The biggest difference between Mech 2 and a conventional engineering program is that the regular course structure has been eliminated. Instead of many different courses taken at the same time, you will concentrate on only one integrated course at one time. Over the entire second year, you will take only four courses taught by a coordinated team of instructors.†
In Mech 2, the four courses you will take are numbered MECH 220, MECH 221, MECH 222, and MECH 223.† The four courses are taught in series (you only take one course at a time) as shown in the schedule below.
Notes: 1: includes MATH 256 2: includes APSC 201 3: includes MATH 253
To see what a typical week would look like in Mech 2, take a look at the schedule below. One of the first things that you will notice is that you have no more than twelve hours of regular lectures per week. You will also see that Thursdays have a field trip, guest lecture or other special event but are otherwise open. There are one or two labs per week that are directly coordinated with the lecture material. You will notice that there is a lab tutorial on the mornings before you perform a lab so that you will know exactly what to expect when conducting experiments and how it relates to the lecture material. The other activities include one computer lab each week and numerous tutorials to give you plenty of opportunity to work through problems and ask questions. There is also a dedicated question-answer session where you can have contact in small groups with instructors. In the second term, there are two tutorials on technical communication (APSC 201) each week – in the first term, these times are free for you to use as you see fit.
Other than lectures, all activities are done in small groups of four to thirty students.
Footnotes:
†As a result of the cross-faculty nature of Mech 2, MATH 253, MATH 256, and APSC 201 appear separately on your registration. Apart from this small adminstrative difference, these courses are completely integrated into Mech 2 in terms of both delivery and marking. Also, when you register for a standard timetable in Mech 2, you will automatically be registered in the Mech courses and Math courses. APSC 201 registration is handled differently – please see Admissions and Registration for details. Students with previous credit for APSC 201, MATH 253, or MATH 256 (or Faculty-recognized equivalent courses) may drop these courses from their standard timetable. This is done as a lenience for reducing tutition fees only – students are still fully responsible for the course material in Mech 2. Please see Advanced Standing for details.
