Undergraduate programs

Undergraduate students pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource) benefit from a collaborative curriculum that integrates other departments in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering. McGill's Bioresource Engineering program is accredited through the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Graduates of the bachelor bioresource engineering program are eligible for registration as professional engineers (P.Eng.) in any province in Canada, as well as some international jurisdictions.

The complimentary portion of the Bioresource Engineering curriculum in organized according to 3 non-restrictive streams: Bio-environmental engineering, Bio-production engineering, and Bio-process engineering.

Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource) - (B.Eng.(Bioresource))

Bioresource engineering is a unique branch of engineering encompassing biological, agricultural, food, and environmental engineering disciplines, as well as many traditional engineering fields; its focus is the application of professional engineering skills to biological systems. The fundamental basis of bioresource engineering is the transdisciplinary interaction between engineering science and design, with biological, physical, chemical, and other natural sciences. Bioresource engineers strive to design and implement solutions for food sustainability and the well-being of society while maintaining the high-quality of the environment for generations to come.

Together with other B.Eng. programs offered by peer engineering departments in the Faculty of Engineering, Bioresource Engineering is accredited through the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Therefore, graduates of the bachelor bioresource engineering program are eligible for registration as professional engineers (P.Eng.) in any province in Canada, as well as some international jurisdictions. The optional Bioresource Engineering Professional Agrology program qualifies graduates to apply for registration to the Ordre des agronomes du Québec and similar licensing bodies in other provinces in addition to the P.Eng. license.

The complementary portion of the Bioresource Engineering curriculum is organized according to three non-restrictive streams, including: Bio-Environmental Engineering, Bio-Process Engineering, and Bio-Production Engineering.

Students who follow the Bio-Environmental Engineering stream will learn to be responsible stewards of the environment and natural resources. This stream includes the study of soil and water quality management and conservation, organic waste treatment, urban and rural ecology, sustainability engineering, biodiversity preservation, climate change adaptation, and many other related topics.

Students who follow the Bio-Production Engineering stream use natural sciences and engineering skills to design systems and machines for the production of different types of crops, animal-based products, and biomass. Students learn about the design of machines and structures, different production systems and technologies, instrumentation and controls, geospatial data management, precision agriculture, and emerging intelligent bio-production concepts.

Through the Bio-Process Engineering stream, students apply engineering principles to transform agricultural commodities and biomass into products such as food, fiber, fuel, and biochemicals. Topics include the engineering of foods and food processes, physical properties of biological materials, post-harvest technology, fermentation and bio-processing, the management of organic wastes, biotechnology, the design of machinery for bioprocessing, etc.

In addition, students may choose to follow the Bioresource Engineering Professional Agrology as well as the Bioresource Engineering Honours Program. Multiple minors are also available. For details related to curriculum options and to select the most suitable stream, please refer to the Departmental website at mcgill.ca/bioeng.

All required and complementary courses must be passed with a minimum grade of C. Bioresource Engineering students spend one term on the Downtown Campus of McGill University taking courses from the Faculty of Engineering.

Students can also pursue a minor. Several possibilities are: Agricultural Production, Environment, Ecological Agriculture, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Construction Engineering and Management, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Engineering. Details of some of these minors can be found under Faculty of Engineering > Undergraduate > Browse Academic Units & Programs > Minor Programs. To complete a minor, it is necessary to spend at least one extra term beyond the normal requirements of the B.Eng.(Bioresource) program.

Note: If you are completing a B.Eng.(Bioresource) degree, you must complete a minimum residency requirement of 72 credits at McGill. The total credits for your program (143 credits) include those associated with the Year 0 (Foundation Program) courses.

Available Programs

Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource) – B.Eng.(Bioresource) Related Programs

Minor in Environmental Engineering

For more information, see the Minor in Environmental Engineering page.

Barbados Field Study Semester

For more information, see the Barbados Field Semester page.

Internship Opportunities

For more information, see Internship Opportunities.

Major in Bioresource Engineering

Bioresource Engineering Major (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Offered by: Bioresource Engineering (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource)
Program credit weight: 113

Program Description

The B.Eng.(Bioresource); Major in Bioresource Engineering program focuses on biological, agricultural, food, environmental areas, and applying professional engineering skills to biological systems. The design and implementation of technology for the creation of bio-based products, including food, fiber, fuel, and biomaterials, while sustaining a healthful environment. Graduates of this program are eligible for registration as professional engineers in any province across Canada, as well as in some international jurisdictions.

Required Courses (62 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 202	Intermediate Calculus.	3
Intermediate Calculus. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Methods of differential and integral calculus forthe study of multivariable functions. Calculus of parametric and polar curves, vectors and geometry of space, vector functions, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and their applications. See course page for more information
AEMA 305	Differential Equations.	3
Differential Equations. Terms offered: Winter 2026 First and second order differential equations, Laplace transforms, numerical solutions, systems of differential equations, series solutions, applications to biological, chemical and engineering systems, use of computer-based mathematical tools. See course page for more information
BREE 205	Engineering Design 1.	3
Engineering Design 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Role of the bioresource engineer in society; introduction to engineering analysis and design; kinds of engineering; role and duties of the engineer in the design, construction, and operation of bio-based facilities, industries and the environment. Regulation of the engineering profession; law and liability; engineering ethics; occupational health and safety. See course page for more information
BREE 210	Mechanical Analysis and Design.	3
Mechanical Analysis and Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Non-concurrent force systems; analysis of simple trusses and multiforce frames; friction, shearing forces and bending moments in beams and frames; centres of gravity. See course page for more information
BREE 216	Bioresource Engineering Materials.	3
Bioresource Engineering Materials. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the composition and mechanical constitution of materials used in bioresource engineering, including metals, plastics, concrete, wood, composite, plant and food materials. Crystal structure, alloys, phase diagrams, stresses and strains, elasticity, plasticity, yield, fracture, ductility, heat treatments, cold work, corrosion, composite materials, concrete chemistry, polymers. See course page for more information
BREE 252	Computing for Engineers.	3
Computing for Engineers. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A disciplined general approach to the solution of engineering problems, and the implementation of these solutions using structured programming methods in a current computational environment. See course page for more information
BREE 301	Biothermodynamics.	3
Biothermodynamics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Classical thermodynamic analysis of pure and simple compressible systems. The course covers the first and second laws of thermodynamics. It deals with basic concepts of thermodynamics and thermochemistry in biological systems. See course page for more information
BREE 305	Fluid Mechanics.	3
Fluid Mechanics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Properties of fluids; fluid statics; principles of flow of incompressible and compressible fluids; dimensional analysis boundary layers; conduit and open channel systems; simple applications to turbo machinery. See course page for more information
BREE 312	Electric Circuits and Machines.	3
Electric Circuits and Machines. Terms offered: Fall 2025 General circuit laws and DC circuits; electromagnetic circuits; inductance and capacitance, natural and forced response of circuits; analysis of single phase and three phase networks; transformers, AC and DC motors/generators. See course page for more information
BREE 319	Engineering Mathematics.	3
Engineering Mathematics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Advanced topics in engineering mathematics, including systems of ordinary differential equations, stability analysis, special functions, orthogonal functions and Fourier series, boundary value problems in various coordinate systems, and integral transforms. The use of computer-based mathematical tools is an integral part of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 327	Bio-Environmental Engineering.	3
Bio-Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods. See course page for more information
BREE 341	Mechanics of Materials.	3
Mechanics of Materials. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Stress, strain, resilience, elastic and plastic properties of materials; bending moment and shear force diagrams; bending and shear stress; deflections; simple, fixed and continuous beams, torsion and helical springs, reinforced concrete beams; columns, bending and direct stress; general case of plane stress; Mohr's circle. See course page for more information
BREE 415	Design of Machines and Structural Elements .	3
Design of Machines and Structural Elements . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Design of shafts, bearings, gears, fasteners, and frames. Material selection and introduction to advanced materials for machine and structural design applications. Stress, strain, and deflection analysis for standard machine and structural elements. Predicting mechanical failure caused by static and variable (fatigue) loads using proper design criteria. Applying fundamental concepts for the analysis and design of machine elements (shafts, gears, and bearings). Integrating the design of individual machine elements into larger systems and applying numerical modeling (finite element method), engineering drawing, and 3D printing for validation and rapid prototyping of designed machine and structural elements. See course page for more information
BREE 420	Engineering for Sustainability.	3
Engineering for Sustainability. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Principles and practices of engineering for sustainability. Emphasis on environmental, economic, social, management and policy factors that should be incorporated into sustainable approaches to engineering and design. Topics will include: sustainability metrics, systems thinking, stakeholder engagement, and leading change for sustainability within companies. See course page for more information
BREE 451	Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars, where each student must give an oral presentation. See course page for more information
BREE 452	Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars. All students will be required to prepare and present a poster. See course page for more information
BREE 453	Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in undergraduate departmental seminars and science writing workshops. See course page for more information
BREE 485	Senior Undergraduate Seminar	1
Senior Undergraduate Seminar Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental seminars, and a small written project report. See course page for more information
BREE 490	Engineering Design 2.	3
Engineering Design 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to develop a professional design project proposal with due considerations to executive summary, synthesis, methodology, milestones, budget, etc. See course page for more information
BREE 495	Engineering Design 3.	3
Engineering Design 3. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to implement, physically or virtually, the project proposed in the Design 1 course. The student is expected to present project outcome, in both written and oral forms and learn to be critical about their own work and those of others. See course page for more information
BREE 504	Instrumentation and Control.	3
Instrumentation and Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course. See course page for more information
FACC 250	Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer.	0
Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 A course designed to provide all Engineering students with further training regarding their responsibilities as future Professional Engineers. Particular focus will be placed on three professional characteristics that future engineers must demonstrate: i) professionalism, ii) ethical and equitable behaviour, and iii) consideration of the impact of engineering on society and the environment. See course page for more information
FACC 300	Engineering Economy.	3
Engineering Economy. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to the basic concepts required for the economic assessment of engineering projects. Topics include: accounting methods, marginal analysis, cash flow and time value of money, taxation and depreciation, discounted cash flow analysis techniques, cost of capital, inflation, sensitivity and risk analysis, analysis of R and D, ongoing as well as new investment opportunities. See course page for more information
FACC 400	Engineering Professional Practice.	1
Engineering Professional Practice. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Laws, regulations and codes governing engineering professional practice. Responsibility and liability. Environmental legislation. Project and organization management. Relations between engineer and client. Technical practice - analysis, design, execution and operation. See course page for more information
MECH 289	Design Graphics.	3
Design Graphics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The design process, including free-hand sketching; from geometry construction to engineering construction; the technology and standards of engineering graphic communication; designing with CAD software. The role of visualization in the production of engineering designs. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (45 credits)

Set A

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 310	Statistical Methods 1.	3
Statistical Methods 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. See course page for more information
CIVE 302	Probabilistic Systems.	3
Probabilistic Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introduction to probability and statistics with applications to Civil Engineering design. Descriptive statistics, common probability models, statistical estimation, regression and correlation, acceptance sampling. See course page for more information

