In first year, students from all Bachelor of Engineering programs complete the same engineering “core” courses with some variation in non-Engineering courses, based on program. To see what your course-load will be in first year, please reference your program progression map (select “202430” map).
Please note: as a first year student you will NOT need to create a course schedule – we have that done for you! For more details about how to register in your first year engineering “block” of courses, please follow the instructions posted here.
First Year Core Engineering Courses
The Engineering Core (ECOR) curriculum includes eight courses, all designed to teach you introductory concepts across the engineering disciplines. These courses include real-world applications as well as project-based coursework which provides you with an opportunity for you to apply what you learn.
Each ECOR course will have three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week and takes place over 6 weeks (half of the term).
Note: First year engineering students need to earn a C- (60%) or higher final grade in each of the ECOR 104X courses and SAT (satisfactory) grades in each of the ECOR 105X courses.
ECOR 1041 – Computation and Programming
Software development as an engineering discipline, using a modern programming language. Language syntax and semantics. Tracing and visualizing program execution. Program style and documentation. Testing and debugging tools and techniques.
ECOR 1042 – Data Management
Container data types: sequences, sets, maps. Modules. Data files. Incremental, iterative development of programs. Number systems: binary, decimal. Digital representation of integers and floating point numbers. Introduction to designing and implementing numerical algorithms. This course includes a group project.
ECOR 1043 – Circuits
Electrical Quantities (Voltage, Charge, Current, Power). Conservation of charge and energy. Mathematical models of simple devices. Elementary circuit theory for passive elements. Thévenin’s and superposition theorem. Signal filtering and amplification. Time and frequency domain. Circuit design and simulation.
ECOR 1044 – Mechatronics
Mechatronics applications. Analog to digital signal conversion. Control systems and PID controllers. Input devices, including sensors. Data collection and processing. Output devices, including displays, actuators, and motors. Project design and economics. Environmental Impact of mechatronics engineering. System failures and failsafe design. This course includes a group project.
ECOR 1045 – Statics
Cartesian vector representation of forces. Components of forces. Particle equilibrium and free body diagrams. Moments and cross product. Centre of gravity and centroids. Rigid body equilibrium.
ECOR 1046 – Mechanics
2D truss analysis (method of joints/sections). Normal stress/strain and shear stress/strain. 2D frames and machines. Internal loads – normal, shear and moment at a point. Shear and moment diagrams. This course includes a group project.
ECOR 1047 – Visual Communication
Graphs and sketches, flow charts, block diagrams. Visual presentation, projection and perspectives of objects. 3D sketching. Free hand drawing. Reading engineering drawings and schematics. Introduction to scaling, dimensioning and tolerancing. Introduction to CAD. This course includes a group project.
ECOR 1048 – Dynamics
Kinematics and kinetics of a particle. Principle of work and energy. Conservation of energy, conservative forces, potential energy. Principles of impulse and momentum, conservation of momentum for a system of particles.
ECOR 1055, 1056, and 1057
Three non-credit courses introducing you to the disciplines in engineering and the professional standards expected of engineering students and professionals. These courses are pass/fail (SAT or UNS) grade.
ECOR 1055 (Fall term) will have scheduled lectures designed specifically for your program of study.
ECOR 1056 (Winter term) and ECOR 1057 (Fall term) are both online courses with no meeting times.
Non-Engineering First Year Courses
Based on your program you will also have non-engineering courses that will be delivered over the 12 weeks of the full-term.
Note: First year engineering students need to earn a D- (50%) or higher final grade in required CHEM, MATH, and PHYS courses to complete first year requirements.