gradients, line/surface integrals, double and triple integrals. The first bit is basically a review of vectors from grade 12 but after that, watch out. Not as much of a destroyer as 2M03. 2 midterms + exam. Again, everybody takes this and ECE/Phys basically cover the same stuff.

I love vector calculus as opposed to calculus itself

CHEM 1AA3 (Term 2): Yes, this is the chem that all your science friends are taking right now. As such, you will be astounded by the male/female ratio the first time you go to this class. Lots of organic chemistry, then get into acids/bases and kinetics. It's structured pretty much the same as Chem 1E03 - 2 midterms, labs every other week and WebCT quizzes.

I swore to myself I would never again learn orgo. (I never learned it in grade 12 or first year) But a first year course in second year... How can I complain

CHEM ENG 2A04 - Heat Transfer (Term 2): Conduction, convection, radiation and the various laws corresponding to each. A bit of calculus involved but nothing too tough. Dr. Hoare is an awesome prof, this is his first year teaching and he's doing a great job - to the point but explains things very clearly, and he's extremely helpful if you ask him any questions. Assignments + 3 midterms + exam. Midterms and exam are open-textbook with a double-sided cheat sheet.

More fun chemistry?

MATLS 2H04 - Measurement and Communication (BOTH Terms): I call this one "the 1P03 of 2nd year". In the tutorials you'll learn about silly stuff like how to use Word/Excel/PowerPoint, write lab reports and give presentations, and you'll have to give a presentation in Term 1. The labs however are pretty cool; you get to do things like metallography, tensile tests and quenching things in liquid nitrogen. Gu Xu runs this course but you won't see much of him. No tests or exams!

I guess this course is kind of an elective (in terms of easiness)? Or are there other electives in 2nd year materials?

So I hope that gives you an idea of what next year would be like. I'd say Materials is probably one of the harder streams of engineering simply due to the nature of the field, but it's not impossible. Overall I'd say the profs are pretty good; they're all very knowledgeable about their respective fields. Materials is also one of the smaller programs, if not the smallest. I think there are about 60 people in my level right now. By the end of 2nd year you almost feel like a family - everybody knows everybody. In terms of future employment opportunities, I think Materials is a great field to go into right now, especially with things like fuel cells and nanotechnology. Mac probably has one of, if not the best Materials programs in Canada.

I was kinda hoping the low average needed would signify that the program is one of the easier ones here at mac. With an average of around 5, could I find the program a bit difficult next year? (I hope there is room for improvement!)

P.S. Piotr, is that Brad Gregus' redsuit in your avatar? I think I recognize the Transformers patch and the slightly-darker-than-red colour.

Yes it is Gregus' Red Suit! I wore it during a First Year Integration Conference.

PS: RED WINGS! **** YEAH! Your are probably the second person here at mac that I know who is a Wings fan! What an awesome legacy that we are around for! Looking to repeat this year! (With the addition of Hossa and the explosion of some of our younger players, I cannot see a reason why!)

I just want to add a little bit to what Kevin said, I am in Materials Eng and Society so the way that I take the courses are in a little bit of a different order than just Materials Eng.
For the Engineering 2MM3 course (the circuits one) Dr Howlader actually changed it and you're not allowed a cheat sheet for the final exam anymore it's only one sided cheat sheet for the 2 midterms.
Also if you were thinking of doing society you would take some different courses; instead of having 2P04, 1AA3 and 2A04 you would take a history of technology course, an inquiry course and also focus elective courses.
Management also do it a little bit different but I don't know how they change it.

Now for your questions:

Chem 2WW2 is at first almost a repetition of what you've learned before but they add some stuff on so it's not too bad. Make sure when you write the midterm and the exam that you explain EVERYTHING and I mean everything!!

Matls 2B03 isn't really a continuation, it's new concepts and everything and if you can get passed the negative comments from Dr Xu then you'll be fine.

Eng 2MM3 is really kind of a crappy course. A lot of people who took it first term told me it was really easy but the prof changed it a little bit and now it's much harder.

For Matls 2D03 some of the things are fun and easy but it's not an easy bird course.

Matls 2H04 is an easy course but some of the labs take a long time to write because the TA's want a lot of writing and explanations for them.


For the average, I would say don't worry about it. My average was around a 5 in first year and I actually ended up with almost a 10 average for last term. So as long as you enjoy the stuff you're learning you should be alright.

And I'd like to add... Go Montreal!! tehe couldn't help it!

Right now I'm in third year materials (straight) and its much different than second year. In first term all the matls people take phase transformations (Dr. Malahkov), thermodynamics (Dr. Petric) and math 3I together. In straight matls, you take 3M03 (Dr. Zurob) which is basically a continuation of 1M03. Then you have a choice to take an elective, a technical elective, or fluid mechanics (which I took). There's labs for phase and thermo, plus computer labs for thermo. 3M03 has 4 (5?) demonstrations that you go to.