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CHEE 315	Heat and Mass Transfer.	3
Heat and Mass Transfer. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Transport of heat and mass by diffusion and convection; transport of heat by radiation; diffusion; convective mass transfer; drying; absorption; mathematical formulation of problems and equipment design for heat and mass transfer; laboratory exercises. See course page for more information
MECH 346	Heat Transfer.	3
Heat Transfer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Basic concepts and overview. Steady and unsteady heat conduction. Fin Theory. Convective heat transfer: governing equations; dimensionless parameters; analogy between momentum and heat transfer. Design correlations for forced, natural, and mixed convection. Heat exchangers. Radiative heat transfer: black- and gray-body radiation; shape factors; enclosure theory. Thermal engineering design project. See course page for more information

Set B - Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Minimum of 3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 210	Organisms 1.	3
Organisms 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The biology of plants and plant-based systems in managed and natural terrestrial environments. The interactions between autotrophs and soil organisms and selected groups of animals with close ecological and evolutionary connections with plants (e.g., herbivores and pollinators) will be explored in lecture and laboratory. See course page for more information
AEBI 211	Organisms 2.	3
Organisms 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to the biology of heterotrophs, focusing on animal diversity from the perspectives of phylogenetics, physiology, and ecology. Introduction to major animal taxa, comparing and contrasting these taxa, and exploration of the relationships among them. See course page for more information
ENVB 210	The Biophysical Environment.	3
The Biophysical Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025 With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system. See course page for more information
ENVB 305	Population and Community Ecology.	3
Population and Community Ecology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Interactions between organisms and their environment; historical and current perspectives in applied and theoretical population and community ecology. Principles of population dynamics, feedback loops, and population regulation. Development and structure of communities; competition, predation and food web dynamics. Biodiversity science in theory and practice. See course page for more information
LSCI 202	Molecular Cell Biology.	3
Molecular Cell Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Organization and function of intracellular organelles in eukaryotic cells. Mechanisms of membrane transport. Protein sorting and vesicular transport. Cytoskeleton. DNA and chromosome structure. DNA replication. Mechanisms of RNA and protein synthesis. Control of gene expression. Cell cycle and the control of cell division. Mechanisms of cell communication and signal transduction. Apoptosis. Neuronal signaling. See course page for more information
LSCI 211	Biochemistry 1.	3
Biochemistry 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. See course page for more information
LSCI 230	Introductory Microbiology.	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. See course page for more information
MICR 331	Microbial Ecology.	3
Microbial Ecology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The ecology of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Microbial interactions with the environment, plants, animals and other microbes emphasizing the underlying genetics and physiology. Diversity, evolution (microbial phylogenetics) and the application of molecular biology in microbial ecology. See course page for more information

With 6 credits chosen in consultation with the Academic Adviser.

Set C - Social Sciences

Minimum of 3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ENVR 201	Society, Environment and Sustainability.	3
Society, Environment and Sustainability. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used. See course page for more information
ENVR 203	Knowledge, Ethics and Environment.	3
Knowledge, Ethics and Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies. See course page for more information
SEAD 530	Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design.	3
Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Micro and macroeconomics of sustainability, market structures, principles of substitution, market failures and externalities, monetization and pricing of externalities. Policy instruments, permits and licenses, mandates, incentives, penalties, taxation and eco-social principles, mechanism design, the principles of life cycle analyses and the circular economy. Impact of engineering on ecological and economic sustainability. See course page for more information
SOCI 235	Technology and Society.	3
Technology and Society. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An examination of the extent to which technological developments impose constraints on ways of arranging social relationships in bureaucratic organizations and in the wider society: the compatibility of current social structures with the effective utilization of technology. See course page for more information

Note: ENVR courses have limited enrolment.

Plus 6 credits of Social Sciences, Management Studies, Humanities, or Law courses at the U1 undergraduate level or higher with approval of the Academic Adviser.

Note: these 6 credits may include one 3-credit language course other than the student's normal spoken languages.

Set D - Engineering

27 credits from the following list, with the option (and approval of the Academic Adviser) of taking a maximum of 6 credits from other courses offered in the Faculty of Engineering:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 214	Geomatics.	3
Geomatics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The communicative skills of surveying. The fundamentals of surveying through the application of reasoning, tools, techniques, and instruments. Practices in use of basic surveying equipment including steel tape, level, and theodolite. The use and operation of Total Stations. The procedures and methods for the measurement of distances, elevations, angles and positions. Basic surveying calculations, including traverse adjustments. See course page for more information
BREE 217	Hydrology and Water Resources.	3
Hydrology and Water Resources. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways. See course page for more information
BREE 314	Agri-Food Buildings.	3
Agri-Food Buildings. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management. See course page for more information
BREE 322	Management of Organic Residue	3
Management of Organic Residue Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of handling, storage, and treatment of organic residues in agricultural and municipal contexts. Technologies, design approaches, and management strategies for resource recovery and increasing the circularity of material and energy flows. See course page for more information
BREE 325	Food Process Engineering.	3
Food Process Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Heat and mass transfer, enthalpy and mass balances, sterilizing, freezing, fluid flow, pipes, steam, refrigeration, pumps and valves. See course page for more information
BREE 329	Precision Agriculture.	3
Precision Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The course provides an overview of the principle concepts of precision agriculture. It focuses on equipment, software and the information management systems for mastering the essential steps when adopting and developing economically viable and environmentally sound solutions for modern farms and other agribusiness enterprises. See course page for more information
BREE 403	Biological Material Properties.	3
Biological Material Properties. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Relationships between composition, structure and properties of biological materials. Measurement methods and use of mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, chemical and functional properties in the design of new applications and product development. See course page for more information
BREE 412	Machinery Systems Engineering.	3
Machinery Systems Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Study and analysis of machines for tillage, harvesting, crop processing and handling. Field tests, load studies, design requirements; design of machines and components for agricultural applications. See course page for more information
BREE 416	Engineering for Land Development.	3
Engineering for Land Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of land stewardship and water resource conservation, including: introduction to the hydrologic cycle and agricultural water use; computation of soil loss by water erosion; conservation farming practices; reservoirs and embankments; water and sediment control structures; stream restoration and water supply; wetlands and wetland design; irrigation principles and design; pumps and pumping; introduction to drainage and water table management. See course page for more information
BREE 419	Structural Design.	3
Structural Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Structural Design in steel and timber; application of complete design procedures to working stress design; plastic design for ultimate loading. See course page for more information
BREE 497	Bioresource Engineering Project.	3
Bioresource Engineering Project. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Independent study for design and experimental work on a bioresource engineering topic chosen in consultation between the student and departmental staff. See course page for more information
BREE 501	Simulation and Modelling.	3
Simulation and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems. See course page for more information
BREE 502	Drainage/Irrigation Engineering.	3
Drainage/Irrigation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Benefits and importance of drainage; types of drainage systems; design and construction of main, surface and subsurface drainage systems; drainage materials. Crop water requirements; evapotranspiration models; design and layout of surface, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems; pipe hydraulics; pumps. See course page for more information
BREE 505	Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems .	3
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems . Terms offered: Winter 2026 Examination of the methods for food system sustainability assessment and their trade-offs, focusing on conducting environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and an introduction to social life cycle assessment for agrifood systems (crops and livestock). Additionally, methods for trade-off analysis among the three sustainability dimensions – environment, economics, social – will be evaluated and applied to agrifood system optimization and sustainability decision-making. See course page for more information
BREE 509	Hydrologic Systems and Modelling.	3
Hydrologic Systems and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Hydrologic cycle in the nature and how to quantitatively describe those processes using models. The fundamentals of hydrology including basic concepts, precipitation, snow and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow, infiltration and soil water movement, and runoff and streamflow. Equivalent attention to theories and hands-on practices on model application. How to set up and execute weather data driven physical based models, both at a point-scale and a watershed scale, to predict snowmelt, evapotranspiration, infiltration, soil water redistribution, subsurface drainage, runoff, and stream flow in hydrologic systems. See course page for more information
BREE 510	Watershed Systems Management.	3
Watershed Systems Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A holistic examination of methods in watershed management with a focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM). Topics include: integration, participatory management, water resources assessment, modeling, planning, adaptive management, transboundary management, and transition management. See course page for more information
BREE 515		3
Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.
BREE 518	Ecological Engineering.	3
Ecological Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 519	Advanced Food Engineering.	3
Advanced Food Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food engineering. Concepts of mathematical modelling and research methodologies in food engineering. Topics include heat and mass transfer in food systems, packaging and distribution of food products, thermal and non-thermal processing, rheology and kinetics of food transformations. See course page for more information
BREE 520	Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements.	3
Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Analysis and design incorporating the four elements required by organisms and biomass for food, fibre and fuel production (air, earth, energy, and water). Special emphasis will be placed on the demands and requirements of engineering systems to control these elements and allow optimal growth in semi-controlled and completely controlled environments. See course page for more information
BREE 522	Bio-Based Polymers.	3
Bio-Based Polymers. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The structure and properties of selected biomass (e.g. vegetable oils and starches) will be reviewed. The synthesis of bio-based polymers through chemical modification, casting, compression and extrusion among other methods will be studied. The physical properties of the resulting matrices will then be reviewed. Commercial applications will be examined. See course page for more information
BREE 529	GIS for Natural Resource Management.	3
GIS for Natural Resource Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems. See course page for more information
BREE 530	Fermentation Engineering.	3
Fermentation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food and fermentation engineering are covered, including brewing, bioreactor design and control and microbial kinetics. See course page for more information
BREE 531	Post-Harvest Drying.	3
Post-Harvest Drying. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Heat and moisture transfer with respect to drying of agricultural commodities; techniques of enhancement of heat and mass transfer; drying efficiency and scale-up problems. See course page for more information
BREE 532	Post-Harvest Storage.	3
Post-Harvest Storage. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Active, semi-passive and passive storage systems; environmental control systems; post-harvest physiology and pathogenicity; quality assessment and control methodology; economic aspects of long-term storage. See course page for more information
BREE 533	Water Quality Management.	3
Water Quality Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The water phases of terrestrial ecological systems and the processes that link them. Physical, chemical, and biological properties of water, and water quality standards. The fate and transport of pollutants in rivers and streams, lakes, and wetlands. Methods to quantify soil carbon and nitrogen cycle to predict nutrient leaching. Impacts of human activities (e.g., agricultural drainage) on water quality and measures to improve drainage water quality. Assess the effectiveness of proposed engineering measures or management practices in improving or maintaining water quality of a real site/water body using numerical methods or a computer modelling approach. See course page for more information
BREE 535	Food Safety Engineering.	3
Food Safety Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The application of engineering principles to address microbial and chemical safety challenges in food processing, including intervention technologies (traditional and novel non-thermal intervention technologies, chemical interventions, and hurdle approach); control, monitoring and identification techniques (biosensors); packaging applications in food safety (active packaging, intelligent or smart packaging); and tracking and traceability systems. See course page for more information

View the core curriculum

Consult an academic advisor

Major in Bioresource Engineering (Honours)

Bioresource Engineering Honours (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Offered by: Bioresource Engineering (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource)
Program credit weight: 113

Program Description

The B.Eng.(Bioresource); Honours in Bioresource Engineering program focuses on biological, agricultural, food, environmental areas, and applying professional engineering skills to biological systems. The design and implementation of technology for the creation of bio-based products, including food, fibre, fuel, and biomaterials, while sustaining a healthful environment. Graduates of this program are eligible for registration as professional engineers in any province across Canada, as well as in some international jurisdictions.

