As I mentioned in my welcome page, I am currently an ECE student at the University of Toronto, class of 2T7 + PEY (UofT’s quirky way of saying class of ‘27 and a Professional Experience Year). In this post, I will speedrun a description of all the upper year courses I have taken so far.
Year 3
Fall
APS380: Introduction to Electric Vehicle Design - Olivier Trescases and Matthew Mackay - Course Avg:
This course covers the basics of electric vehicle industry and design, with topics ranging from power electronics to assembly line automation. This was the second year that this course had been running, meaning that some of the planning was a little rough around the edges. But overall, it was a very unique course that emphasized design and innovation. The labs, though long and intense, were incredibly fun, as we got to interact with motors, EV chargers, batteries, and drivetrains. We also had a group project about a topic of our choice (that may or may not be used in future labs!). This course is highly multidisciplinary, appealing to students in ECE, MEC, and CHE.
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Design Project | 25% |
| Lab Sessions | 25% |
| Midterm Exam | 15% |
| Final Exam | 35% |
ECE302: Probability and Applications - Ravi Adve - Course Avg:
This course covers probability theory and its applications in electrical engineering (particularly communications). This is a very common prerequisite course for many areas. The beginning of the semester is very straightforward, but it quickly gets more complex in the second half of the course, so don’t fall behind!
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Homework | 10% |
| Quizzes | 20% |
| Midterm Exam | 25% |
| Final Exam | 45% |
ECE311: Introduction to Control Systems - Daifei Zhang - Course Avg:
This course covers both modern (state-space models, linearization, ODEs) and classical (Bode plots, Nyquist, controller design) control topics. The content was very straightforward and included a few labs that demonstrated basic applications of controllers.
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Lab Sessions | 15% |
| Midterm 1 | 15% |
| Midterm 2 | 15% |
| Final Exam | 55% |
ECE314: Fundamentals of Electrical Energy Systems - Daifei Zhang - Course Avg:
This course covers electromechanical system, with half the course being dedicated to power electronics and the other half covering magnetics and mechatronics. The labs can get pretty complex and messy, but they can really enhance your understanding of the material if done thoroughly.
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Lab Sessions | 15% |
| Midterm 1 | 15% |
| Midterm 2 | 15% |
| Final Exam | 55% |
ECE472: Engineering Economic Analysis & Entrepreneurship - Steven Chuang - Course Avg:
This is the required economics course for all ECE students. For our year, lectures were online and synchronous, while tutorials remained in-person. Exams are very straightforward if you pay attention to lectures, since he is very direct on what to expect.
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Participation | 15% |
| Test 1 | 25% |
| Test 2 | 25% |
| Final Exam | 35% |
Winter
BME331: Physiological Control Systems - Jose Zariffa - Course Avg:
ECE334: Digital Electronics - Khoman Phang - Course Avg:
ECE342: Computer Hardware - Parinaz Naseri - Course Avg:
ECE421: Introduction to Machine Learning - Brendan Frey - Course Avg:
ECE470: Robot Modeling and Control - Manfredi Maggiore - Course Avg:
PEY400: 12-16 Month Co-Op
This is the 12-16 month long co-op that is required with the PEY program. Read more about my experience here.