My term right now is harder to explain. This is my first term without any labs and I'm kinda missing it. All of the straight matls people take high temperature materials production (smelting and stuff), materials production (ceramics), and mass transfer together. Then I have a choice for 3 more classes that I want to take. I'm taking a general elective and 2 technical electives (iron and steelmaking, corrosion). Technical electives are taken with the 4th years and usually a couple grad students (mine are 4th year/grad courses). There's also choices for nanomatls, polymers and there was one other that people tend to be taking.

Technical electives are offered every other year in the matls department. So, there are two different sets that are offered so you get more choice. I'll be taking 3 more technicial electives next year from the other set.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that if you're in Society then you don't take all of those courses in 2nd year. I think if you're in management then you won't take 2P04, ChE 2A04 or Chem 1AA3 until 3rd year. I also didn't know that about 2MM3 with the cheat sheet, I guess my class got lucky.

ChE 2A04 isn't really chemistry (nor are most things in Chem Eng); I don't remember if we looked at Fourier's Law for Heat Conduction in 1M03 (q=-kdT/dx) but the course is based on stuff like that. Basically you'll be given an object, its properties, its environment's properties and you'll have to do something like calculate the temperature at certain points in the object, the heat flux through the object or the time it takes for it to reach a certain temperature.

Wow, I cant believe I didnt find this thread until now!

I really highly recommend matls eng! Alot of othe profs are very into what they teach and are very good at it. If you get a chance to have Dmitri Malakhov - basically that's the best thing ever. The class averages on tests are ~20-30, but everyone ends up passing in the end, and you learn a LOT!!

If you get Xu... dont even bother asking him for help outside of the classroom. Believe me. Ask you exam to be looked over, and you'll likely end up crying! (You clearly don't pay attention and have side conversations - this isnt even CLOSE to right, etc.) yeah, you'll get a lot of that.

But seriously, I find the best stuff is starting right now with high temp materials - you learn about real stuff that goes on in the real world!

Everyone else has summed it up really really nicely. MATERIALS WHAAAAT???

<3

Thanks for the response, you guys are awesome. I was considering taking Materials & Society but contemplating over the fact that it would be an extra $15,000 for that 5th year.

Plus I heard that you have a chance to take something as a minor, but I don't really like any of the humanities courses to minor in. (I took micro econ and human geo and hated both) so it would feel kind of like a waste if I did not have a minor.

@ alyssa

Thanks for answering my questions. It is good to know that your average can go up as the content gets harder. My time management this year sucks... So much procrastination.

PS: lol habtards Me and my roomie always rip on you guys

@ JBeans

That's one thing that I really like about materials. One of the profs told me that it is a very customizable program

@ Kevin (or someone in society)

Do you know what courses I would not be taking second year If I chose the society option?

@ micad

I always heard that what you learn in university, you never directly apply to the real world. Kinda demotivational lol. Is materials different?

:very happy::hor se:

At least in 3rd year it starts to be different. The labs you do are really practical do - if you were doing research, you would have to know how to mount, polish, etch, look at with a microscope and identify things. I found many of the labs practical and enjoyable!

Society is AWESOME. Not only do you get a minor (econ, polisci, religious studies, theatre and film - thats what i'm taking - ANYTHING!) but you take courses on sustainability, culture, technology, and have awesome debates and learn a lot about the world around you - not to mention soft skills with writing and presentations.

I HIGHLY recommend society!

Oh - also - it doesnt have to be a minor. it can be 'focus electives'. you could say your focus is pop culture and take all kinds of different courses, like pop music, pop theatre, literature, history, etc, that all fit into that category

Originally Posted by MacEng

Yes it is Gregus' Red Suit!

Gregus was one of my Bates frosh...he was actually our superfrosh. I (and others...) taught him everything he knows!

Originally Posted by MacEng

PS: RED WINGS! **** YEAH! Your are probably the second person here at mac that I know who is a Wings fan! What an awesome legacy that we are around for! Looking to repeat this year! (With the addition of Hossa and the explosion of some of our younger players, I cannot see a reason why!)

I've seen a bunch of Wings fans at Mac...there are a few from my high school, especially since one of the guys from our high school plays for them/GR

Originally Posted by lorend

I've seen a bunch of Wings fans at Mac...there are a few from my high school, especially since one of the guys from our high school plays for them/GR

What's his name? I saw the Griffins play a few weeks ago so I probably saw him.

Quincey. #22

Kyle Quincey? He plays for the LA Kings now. He's a really good defenseman, I was disappointed the Wings had to let him go.

Anyway back on topic, if you're in Matls & Society then you don't have to take ENG 2P04, CHEM 1AA3 or ChE 2A04 in second year, although I've known people to go about it differently (ie. take Chem in 2nd year and leave Circuits until 3rd year).