Required Courses (68 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 202	Intermediate Calculus.	3
Intermediate Calculus. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Methods of differential and integral calculus forthe study of multivariable functions. Calculus of parametric and polar curves, vectors and geometry of space, vector functions, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and their applications. See course page for more information
AEMA 305	Differential Equations.	3
Differential Equations. Terms offered: Winter 2026 First and second order differential equations, Laplace transforms, numerical solutions, systems of differential equations, series solutions, applications to biological, chemical and engineering systems, use of computer-based mathematical tools. See course page for more information
BREE 205	Engineering Design 1.	3
Engineering Design 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Role of the bioresource engineer in society; introduction to engineering analysis and design; kinds of engineering; role and duties of the engineer in the design, construction, and operation of bio-based facilities, industries and the environment. Regulation of the engineering profession; law and liability; engineering ethics; occupational health and safety. See course page for more information
BREE 210	Mechanical Analysis and Design.	3
Mechanical Analysis and Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Non-concurrent force systems; analysis of simple trusses and multiforce frames; friction, shearing forces and bending moments in beams and frames; centres of gravity. See course page for more information
BREE 216	Bioresource Engineering Materials.	3
Bioresource Engineering Materials. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the composition and mechanical constitution of materials used in bioresource engineering, including metals, plastics, concrete, wood, composite, plant and food materials. Crystal structure, alloys, phase diagrams, stresses and strains, elasticity, plasticity, yield, fracture, ductility, heat treatments, cold work, corrosion, composite materials, concrete chemistry, polymers. See course page for more information
BREE 252	Computing for Engineers.	3
Computing for Engineers. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A disciplined general approach to the solution of engineering problems, and the implementation of these solutions using structured programming methods in a current computational environment. See course page for more information
BREE 301	Biothermodynamics.	3
Biothermodynamics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Classical thermodynamic analysis of pure and simple compressible systems. The course covers the first and second laws of thermodynamics. It deals with basic concepts of thermodynamics and thermochemistry in biological systems. See course page for more information
BREE 305	Fluid Mechanics.	3
Fluid Mechanics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Properties of fluids; fluid statics; principles of flow of incompressible and compressible fluids; dimensional analysis boundary layers; conduit and open channel systems; simple applications to turbo machinery. See course page for more information
BREE 312	Electric Circuits and Machines.	3
Electric Circuits and Machines. Terms offered: Fall 2025 General circuit laws and DC circuits; electromagnetic circuits; inductance and capacitance, natural and forced response of circuits; analysis of single phase and three phase networks; transformers, AC and DC motors/generators. See course page for more information
BREE 319	Engineering Mathematics.	3
Engineering Mathematics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Advanced topics in engineering mathematics, including systems of ordinary differential equations, stability analysis, special functions, orthogonal functions and Fourier series, boundary value problems in various coordinate systems, and integral transforms. The use of computer-based mathematical tools is an integral part of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 327	Bio-Environmental Engineering.	3
Bio-Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods. See course page for more information
BREE 341	Mechanics of Materials.	3
Mechanics of Materials. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Stress, strain, resilience, elastic and plastic properties of materials; bending moment and shear force diagrams; bending and shear stress; deflections; simple, fixed and continuous beams, torsion and helical springs, reinforced concrete beams; columns, bending and direct stress; general case of plane stress; Mohr's circle. See course page for more information
BREE 415	Design of Machines and Structural Elements .	3
Design of Machines and Structural Elements . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Design of shafts, bearings, gears, fasteners, and frames. Material selection and introduction to advanced materials for machine and structural design applications. Stress, strain, and deflection analysis for standard machine and structural elements. Predicting mechanical failure caused by static and variable (fatigue) loads using proper design criteria. Applying fundamental concepts for the analysis and design of machine elements (shafts, gears, and bearings). Integrating the design of individual machine elements into larger systems and applying numerical modeling (finite element method), engineering drawing, and 3D printing for validation and rapid prototyping of designed machine and structural elements. See course page for more information
BREE 420	Engineering for Sustainability.	3
Engineering for Sustainability. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Principles and practices of engineering for sustainability. Emphasis on environmental, economic, social, management and policy factors that should be incorporated into sustainable approaches to engineering and design. Topics will include: sustainability metrics, systems thinking, stakeholder engagement, and leading change for sustainability within companies. See course page for more information
BREE 451	Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars, where each student must give an oral presentation. See course page for more information
BREE 452	Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars. All students will be required to prepare and present a poster. See course page for more information
BREE 453	Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in undergraduate departmental seminars and science writing workshops. See course page for more information
BREE 485	Senior Undergraduate Seminar	1
Senior Undergraduate Seminar Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental seminars, and a small written project report. See course page for more information
BREE 490	Engineering Design 2.	3
Engineering Design 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to develop a professional design project proposal with due considerations to executive summary, synthesis, methodology, milestones, budget, etc. See course page for more information
BREE 495	Engineering Design 3.	3
Engineering Design 3. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to implement, physically or virtually, the project proposed in the Design 1 course. The student is expected to present project outcome, in both written and oral forms and learn to be critical about their own work and those of others. See course page for more information
BREE 504	Instrumentation and Control.	3
Instrumentation and Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course. See course page for more information
FACC 250	Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer.	0
Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 A course designed to provide all Engineering students with further training regarding their responsibilities as future Professional Engineers. Particular focus will be placed on three professional characteristics that future engineers must demonstrate: i) professionalism, ii) ethical and equitable behaviour, and iii) consideration of the impact of engineering on society and the environment. See course page for more information
FACC 300	Engineering Economy.	3
Engineering Economy. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to the basic concepts required for the economic assessment of engineering projects. Topics include: accounting methods, marginal analysis, cash flow and time value of money, taxation and depreciation, discounted cash flow analysis techniques, cost of capital, inflation, sensitivity and risk analysis, analysis of R and D, ongoing as well as new investment opportunities. See course page for more information
FACC 400	Engineering Professional Practice.	1
Engineering Professional Practice. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Laws, regulations and codes governing engineering professional practice. Responsibility and liability. Environmental legislation. Project and organization management. Relations between engineer and client. Technical practice - analysis, design, execution and operation. See course page for more information
FAES 405	Honours Project 1.	3
Honours Project 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Students will prepare a Literature Review, Progress Report and deliver a Proposal Seminar as well as begin work on the research project. Completion of the project will take place in FAES 406, Honours Project 2. See course page for more information
FAES 406	Honours Project 2.	3
Honours Project 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Honours Project 2 is the completion of the project begun in FAES 405 and requires a Progress Report, a Final Project Report and a Project Presentation. See course page for more information
MECH 289	Design Graphics.	3
Design Graphics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The design process, including free-hand sketching; from geometry construction to engineering construction; the technology and standards of engineering graphic communication; designing with CAD software. The role of visualization in the production of engineering designs. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (45 credits)

Set A

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 310	Statistical Methods 1.	3
Statistical Methods 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. See course page for more information
CIVE 302	Probabilistic Systems.	3
Probabilistic Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introduction to probability and statistics with applications to Civil Engineering design. Descriptive statistics, common probability models, statistical estimation, regression and correlation, acceptance sampling. See course page for more information

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CHEE 315	Heat and Mass Transfer.	3
Heat and Mass Transfer. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Transport of heat and mass by diffusion and convection; transport of heat by radiation; diffusion; convective mass transfer; drying; absorption; mathematical formulation of problems and equipment design for heat and mass transfer; laboratory exercises. See course page for more information
MECH 346	Heat Transfer.	3
Heat Transfer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Basic concepts and overview. Steady and unsteady heat conduction. Fin Theory. Convective heat transfer: governing equations; dimensionless parameters; analogy between momentum and heat transfer. Design correlations for forced, natural, and mixed convection. Heat exchangers. Radiative heat transfer: black- and gray-body radiation; shape factors; enclosure theory. Thermal engineering design project. See course page for more information

Set B - Natural Sciences and Mathematics

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 210	Organisms 1.	3
Organisms 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The biology of plants and plant-based systems in managed and natural terrestrial environments. The interactions between autotrophs and soil organisms and selected groups of animals with close ecological and evolutionary connections with plants (e.g., herbivores and pollinators) will be explored in lecture and laboratory. See course page for more information
AEBI 211	Organisms 2.	3
Organisms 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to the biology of heterotrophs, focusing on animal diversity from the perspectives of phylogenetics, physiology, and ecology. Introduction to major animal taxa, comparing and contrasting these taxa, and exploration of the relationships among them. See course page for more information
ENVB 210	The Biophysical Environment.	3
The Biophysical Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025 With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system. See course page for more information
ENVB 305	Population and Community Ecology.	3
Population and Community Ecology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Interactions between organisms and their environment; historical and current perspectives in applied and theoretical population and community ecology. Principles of population dynamics, feedback loops, and population regulation. Development and structure of communities; competition, predation and food web dynamics. Biodiversity science in theory and practice. See course page for more information
LSCI 202	Molecular Cell Biology.	3
Molecular Cell Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Organization and function of intracellular organelles in eukaryotic cells. Mechanisms of membrane transport. Protein sorting and vesicular transport. Cytoskeleton. DNA and chromosome structure. DNA replication. Mechanisms of RNA and protein synthesis. Control of gene expression. Cell cycle and the control of cell division. Mechanisms of cell communication and signal transduction. Apoptosis. Neuronal signaling. See course page for more information
LSCI 211	Biochemistry 1.	3
Biochemistry 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. See course page for more information
LSCI 230	Introductory Microbiology.	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. See course page for more information
MICR 331	Microbial Ecology.	3
Microbial Ecology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The ecology of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Microbial interactions with the environment, plants, animals and other microbes emphasizing the underlying genetics and physiology. Diversity, evolution (microbial phylogenetics) and the application of molecular biology in microbial ecology. See course page for more information

Plus 6 credits chosen in consultation with the Academic Adviser.

Set C - Social Sciences

Minimum of 3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ENVR 201	Society, Environment and Sustainability.	3
Society, Environment and Sustainability. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used. See course page for more information
ENVR 203	Knowledge, Ethics and Environment.	3
Knowledge, Ethics and Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies. See course page for more information
SEAD 530	Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design.	3
Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Micro and macroeconomics of sustainability, market structures, principles of substitution, market failures and externalities, monetization and pricing of externalities. Policy instruments, permits and licenses, mandates, incentives, penalties, taxation and eco-social principles, mechanism design, the principles of life cycle analyses and the circular economy. Impact of engineering on ecological and economic sustainability. See course page for more information
SOCI 235	Technology and Society.	3
Technology and Society. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An examination of the extent to which technological developments impose constraints on ways of arranging social relationships in bureaucratic organizations and in the wider society: the compatibility of current social structures with the effective utilization of technology. See course page for more information

Note: ENVR courses have limited enrolment.

Plus 6 credits of social sciences, management studies, humanities, or law courses at the U1 undergraduate level or higher with approval of the Academic Adviser. Note: these 6 credits may include one 3-credit language course other than the student's normal spoken languages.

Set D - Engineering

21 credits from the following list, with the option (and approval of the Academic Adviser) of taking a maximum of 6 credits from other courses offered in the Faculty of Engineering:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 214	Geomatics.	3
Geomatics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The communicative skills of surveying. The fundamentals of surveying through the application of reasoning, tools, techniques, and instruments. Practices in use of basic surveying equipment including steel tape, level, and theodolite. The use and operation of Total Stations. The procedures and methods for the measurement of distances, elevations, angles and positions. Basic surveying calculations, including traverse adjustments. See course page for more information
BREE 217	Hydrology and Water Resources.	3
Hydrology and Water Resources. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways. See course page for more information
BREE 314	Agri-Food Buildings.	3
Agri-Food Buildings. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management. See course page for more information
BREE 322	Management of Organic Residue	3
Management of Organic Residue Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of handling, storage, and treatment of organic residues in agricultural and municipal contexts. Technologies, design approaches, and management strategies for resource recovery and increasing the circularity of material and energy flows. See course page for more information
BREE 325	Food Process Engineering.	3
Food Process Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Heat and mass transfer, enthalpy and mass balances, sterilizing, freezing, fluid flow, pipes, steam, refrigeration, pumps and valves. See course page for more information
BREE 329	Precision Agriculture.	3
Precision Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The course provides an overview of the principle concepts of precision agriculture. It focuses on equipment, software and the information management systems for mastering the essential steps when adopting and developing economically viable and environmentally sound solutions for modern farms and other agribusiness enterprises. See course page for more information
BREE 403	Biological Material Properties.	3
Biological Material Properties. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Relationships between composition, structure and properties of biological materials. Measurement methods and use of mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, chemical and functional properties in the design of new applications and product development. See course page for more information
BREE 412	Machinery Systems Engineering.	3
Machinery Systems Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Study and analysis of machines for tillage, harvesting, crop processing and handling. Field tests, load studies, design requirements; design of machines and components for agricultural applications. See course page for more information
BREE 416	Engineering for Land Development.	3
Engineering for Land Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of land stewardship and water resource conservation, including: introduction to the hydrologic cycle and agricultural water use; computation of soil loss by water erosion; conservation farming practices; reservoirs and embankments; water and sediment control structures; stream restoration and water supply; wetlands and wetland design; irrigation principles and design; pumps and pumping; introduction to drainage and water table management. See course page for more information
BREE 419	Structural Design.	3
Structural Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Structural Design in steel and timber; application of complete design procedures to working stress design; plastic design for ultimate loading. See course page for more information
BREE 497	Bioresource Engineering Project.	3
Bioresource Engineering Project. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Independent study for design and experimental work on a bioresource engineering topic chosen in consultation between the student and departmental staff. See course page for more information
BREE 501	Simulation and Modelling.	3
Simulation and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems. See course page for more information
BREE 502	Drainage/Irrigation Engineering.	3
Drainage/Irrigation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Benefits and importance of drainage; types of drainage systems; design and construction of main, surface and subsurface drainage systems; drainage materials. Crop water requirements; evapotranspiration models; design and layout of surface, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems; pipe hydraulics; pumps. See course page for more information
BREE 505	Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems .	3
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems . Terms offered: Winter 2026 Examination of the methods for food system sustainability assessment and their trade-offs, focusing on conducting environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and an introduction to social life cycle assessment for agrifood systems (crops and livestock). Additionally, methods for trade-off analysis among the three sustainability dimensions – environment, economics, social – will be evaluated and applied to agrifood system optimization and sustainability decision-making. See course page for more information
BREE 509	Hydrologic Systems and Modelling.	3
Hydrologic Systems and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Hydrologic cycle in the nature and how to quantitatively describe those processes using models. The fundamentals of hydrology including basic concepts, precipitation, snow and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow, infiltration and soil water movement, and runoff and streamflow. Equivalent attention to theories and hands-on practices on model application. How to set up and execute weather data driven physical based models, both at a point-scale and a watershed scale, to predict snowmelt, evapotranspiration, infiltration, soil water redistribution, subsurface drainage, runoff, and stream flow in hydrologic systems. See course page for more information
BREE 510	Watershed Systems Management.	3
Watershed Systems Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A holistic examination of methods in watershed management with a focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM). Topics include: integration, participatory management, water resources assessment, modeling, planning, adaptive management, transboundary management, and transition management. See course page for more information
BREE 515		3
Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.
BREE 518	Ecological Engineering.	3
Ecological Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 519	Advanced Food Engineering.	3
Advanced Food Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food engineering. Concepts of mathematical modelling and research methodologies in food engineering. Topics include heat and mass transfer in food systems, packaging and distribution of food products, thermal and non-thermal processing, rheology and kinetics of food transformations. See course page for more information
BREE 520	Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements.	3
Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Analysis and design incorporating the four elements required by organisms and biomass for food, fibre and fuel production (air, earth, energy, and water). Special emphasis will be placed on the demands and requirements of engineering systems to control these elements and allow optimal growth in semi-controlled and completely controlled environments. See course page for more information
BREE 522	Bio-Based Polymers.	3
Bio-Based Polymers. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The structure and properties of selected biomass (e.g. vegetable oils and starches) will be reviewed. The synthesis of bio-based polymers through chemical modification, casting, compression and extrusion among other methods will be studied. The physical properties of the resulting matrices will then be reviewed. Commercial applications will be examined. See course page for more information
BREE 529	GIS for Natural Resource Management.	3
GIS for Natural Resource Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems. See course page for more information
BREE 530	Fermentation Engineering.	3
Fermentation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food and fermentation engineering are covered, including brewing, bioreactor design and control and microbial kinetics. See course page for more information
BREE 531	Post-Harvest Drying.	3
Post-Harvest Drying. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Heat and moisture transfer with respect to drying of agricultural commodities; techniques of enhancement of heat and mass transfer; drying efficiency and scale-up problems. See course page for more information
BREE 532	Post-Harvest Storage.	3
Post-Harvest Storage. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Active, semi-passive and passive storage systems; environmental control systems; post-harvest physiology and pathogenicity; quality assessment and control methodology; economic aspects of long-term storage. See course page for more information
BREE 533	Water Quality Management.	3
Water Quality Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The water phases of terrestrial ecological systems and the processes that link them. Physical, chemical, and biological properties of water, and water quality standards. The fate and transport of pollutants in rivers and streams, lakes, and wetlands. Methods to quantify soil carbon and nitrogen cycle to predict nutrient leaching. Impacts of human activities (e.g., agricultural drainage) on water quality and measures to improve drainage water quality. Assess the effectiveness of proposed engineering measures or management practices in improving or maintaining water quality of a real site/water body using numerical methods or a computer modelling approach. See course page for more information
BREE 535	Food Safety Engineering.	3
Food Safety Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The application of engineering principles to address microbial and chemical safety challenges in food processing, including intervention technologies (traditional and novel non-thermal intervention technologies, chemical interventions, and hurdle approach); control, monitoring and identification techniques (biosensors); packaging applications in food safety (active packaging, intelligent or smart packaging); and tracking and traceability systems. See course page for more information

View the core curriculum

Consult an academic advisor

Major in Bioresource Engineering (Professional Agrology)

Bioresource Engineering - Professional Agrology (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Offered by: Bioresource Engineering (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource)
Program credit weight: 113

Program Description

The B.Eng.(Bioresource); Major in Bioresource Engineering; Professional Agrology program focuses on biological, agricultural, food, environmental areas, and applying professional engineering skills to biological systems. The design and implementation of technology for the creation of bio-based products, including food, fibre, fuel, and biomaterials, while sustaining a healthful environment. Graduates of this program are eligible for registration as professional engineers in any province across Canada, as well as in some international jurisdictions. This program qualifies graduates to apply for registration in the Ordre des agronomes du Québec and similar licensing bodies in other provinces in addition to the professional engineer licensing.

Required Courses (65 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 202	Intermediate Calculus.	3
Intermediate Calculus. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Methods of differential and integral calculus forthe study of multivariable functions. Calculus of parametric and polar curves, vectors and geometry of space, vector functions, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and their applications. See course page for more information
AEMA 305	Differential Equations.	3
Differential Equations. Terms offered: Winter 2026 First and second order differential equations, Laplace transforms, numerical solutions, systems of differential equations, series solutions, applications to biological, chemical and engineering systems, use of computer-based mathematical tools. See course page for more information
AGRI 330	Agricultural Legislation.	1
Agricultural Legislation. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of Quebec legislation of importance to the agricultural sector, with emphasis on the reasons why these laws were implemented and on their net effects on this sector. Some Canadian laws will be covered but only inasmuch as they affect Quebec agriculture. See course page for more information
AGRI 430	Professional Practice in Agrology.	2
Professional Practice in Agrology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course introduces students to the professional aspects of the practice of agrology. Topics include understanding the responsibilities of agrologists, the broad context and functioning of the Québec agricultural industry, how to deal with clients, colleagues, and understanding legal and regulatory aspects of the profession in Québec. See course page for more information
BREE 205	Engineering Design 1.	3
Engineering Design 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Role of the bioresource engineer in society; introduction to engineering analysis and design; kinds of engineering; role and duties of the engineer in the design, construction, and operation of bio-based facilities, industries and the environment. Regulation of the engineering profession; law and liability; engineering ethics; occupational health and safety. See course page for more information
BREE 210	Mechanical Analysis and Design.	3
Mechanical Analysis and Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Non-concurrent force systems; analysis of simple trusses and multiforce frames; friction, shearing forces and bending moments in beams and frames; centres of gravity. See course page for more information
BREE 216	Bioresource Engineering Materials.	3
Bioresource Engineering Materials. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the composition and mechanical constitution of materials used in bioresource engineering, including metals, plastics, concrete, wood, composite, plant and food materials. Crystal structure, alloys, phase diagrams, stresses and strains, elasticity, plasticity, yield, fracture, ductility, heat treatments, cold work, corrosion, composite materials, concrete chemistry, polymers. See course page for more information
BREE 252	Computing for Engineers.	3
Computing for Engineers. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A disciplined general approach to the solution of engineering problems, and the implementation of these solutions using structured programming methods in a current computational environment. See course page for more information
BREE 301	Biothermodynamics.	3
Biothermodynamics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Classical thermodynamic analysis of pure and simple compressible systems. The course covers the first and second laws of thermodynamics. It deals with basic concepts of thermodynamics and thermochemistry in biological systems. See course page for more information
BREE 305	Fluid Mechanics.	3
Fluid Mechanics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Properties of fluids; fluid statics; principles of flow of incompressible and compressible fluids; dimensional analysis boundary layers; conduit and open channel systems; simple applications to turbo machinery. See course page for more information
BREE 312	Electric Circuits and Machines.	3
Electric Circuits and Machines. Terms offered: Fall 2025 General circuit laws and DC circuits; electromagnetic circuits; inductance and capacitance, natural and forced response of circuits; analysis of single phase and three phase networks; transformers, AC and DC motors/generators. See course page for more information
BREE 319	Engineering Mathematics.	3
Engineering Mathematics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Advanced topics in engineering mathematics, including systems of ordinary differential equations, stability analysis, special functions, orthogonal functions and Fourier series, boundary value problems in various coordinate systems, and integral transforms. The use of computer-based mathematical tools is an integral part of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 327	Bio-Environmental Engineering.	3
Bio-Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods. See course page for more information
BREE 341	Mechanics of Materials.	3
Mechanics of Materials. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Stress, strain, resilience, elastic and plastic properties of materials; bending moment and shear force diagrams; bending and shear stress; deflections; simple, fixed and continuous beams, torsion and helical springs, reinforced concrete beams; columns, bending and direct stress; general case of plane stress; Mohr's circle. See course page for more information
BREE 415	Design of Machines and Structural Elements .	3
Design of Machines and Structural Elements . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Design of shafts, bearings, gears, fasteners, and frames. Material selection and introduction to advanced materials for machine and structural design applications. Stress, strain, and deflection analysis for standard machine and structural elements. Predicting mechanical failure caused by static and variable (fatigue) loads using proper design criteria. Applying fundamental concepts for the analysis and design of machine elements (shafts, gears, and bearings). Integrating the design of individual machine elements into larger systems and applying numerical modeling (finite element method), engineering drawing, and 3D printing for validation and rapid prototyping of designed machine and structural elements. See course page for more information
BREE 420	Engineering for Sustainability.	3
Engineering for Sustainability. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Principles and practices of engineering for sustainability. Emphasis on environmental, economic, social, management and policy factors that should be incorporated into sustainable approaches to engineering and design. Topics will include: sustainability metrics, systems thinking, stakeholder engagement, and leading change for sustainability within companies. See course page for more information
BREE 451	Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 1 - Oral Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars, where each student must give an oral presentation. See course page for more information
BREE 452	Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 2 Poster Presentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental undergraduate seminars. All students will be required to prepare and present a poster. See course page for more information
BREE 453	Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing.	1
Undergraduate Seminar 3 - Scientific Writing. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in undergraduate departmental seminars and science writing workshops. See course page for more information
BREE 485	Senior Undergraduate Seminar	1
Senior Undergraduate Seminar Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Attendance and participation in departmental seminars, and a small written project report. See course page for more information
BREE 490	Engineering Design 2.	3
Engineering Design 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to develop a professional design project proposal with due considerations to executive summary, synthesis, methodology, milestones, budget, etc. See course page for more information
BREE 495	Engineering Design 3.	3
Engineering Design 3. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The student is expected to implement, physically or virtually, the project proposed in the Design 1 course. The student is expected to present project outcome, in both written and oral forms and learn to be critical about their own work and those of others. See course page for more information
BREE 504	Instrumentation and Control.	3
Instrumentation and Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An overview of instrumentation and control systems used in bioresource engineering. Hands-on development of data acquisition systems and learning strategies to process and interpret the signal obtained constitute the majority of the course. See course page for more information
FACC 250	Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer.	0
Responsibilities of the Professional Engineer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 A course designed to provide all Engineering students with further training regarding their responsibilities as future Professional Engineers. Particular focus will be placed on three professional characteristics that future engineers must demonstrate: i) professionalism, ii) ethical and equitable behaviour, and iii) consideration of the impact of engineering on society and the environment. See course page for more information
FACC 300	Engineering Economy.	3
Engineering Economy. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to the basic concepts required for the economic assessment of engineering projects. Topics include: accounting methods, marginal analysis, cash flow and time value of money, taxation and depreciation, discounted cash flow analysis techniques, cost of capital, inflation, sensitivity and risk analysis, analysis of R and D, ongoing as well as new investment opportunities. See course page for more information
FACC 400	Engineering Professional Practice.	1
Engineering Professional Practice. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Laws, regulations and codes governing engineering professional practice. Responsibility and liability. Environmental legislation. Project and organization management. Relations between engineer and client. Technical practice - analysis, design, execution and operation. See course page for more information
MECH 289	Design Graphics.	3
Design Graphics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The design process, including free-hand sketching; from geometry construction to engineering construction; the technology and standards of engineering graphic communication; designing with CAD software. The role of visualization in the production of engineering designs. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (48 credits)

48 credits of the complementary courses selected as follows:

Set A

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEMA 310	Statistical Methods 1.	3
Statistical Methods 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. See course page for more information
CIVE 302	Probabilistic Systems.	3
Probabilistic Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introduction to probability and statistics with applications to Civil Engineering design. Descriptive statistics, common probability models, statistical estimation, regression and correlation, acceptance sampling. See course page for more information

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CHEE 315	Heat and Mass Transfer.	3
Heat and Mass Transfer. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Transport of heat and mass by diffusion and convection; transport of heat by radiation; diffusion; convective mass transfer; drying; absorption; mathematical formulation of problems and equipment design for heat and mass transfer; laboratory exercises. See course page for more information
MECH 346	Heat Transfer.	3
Heat Transfer. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Basic concepts and overview. Steady and unsteady heat conduction. Fin Theory. Convective heat transfer: governing equations; dimensionless parameters; analogy between momentum and heat transfer. Design correlations for forced, natural, and mixed convection. Heat exchangers. Radiative heat transfer: black- and gray-body radiation; shape factors; enclosure theory. Thermal engineering design project. See course page for more information

Set B - Natural Sciences

Group 1 - Biology

6 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 210	Organisms 1.	3
Organisms 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The biology of plants and plant-based systems in managed and natural terrestrial environments. The interactions between autotrophs and soil organisms and selected groups of animals with close ecological and evolutionary connections with plants (e.g., herbivores and pollinators) will be explored in lecture and laboratory. See course page for more information
AEBI 211	Organisms 2.	3
Organisms 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to the biology of heterotrophs, focusing on animal diversity from the perspectives of phylogenetics, physiology, and ecology. Introduction to major animal taxa, comparing and contrasting these taxa, and exploration of the relationships among them. See course page for more information
LSCI 202	Molecular Cell Biology.	3
Molecular Cell Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Organization and function of intracellular organelles in eukaryotic cells. Mechanisms of membrane transport. Protein sorting and vesicular transport. Cytoskeleton. DNA and chromosome structure. DNA replication. Mechanisms of RNA and protein synthesis. Control of gene expression. Cell cycle and the control of cell division. Mechanisms of cell communication and signal transduction. Apoptosis. Neuronal signaling. See course page for more information
LSCI 204	Genetics.	3
Genetics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The course integrates classical, molecular and population genetics of animals, plants, bacteria and viruses. The aim is to understand the flow of genetic information within a cell, within families and in populations. Emphasis will be placed on problem solving based learning. The laboratory exercises will emphasize the interpretation of genetic experimental data. See course page for more information
LSCI 211	Biochemistry 1.	3
Biochemistry 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. See course page for more information
LSCI 230	Introductory Microbiology.	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. See course page for more information

Group 2 - Agricultural Sciences

6 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANSC 250	Introduction to Livestock Management	3
Introduction to Livestock Management Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the scientific principles underlying animal livestock production as it relates to the consumer food chain. The world- wide demand for animal products, various areas of management (reproduction, nutrition, breeding, health, and welfare) that are used to provide those products by examining both conventional means as well as new and evolving technologies. How these techniques relate to some of the major production systems (dairy, beef, pig, and broiler and egg production) – primarily in a Provincial/Canadian context. See course page for more information
ANSC 433	Animal Nutrition and Metabolism.	3
Animal Nutrition and Metabolism. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to fundamental aspects of animal nutrition, including gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology; nutrient digestion, absorption, and metabolism; nutrient functions and requirements of livestock species; evaluation of feedstuffs and their use in ration formulation; and feeding strategies. Laboratory classes will include hands-on experience on feed analyses, gastrointestinal tract dissections, nutritional experiments and demonstrations in livestock species as well as computer-based ration balancing exercises. See course page for more information
ANSC 458	Advanced Livestock Management	3
Advanced Livestock Management Terms offered: Winter 2026 Overview of the major Canadian livestock industries with particular emphasis on dairy, pork, broilers, and layers. Building on introductory livestock management and advanced nutrition, breeding, and reproductive physiology, current and evolving IofT practices for the production of consumer animal products. See course page for more information
PLNT 302	Forage Crops and Pastures.	3
Forage Crops and Pastures. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Ecology, management, and physiology of forage crops with emphasis on establishment, growth, maintenance, harvesting, and preservation; value as livestock feed in terms of nutritional composition and role in environmental conservation. See course page for more information
PLNT 200	Introduction to Crop Science	3
Introduction to Crop Science Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of plant science and soil science to production of agronomic and horticultural crops. Use and sustainability of fertilization, weed control, crop rotation, tillage, drainage and irrigation practices. See course page for more information
PLNT 307	Agroecology of Vegetables and Fruits.	3
Agroecology of Vegetables and Fruits. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of selected vegetable and fruit agroecosystems. Includes selection of varieties and management from seedling to harvest to storage. See course page for more information
PLNT 312	Urban Horticulture.	3
Urban Horticulture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Selection, use and care of plants in urban environments for the benefit of urban populations: landscape design, turf and green space management, urban trees, green roofs and walls, design and management of community gardens, urban agriculture. See course page for more information
PLNT 322	Greenhouse Management.	3
Greenhouse Management. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The production of major flower and vegetable crops in greenhouses. Includes greenhouse design, heating, ventilation, lighting, hydroponics, irrigation, fertilization, scheduling and integrated pest management. See course page for more information
PLNT 430	Pesticides in Agriculture.	3
Pesticides in Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Pesticide science concentrating on pesticide discovery, pesticide chemistries, pesticide development, pesticide technologies, mitigation of risks due to pesticides use, national and international pesticide regulations, registrations, and compliances. See course page for more information

Set C - Social Sciences

3 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ENVR 201	Society, Environment and Sustainability.	3
Society, Environment and Sustainability. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used. See course page for more information
ENVR 203	Knowledge, Ethics and Environment.	3
Knowledge, Ethics and Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies. See course page for more information
SEAD 530	Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design.	3
Economics for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Micro and macroeconomics of sustainability, market structures, principles of substitution, market failures and externalities, monetization and pricing of externalities. Policy instruments, permits and licenses, mandates, incentives, penalties, taxation and eco-social principles, mechanism design, the principles of life cycle analyses and the circular economy. Impact of engineering on ecological and economic sustainability. See course page for more information
SOCI 235	Technology and Society.	3
Technology and Society. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An examination of the extent to which technological developments impose constraints on ways of arranging social relationships in bureaucratic organizations and in the wider society: the compatibility of current social structures with the effective utilization of technology. See course page for more information

Note: ENVR courses have limited enrolment.

Set D - Engineering

27 credits from Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3.

Minimum of 6 credits from each of Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 with the option (and approval of the Academic Adviser) of taking 6 credits from courses offered in the Faculty of Engineering.

Group 1 - Soil and Water

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 214	Geomatics.	3
Geomatics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The communicative skills of surveying. The fundamentals of surveying through the application of reasoning, tools, techniques, and instruments. Practices in use of basic surveying equipment including steel tape, level, and theodolite. The use and operation of Total Stations. The procedures and methods for the measurement of distances, elevations, angles and positions. Basic surveying calculations, including traverse adjustments. See course page for more information
BREE 217	Hydrology and Water Resources.	3
Hydrology and Water Resources. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways. See course page for more information
BREE 322	Management of Organic Residue	3
Management of Organic Residue Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of handling, storage, and treatment of organic residues in agricultural and municipal contexts. Technologies, design approaches, and management strategies for resource recovery and increasing the circularity of material and energy flows. See course page for more information
BREE 329	Precision Agriculture.	3
Precision Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The course provides an overview of the principle concepts of precision agriculture. It focuses on equipment, software and the information management systems for mastering the essential steps when adopting and developing economically viable and environmentally sound solutions for modern farms and other agribusiness enterprises. See course page for more information
BREE 416	Engineering for Land Development.	3
Engineering for Land Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of land stewardship and water resource conservation, including: introduction to the hydrologic cycle and agricultural water use; computation of soil loss by water erosion; conservation farming practices; reservoirs and embankments; water and sediment control structures; stream restoration and water supply; wetlands and wetland design; irrigation principles and design; pumps and pumping; introduction to drainage and water table management. See course page for more information
BREE 502	Drainage/Irrigation Engineering.	3
Drainage/Irrigation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Benefits and importance of drainage; types of drainage systems; design and construction of main, surface and subsurface drainage systems; drainage materials. Crop water requirements; evapotranspiration models; design and layout of surface, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems; pipe hydraulics; pumps. See course page for more information
BREE 509	Hydrologic Systems and Modelling.	3
Hydrologic Systems and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Hydrologic cycle in the nature and how to quantitatively describe those processes using models. The fundamentals of hydrology including basic concepts, precipitation, snow and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow, infiltration and soil water movement, and runoff and streamflow. Equivalent attention to theories and hands-on practices on model application. How to set up and execute weather data driven physical based models, both at a point-scale and a watershed scale, to predict snowmelt, evapotranspiration, infiltration, soil water redistribution, subsurface drainage, runoff, and stream flow in hydrologic systems. See course page for more information
BREE 510	Watershed Systems Management.	3
Watershed Systems Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A holistic examination of methods in watershed management with a focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM). Topics include: integration, participatory management, water resources assessment, modeling, planning, adaptive management, transboundary management, and transition management. See course page for more information
BREE 518	Ecological Engineering.	3
Ecological Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 529	GIS for Natural Resource Management.	3
GIS for Natural Resource Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems. See course page for more information
BREE 533	Water Quality Management.	3
Water Quality Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The water phases of terrestrial ecological systems and the processes that link them. Physical, chemical, and biological properties of water, and water quality standards. The fate and transport of pollutants in rivers and streams, lakes, and wetlands. Methods to quantify soil carbon and nitrogen cycle to predict nutrient leaching. Impacts of human activities (e.g., agricultural drainage) on water quality and measures to improve drainage water quality. Assess the effectiveness of proposed engineering measures or management practices in improving or maintaining water quality of a real site/water body using numerical methods or a computer modelling approach. See course page for more information

Group 2 - Food Processing

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 325	Food Process Engineering.	3
Food Process Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Heat and mass transfer, enthalpy and mass balances, sterilizing, freezing, fluid flow, pipes, steam, refrigeration, pumps and valves. See course page for more information
BREE 519	Advanced Food Engineering.	3
Advanced Food Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food engineering. Concepts of mathematical modelling and research methodologies in food engineering. Topics include heat and mass transfer in food systems, packaging and distribution of food products, thermal and non-thermal processing, rheology and kinetics of food transformations. See course page for more information
BREE 520	Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements.	3
Food, Fibre and Fuel Elements. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Analysis and design incorporating the four elements required by organisms and biomass for food, fibre and fuel production (air, earth, energy, and water). Special emphasis will be placed on the demands and requirements of engineering systems to control these elements and allow optimal growth in semi-controlled and completely controlled environments. See course page for more information
BREE 530	Fermentation Engineering.	3
Fermentation Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced topics in food and fermentation engineering are covered, including brewing, bioreactor design and control and microbial kinetics. See course page for more information
BREE 531	Post-Harvest Drying.	3
Post-Harvest Drying. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Heat and moisture transfer with respect to drying of agricultural commodities; techniques of enhancement of heat and mass transfer; drying efficiency and scale-up problems. See course page for more information
BREE 532	Post-Harvest Storage.	3
Post-Harvest Storage. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Active, semi-passive and passive storage systems; environmental control systems; post-harvest physiology and pathogenicity; quality assessment and control methodology; economic aspects of long-term storage. See course page for more information
BREE 535	Food Safety Engineering.	3
Food Safety Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The application of engineering principles to address microbial and chemical safety challenges in food processing, including intervention technologies (traditional and novel non-thermal intervention technologies, chemical interventions, and hurdle approach); control, monitoring and identification techniques (biosensors); packaging applications in food safety (active packaging, intelligent or smart packaging); and tracking and traceability systems. See course page for more information

Group 3 - Other Engineering

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 314	Agri-Food Buildings.	3
Agri-Food Buildings. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Analysis and design of structures to house animals and plants and to process and store animal and plant products. Introduction to environmental control systems and animal waste management. See course page for more information
BREE 403	Biological Material Properties.	3
Biological Material Properties. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Relationships between composition, structure and properties of biological materials. Measurement methods and use of mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, chemical and functional properties in the design of new applications and product development. See course page for more information
BREE 412	Machinery Systems Engineering.	3
Machinery Systems Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Study and analysis of machines for tillage, harvesting, crop processing and handling. Field tests, load studies, design requirements; design of machines and components for agricultural applications. See course page for more information
BREE 419	Structural Design.	3
Structural Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Structural Design in steel and timber; application of complete design procedures to working stress design; plastic design for ultimate loading. See course page for more information
BREE 497	Bioresource Engineering Project.	3
Bioresource Engineering Project. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Independent study for design and experimental work on a bioresource engineering topic chosen in consultation between the student and departmental staff. See course page for more information
BREE 501	Simulation and Modelling.	3
Simulation and Modelling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Philosophical and mathematical principles of computational modelling and simulation: Concepts of verification, parameterization, validation, and sensitivity analysis. Introduction to basic concepts of finite element modelling: Direct stiffness and weighted residual methods. Introduction to software packages for general systems and multiphysics, finite-element-based modeling. Emphasis on biosystems engineering applications, e.g., ecosystem dynamics, material properties, solid and structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, electrical and machinery systems. See course page for more information
BREE 505	Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems .	3
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems . Terms offered: Winter 2026 Examination of the methods for food system sustainability assessment and their trade-offs, focusing on conducting environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and an introduction to social life cycle assessment for agrifood systems (crops and livestock). Additionally, methods for trade-off analysis among the three sustainability dimensions – environment, economics, social – will be evaluated and applied to agrifood system optimization and sustainability decision-making. See course page for more information
BREE 522	Bio-Based Polymers.	3
Bio-Based Polymers. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The structure and properties of selected biomass (e.g. vegetable oils and starches) will be reviewed. The synthesis of bio-based polymers through chemical modification, casting, compression and extrusion among other methods will be studied. The physical properties of the resulting matrices will then be reviewed. Commercial applications will be examined. See course page for more information

View the core curriculum

Consult an academic advisor

Minors

While working towards a B. Eng. Bioresource Engineering, students can also complete the requirements for an additional minor program. This allows students to develop an expertise in another area of study. Completion of a minor usually adds about one term of total studies at McGill.

Some minor programs that might be of interest to Bioresource Engineering students include:

Agribusiness (B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.)) (24 credits)

Offered by: Agricultural Economics (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Program credit weight: 24

Program Description

The development of commercial agriculture relies on a large supporting sector of manufacturing and service companies involved in the supply of inputs to farming and the transportation, processing, and marketing of agricultural and food products.

This 24-credit specialization includes courses in agricultural sciences, agribusiness, and courses at the Desautels Faculty of Management.

This specialization is limited to students in the Major in Agricultural Economics.

For information on academic advising, see: http://www.mcgill.ca/macdonald/studentinfo/advising

Required Courses (12 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 210	Organisms 1.	3
Organisms 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The biology of plants and plant-based systems in managed and natural terrestrial environments. The interactions between autotrophs and soil organisms and selected groups of animals with close ecological and evolutionary connections with plants (e.g., herbivores and pollinators) will be explored in lecture and laboratory. See course page for more information
AGEC 450	Agribusiness Management.	3
Agribusiness Management. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Strategic management of agricultural and food businesses. Analysis of internal and external factors and competitive forces affecting agribusinesses. Formulation of business strategy and solutions to strategic problems. Case-based course designed to enhance students' problemsolving and decisionmaking skills. Integration of knowledge and tools from various economics and business disciplines. See course page for more information
AGEC 491	Research and Methodology.	3
Research and Methodology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Conceptual and philosophical foundations of research methodology, and the procedural aspects of planning, designing and conducting research in applied economics. See course page for more information
ANSC 250	Introduction to Livestock Management	3
Introduction to Livestock Management Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the scientific principles underlying animal livestock production as it relates to the consumer food chain. The world- wide demand for animal products, various areas of management (reproduction, nutrition, breeding, health, and welfare) that are used to provide those products by examining both conventional means as well as new and evolving technologies. How these techniques relate to some of the major production systems (dairy, beef, pig, and broiler and egg production) – primarily in a Provincial/Canadian context. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

9 credits selected from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ACCT 361	Management Accounting.	3
Management Accounting. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The role of management accounting information to support internal management decisions and to provide performance incentives. See course page for more information
AGRI 310	Internship in Agriculture/Environment.	3
Internship in Agriculture/Environment. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Internship on working farms or in other appropriate businesses of the agri-food/environment industries. See course page for more information
BUSA 364	Business Law 1.	3
Business Law 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the legal system and basic legal principles affecting business. Tort negligence, contracts, forms of business organization, creditors' rights and bankruptcy. See course page for more information
MGCR 222	Introduction to Organizational Behaviour.	3
Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Individual motivation and communication style; group dynamics as related to problem solving and decision making, leadership style, work structuring and the larger environment. Interdependence of individual, group and organization task and structure. See course page for more information
MGCR 331	Information Technology Management .	3
Information Technology Management . Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to principles and concepts of information systems in organizations. Topics include information technology, transaction processing systems, decision support systems, database and systems development. Students are required to have background preparation on basic micro computer skills including spreadsheet and word-processing. See course page for more information
MGCR 341	Introduction to Finance.	3
Introduction to Finance. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the principles, issues, and institutions of Finance. Topics include valuation, risk, capital investment, financial structure, cost of capital, working capital management, financial markets, and securities. See course page for more information
MGCR 352	Principles of Marketing.	3
Principles of Marketing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to marketing principles, focusing on problem solving and decision making. Topics include: the marketing concept; marketing strategies; buyer behaviour; Canadian demographics; internal and external constraints; product; promotion; distribution; price. Lectures, text material and case studies. See course page for more information
MGCR 382	International Business.	3
International Business. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the world of international business. Economic foundations of international trade and investment. The international trade, finance, and regulatory frameworks. Relations between international companies and nation-states, including costs and benefits of foreign investment and alternative controls and responses. Effects of local environmental characteristics on the operations of multi-national enterprises. See course page for more information
ORGB 321	Leadership.	3
Leadership. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Leadership theories provide students with opportunities to assess and work on improving their leadership skills. Topics include: the ability to know oneself as a leader, to formulate a vision, to have the courage to lead, to lead creatively, and to lead effectively with others. See course page for more information

3 credits of a course in Animal Production or Plant Production approved by the Adviser.

Agricultural Production Minor (B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.)) (24 credits)

Offered by: Plant Science (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Program credit weight: 24

Program Description

This Minor program is designed to allow students in non-agricultural production majors to receive credit for courses in agricultural production and to stimulate "cross-over" studies. The Minor can be associated with existing major programs in the Faculty, but in some instances it may require more than 90 credits to meet the requirements of both the Major and the Minor.

Students are advised to consult their major program adviser and the Academic Adviser of the Minor in their first year. At the time of registration for their penultimate year, students must declare their intent to obtain a Minor Agricultural Production. With the agreement of their major program adviser, they must submit their program of courses already taken, and to be taken in their final year, to the Academic Adviser of the Agricultural Production Minor. The Academic Adviser of the Agricultural Production Minor will then certify which courses the student will apply toward the Minor and that the student's program conforms with the requirements of the Minor.

Notes:

Most courses listed at the 300 level and higher have prerequisites. Although instructors may waive prerequisite(s) in some cases, students are urged to prepare their program of study well before their final year.
Not all courses are offered every year. For information on available courses, consult Class Schedule at http://www.mcgill.ca/minerva. Complete listings can be found in the "Courses" section of this Course Catalogue.

For information on academic advising, see: http://www.mcgill.ca/macdonald/studentinfo/advising

General Regulations

To obtain a Minor in Agricultural Production, students must:

ensure that their academic record at the University includes a C grade or higher in the courses as specified in the course requirements given below.
offer a minimum total of 24 credits from the courses as given below, of which not more than 6 credits may be counted for both the Major and the Minor programs. This restriction does not apply to elective courses in the Major program.

Required Courses (12 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 210	Organisms 1.	3
Organisms 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The biology of plants and plant-based systems in managed and natural terrestrial environments. The interactions between autotrophs and soil organisms and selected groups of animals with close ecological and evolutionary connections with plants (e.g., herbivores and pollinators) will be explored in lecture and laboratory. See course page for more information
ANSC 250	Introduction to Livestock Management	3
Introduction to Livestock Management Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the scientific principles underlying animal livestock production as it relates to the consumer food chain. The world- wide demand for animal products, various areas of management (reproduction, nutrition, breeding, health, and welfare) that are used to provide those products by examining both conventional means as well as new and evolving technologies. How these techniques relate to some of the major production systems (dairy, beef, pig, and broiler and egg production) – primarily in a Provincial/Canadian context. See course page for more information
ENVB 210	The Biophysical Environment.	3
The Biophysical Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025 With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system. See course page for more information
PLNT 200	Introduction to Crop Science	3
Introduction to Crop Science Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of plant science and soil science to production of agronomic and horticultural crops. Use and sustainability of fertilization, weed control, crop rotation, tillage, drainage and irrigation practices. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

12 credits chosen from the following list in consultation with the Academic Adviser for the Minor:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AGRI 215	Agro-Ecosystems Field Course.	3
Agro-Ecosystems Field Course. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Through case studies and field trips, students will examine the problems and constraints within the Canadian agro-ecosystem, including the interrelationships among food production, the environment, agricultural policy and social issues. Research in this field of study will also be introduced. See course page for more information
AGRI 340	Principles of Ecological Agriculture.	3
Principles of Ecological Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Focus on low-input, sustainable, and organic agriculture: the farm as an ecosystem; complex system theory; practical examples of soil management, pest control, integrated crop and livestock production, and marketing systems. See course page for more information
ANSC 458	Advanced Livestock Management	3
Advanced Livestock Management Terms offered: Winter 2026 Overview of the major Canadian livestock industries with particular emphasis on dairy, pork, broilers, and layers. Building on introductory livestock management and advanced nutrition, breeding, and reproductive physiology, current and evolving IofT practices for the production of consumer animal products. See course page for more information
PLNT 302	Forage Crops and Pastures.	3
Forage Crops and Pastures. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Ecology, management, and physiology of forage crops with emphasis on establishment, growth, maintenance, harvesting, and preservation; value as livestock feed in terms of nutritional composition and role in environmental conservation. See course page for more information
PLNT 307	Agroecology of Vegetables and Fruits.	3
Agroecology of Vegetables and Fruits. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of selected vegetable and fruit agroecosystems. Includes selection of varieties and management from seedling to harvest to storage. See course page for more information

Biomedical Engineering Minor (B.Eng.) (21 credits)

Offered by: Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 21

Program Description

Biomedical engineering can be defined as the application of engineering principles to medicine and the life sciences. Students in the Biomedical Engineering Minor take courses in life sciences (anatomy, biology, chemistry, and physiology) and choose courses form area(s) within the field of biomedicine (artificial cells and organs; bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics; biomaterials, biosensors, and nanotechnology; biomechanics and prosthetics; medical physics and imagine; neural systems and biosignal processesing).

Note: Open to students in the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Bioresource Engineering.

The Biomedical Engineering Minor allows access to courses in basic life sciences and it intended to expose students to the interdisciplinary tools used in biomedicine.

To complete this Minor, students must obtain a grade of C or better in all approved courses and satisfy the requirements of both the major program and the Minor. By careful selection of courses, the Minor can be satisfied with 9 additional credits in the student's major program or a maximum of 12 credits overlap with the major program.

Students considering this Minor should contact the Minor Advisers listed above.

Minor Advisers: Prof. R. Leask (Wong Building, Room 4120), Prof. R. Mongrain (Macdonald Engineering Building, Room 369) or Prof. G. Mitsis (McConnell Engineering Building, Room 361).

Complementary Courses (21-25 credits)

Introductory Life Sciences

Minimum of 3 credits from the courses below:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANAT 212	Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. ¹	3
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division. See course page for more information
BIEN 219	Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology. ²	4
Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to molecular and cell biology from a physical perspective. Techniques and methodologies, both experimental and computational, are included in the presentation of each thematic module. See course page for more information
BIOC 212	Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. ¹	3
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division. See course page for more information
BIOL 200	Molecular Biology.	3
Molecular Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression. See course page for more information
BIOL 201	Cell Biology and Metabolism. ¹	3
Cell Biology and Metabolism. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle. See course page for more information
BIOL 219	Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology. ²	4
Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to molecular and cell biology from a physical perspective. Techniques and methodologies, both experimental and computational, are included in the presentation of each thematic module. See course page for more information
CHEM 212	Introductory Organic Chemistry 1. ³	4
Introductory Organic Chemistry 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025 A fundamental study of aliphatic compounds and saturated functional groups including modern concepts of bonding, reaction mechanisms, conformational analysis, spectroscopy, and stereochemistry. See course page for more information
PHGY 209	Mammalian Physiology 1.	3
Mammalian Physiology 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Physiology of body fluids, blood, body defense mechanisms, muscle, peripheral, central, and autonomic nervous systems. See course page for more information
PHGY 210	Mammalian Physiology 2.	3
Mammalian Physiology 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Physiology of cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine and renal systems. See course page for more information

¹: Students can choose one of ANAT 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. BIOC 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. or BIOL 201 Cell Biology and Metabolism..
²: Students can choose one of ANAT 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function., BIEN 219 Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology., BIOC 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function., BIOL 200 Molecular Biology.,BIOL 201 Cell Biology and Metabolism. or BIOL 219 Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology..
³: Cannot be taken by Chemical Engineering students.

Specialization Courses

Minimum of 12 credits from courses below:

Students must select 6 credits from courses outside their department and at least one BMDE course. BMDE courses are best taken near the end of the program, when prerequisites are satisfied.

Physiological Systems, Artificial Cells and Organs

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIEN 340	Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems 2.	3
Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Fundamental principles of mass transport and its application to a variety of biological systems. Membrane permeability and diffusive transport. Convection. Transport across cell membranes. Ion channels. Blood rheology. Active transport. Intra- and inter-cellular transport. See course page for more information
BIEN 360	Physical Chemistry in Bioengineering.	3
Physical Chemistry in Bioengineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Description of chemical systems with the help of theories of physics and application of its techniques: reaction kinetics, physical and chemical equilibria in biological systems. Review of energy transfer and thermodynamics. Chemical and physical equilibria in biology: variation of Gibbs energy with temperature, energy, composition. Theories of reaction kinetics and the reaction mechanism in biological phenomena: polymerization, protein folding, enzymes. See course page for more information
BIEN 462	Engineering Principles in Physiological Systems.	3
Engineering Principles in Physiological Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic aspects of human physiology. Applications of general balance equations and control theory to systems physiology. The course will cover: circulatory physiology, nervous system physiology, renal physiology and the musculoskeletal system. See course page for more information
BIEN 540	Information Storage and Processing in Biological Systems.	3
Information Storage and Processing in Biological Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Storage and processing of information in biological systems, both natural and artificially-created, ranging from biomolecules, cells, and populations of cells. Information storage in DNA and DNA computation; molecular surfaces of proteins; computation with motile biological agents in networks; and biological and biologically-inspired algorithms. See course page for more information
BMDE 505	Cell and Tissue Engineering.	3
Cell and Tissue Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Application of the principles of engineering, physical, and biological sciences to modify and create cells and tissues for therapeutic applications will be discussed, as well as the industrial perspective and related ethical issues. See course page for more information
PHGY 311	Channels, Synapses and Hormones.	3
Channels, Synapses and Hormones. Terms offered: Fall 2025 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses on cellular communication in the nervous system and the endocrine system. See course page for more information
PHGY 312	Respiratory, Renal, and Cardiovascular Physiology.	3
Respiratory, Renal, and Cardiovascular Physiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of topics in renal, respiratory and cardiovascular functions explored beyond the introductory level. See course page for more information
PHGY 313	Blood, Gastrointestinal, and Immune Systems Physiology.	3
Blood, Gastrointestinal, and Immune Systems Physiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of topics in immunology, blood and fluids, and gastrointestinal physiology. See course page for more information
PHGY 518	Artificial Cells.	3
Artificial Cells. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Physiology, biotechnology, chemistry and biomedical application of artificial cells, blood substitutes, immobilized enzymes, microorganisms and cells, hemoperfusion, artificial kidneys, and drug delivery systems. PHGY 517 and PHGY 518 when taken together, will give a complete picture of this field. However, the student can select one of these. See course page for more information

Bioinformatics, Genomics and Proteomics

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANAT 365	Cellular Trafficking.	3
Cellular Trafficking. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course explores the fundamental mechanisms that govern the organizations of intracellular membranes, how vesicle generation is signaled, how the membranes curve and bud, and how vesicles know where to go and fuse. In addition to intracellular vesicles, the principles of mitochondrial dynamics and process of cellular autophagy are examined. Also, there is a focus on "Applied Cell Biology", with respect to how the exquisite regulation of cellular transport plays a central role in complex biological systems. A series of modules will take students through the mechanisms of cellular polarity, neurotransmission, metabolic cell biology, pathogen invasion, and more. The emphasis is on the morphological aspects of the processes, and on the major techniques that led to discovery. See course page for more information
ANAT 458	Membranes and Cellular Signaling. ¹	3
Membranes and Cellular Signaling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An integrated treatment of the properties of biological membranes and of intracellular signaling, including the major role that membranes play in transducing and integrating cellular regulatory signals. Biological membrane organization and dynamics; membrane transport; membrane receptors and their associated effectors; mechanisms of regulation of cell growth, morphology, differentiation and death. See course page for more information
BIEN 310	Introduction to Biomolecular Engineering.	3
Introduction to Biomolecular Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Forward and reverse engineering of biomolecular systems. Principles of biomolecular thermodynamics and kinetics. Structure and function of the main classes of biomolecules including proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Biomolecular systems as mechanical, chemical, and electrical systems. Rational design and evolutionary methods for engineering functional proteins, nucleic acids, and gene circuits. Rational design topics include molecular modeling, positive and negative design paradigms, simulation and optimization of equilibrium and kinetic properties, design of catalysts, sensors, motors, and circuits. Evolutionary design topics include evolutionary mechanisms, fitness landscapes, directed evolution of proteins, metabolic pathways, and gene circuits. Systems biology and synthetic biology. See course page for more information
BIEN 410	Computational Methods in Biomolecular Engineering.	3
Computational Methods in Biomolecular Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to computational biomolecular engineering. Biomolecular simulation: deterministic simulation, stochastic simulation. Biomolecular modeling: energy minimization, coarse-grained methods. Computational biomolecular design: protein design, protein docking, and drug design. Computational systems and synthetic biology: computer simulation of biomolecular circuits. See course page for more information
BIEN 420	Biodevices Design for Diagnostics and Screening.	3
Biodevices Design for Diagnostics and Screening. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Design of analytical devices for high throughput screening (HTS) for genomics, proteomics and other “omics” applications; and for diagnostics for medical, veterinary, or environmental applications. Assessment of the specific requirements of each 'client' applications, followed by a review of specific regulations and guidelines. Theoretical and practical guidelines regarding the design of a specific micro- or nano-device, and comparison with the established state of the art in the chosen application. See course page for more information
BIEN 540	Information Storage and Processing in Biological Systems.	3
Information Storage and Processing in Biological Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Storage and processing of information in biological systems, both natural and artificially-created, ranging from biomolecules, cells, and populations of cells. Information storage in DNA and DNA computation; molecular surfaces of proteins; computation with motile biological agents in networks; and biological and biologically-inspired algorithms. See course page for more information
BIEN 590	Cell Culture Engineering.	3
Cell Culture Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Basic principles of cell culture engineering, cell line development and cell culture products; genomics, proteomics and post-translational modifications; elements of cell physiology for medium design and bioprocessing; bioreactor design, scale-up for animal cell culture and single use equipment; challenges in downstream processing of cell-culture derived products; process intensification: fed-batch, feeding strategies and continuous manufacturing; scale-down and process modeling; Process Analytical technologies and Quality by Design (QbD) concept. See course page for more information
BIOC 311	Metabolic Biochemistry.	3
Metabolic Biochemistry. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The generation of metabolic energy in higher organisms with an emphasis on its regulation at the molecular, cellular and organ level. Chemical concepts and mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis are also emphasized. Included: selected topics in carbohydrate, lipid and nitrogen metabolism; complex lipids and biological membranes; hormonal signal transduction. See course page for more information
BIOC 312	Biochemistry of Macromolecules.	3
Biochemistry of Macromolecules. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Gene expression from the start of transcription to the synthesis of proteins, their modifications and degradation. Topics covered: purine and pyrimidine metabolism; transcription and its regulation; mRNA processing; translation; targeting of proteins to specific cellular sites; protein glycosylation; protein phosphorylation; protein turn-over; programmed cell death (apoptosis). See course page for more information
BIOC 458	Membranes and Cellular Signaling. ¹	3
Membranes and Cellular Signaling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An integrated treatment of the properties of biological membranes and of intracellular signaling, including the major role that membranes play in transducing and integrating cellular regulatory signals. Biological membrane organization and dynamics: membrane transport; membrane receptors and their associated effectors; mechanisms of regulation of cell growth, morphology, differentiation and death. See course page for more information
BMDE 508	Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering.	3
Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The micro and nanotechnologies that drive and support the miniaturization and parallelization of techniques for life sciences research, including different inventions, designs and engineering approaches that lead to new tools and methods for the life sciences - while transforming them - and help advance our knowledge of life. See course page for more information
COMP 424	Artificial Intelligence.	3
Artificial Intelligence. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to search methods. Knowledge representation using logic and probability. Planning and decision making under uncertainty. Introduction to machine learning. See course page for more information
COMP 462	Computational Biology Methods.	3
Computational Biology Methods. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of computer science techniques to problems arising in biology and medicine, techniques for modeling evolution, aligning molecular sequences, predicting structure of a molecule and other problems from computational biology. See course page for more information

¹: Students select either ANAT 458 Membranes and Cellular Signaling. or BIOC 458 Membranes and Cellular Signaling..

Biomaterials, Biosensors and Nanotechnology

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIEN 330	Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.	3
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The history, scope, challenges, ethical considerations, and potential of tissue engineering. In vitro control of tissue development, differentiation, and growth, including relevant elements of immunology compared to in vivo tissue and organ development. Emphasis on the materials, chemical factors, and mechanical cues used in tissue engineering. See course page for more information
BIEN 510	Engineered Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications.	3
Engineered Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of biomedical uses of nanotechnology. Emphasis on emerging nanotechnologies and biomedical applications including nanomaterials, nanoengineering, nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, nano-based imaging and diagnostic systems, nanotoxicology and immunology, and translating nanomedicine into clinical investigation. See course page for more information
BIEN 550	Biomolecular Devices.	3
Biomolecular Devices. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Fundamentals of motor proteins in neuronal transport, force generation e.g. in muscles, cell motility and division. A survey of recent advances in using motor proteins to power nano fabricated devices. Principles of design and operation; hands-on-experience in building a simple device. See course page for more information
BIEN 560	Design of Biosensors.	3
Design of Biosensors. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction into the motivation of analytical biosensors as well as its fundamental physicochemical challenges. Techniques used to design, fabricate and operate biosensors. Specific applications. See course page for more information
BMDE 504	Biomaterials and Bioperformance.	3
Biomaterials and Bioperformance. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Biological and synthetic biomaterials, medical devices, and the issues related to their bioperformance. The physicochemical characteristics of biomaterials in relation to their biocompatibility and sterilization. See course page for more information
BMDE 505	Cell and Tissue Engineering.	3
Cell and Tissue Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Application of the principles of engineering, physical, and biological sciences to modify and create cells and tissues for therapeutic applications will be discussed, as well as the industrial perspective and related ethical issues. See course page for more information
BMDE 508	Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering.	3
Introduction to Micro and Nano-Bioengineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The micro and nanotechnologies that drive and support the miniaturization and parallelization of techniques for life sciences research, including different inventions, designs and engineering approaches that lead to new tools and methods for the life sciences - while transforming them - and help advance our knowledge of life. See course page for more information
CHEE 380	Materials Science.	3
Materials Science. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Structure/property relationship for metals, ceramics, polymers and composite materials. Atomic and molecular structure, bonds, electronic band structure and semi-conductors. Order in solids: crystal structure, disorders, solid phases. Mechanical properties and fracture, physico-chemical properties, design. Laboratory exercises. See course page for more information
ECSE 424	Human-Computer Interaction.	3
Human-Computer Interaction. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The course highlights human-computer interaction strategies from an engineering perspective. Topics include user interfaces, novel paradigms in human-computer interaction, affordances, ecological interface design, ubiquitous computing and computer-supported cooperative work. Attention will be paid to issues of safety, usability, and performance. See course page for more information
MECH 553	Design and Manufacture of Microdevices.	3
Design and Manufacture of Microdevices. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Micromachining techniques (thin-film deposition; lithography; etching; bonding). Microscale mechanical behaviour (deformation and fracture; residual stresses; adhesion; experimental techniques). Materials- and process-selection. Process integration. Design of microdevice components to meet specified performance and reliability targets using realistic manufacturing processes. See course page for more information
MIME 360	Phase Transformations: Solids.	3
Phase Transformations: Solids. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Free energy (equilibrium) and kinetic (non-equilibrium) considerations, phase diagrams and TTT diagrams, solid state diffusion, diffusional (nucleation and growth) and shear (martensitic) transformations. See course page for more information
MIME 362	Mechanical Properties.	3
Mechanical Properties. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Stress-strain behaviour. Elasticity and plasticity of metals, ceramics and polymers. Dislocations theory. Single crystal and polycrystalline slip. Mechanical twinning. Strengthening mechanisms. Process-property and microstructure-property relationships. Notch toughness and fracture mechanics. Failure, fracture and damage accumulation. Fatigue. Creep and creep rupture. Fractography. Design considerations in materials selection. See course page for more information
MIME 470	Engineering Biomaterials.	3
Engineering Biomaterials. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Key definitions, clinical need, desired materials properties, current and future materials, materials assessments and performance. Materials of the body. Characterisation techniques for bulk and mechanical properties of biomaterials. Engineering processing and design of biomaterials. See course page for more information
PHYS 534	Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.	3
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Topics include scanning probe microscopy, chemical self-assembly, computer modelling, and microfabrication/micromachining. See course page for more information

Biomechanics and Prosthetics

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIEN 320	Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics.	3
Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic mechanics of biological building blocks, focusing on the cytoskeleton, with examples from pathology. At the macromolecular level: weak/variable crosslinking and hydrolysis driven athermal processes. At the cellular/tissue level: cell architecture and function. Discussion of modern analytical techniques capable of single-molecule to tissue scale measurements. See course page for more information
BIEN 570	Active Mechanics in Biology.	3
Active Mechanics in Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the role of active forces, e.g. cell and tissue contraction, in the mechanics of biological systems. Review of passive and actively driven viscoelastic systems and momentum transport underlying the material properties of biology. The course involves a literature survey and a team project application. See course page for more information
BMDE 512	Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering.	3
Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 General principles of quantitative modelling; types of models; principles of the finite-element method, primarily as applied to mechanical systems; introduction to the use of finite-element software; model generation from imaging data; modelling various material types, mainly biological; model validation. See course page for more information
CHEE 563	Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics. ¹	3
Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Basic principles of circulation including vascular fluid and solid mechanics, modelling techniques, clinical and experimental methods and the design of cardiovascular devices. See course page for more information
MECH 315	Intermediate Dynamics	4
Intermediate Dynamics Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Single-degree-of-freedom systems; free vibrations; effect of damping; response to harmonic, periodic and arbitrary excitation. Lagrange's equations of motion. Vibrations of multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Continuous systems. See course page for more information
MECH 321	Mechanics of Deformable Solids.	3
Mechanics of Deformable Solids. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Modern phenomenological theories of the behaviour of engineering materials. Stress and strain concepts and introduction to constitutive theory. Applications of theory of elasticity and thermoelasticity. Introduction to finite element stress analysis method and its application to structural design of a machine element. See course page for more information
MECH 530	Mechanics of Composite Materials.	3
Mechanics of Composite Materials. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Fiber-reinforced composites. Stress, strain, and strength of composite laminates and honeycomb structures. Failure modes and failure criteria. Environmental effects. Manufacturing processes. Design of composite structures. Computer modelling of composites. Computer techniques are utilized throughout the course. See course page for more information
MECH 561	Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Systems.	3
Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The musculoskeletal system; general characteristics and classification of tissues and joints. Biomechanics and clinical problems in orthopaedics. Modelling and force analysis of musculoskeletal systems. Passive and active kinematics. Load-deformation properties of passive connective tissue, passive and stimulated muscle response. Experimental approaches, case studies. See course page for more information
MECH 563	Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics. ¹	3
Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic principles of circulation including vascular fluid and solid mechanics, modelling techniques, clinical and experimental methods and the design of cardiovascular devices. See course page for more information
MIME 360	Phase Transformations: Solids.	3
Phase Transformations: Solids. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Free energy (equilibrium) and kinetic (non-equilibrium) considerations, phase diagrams and TTT diagrams, solid state diffusion, diffusional (nucleation and growth) and shear (martensitic) transformations. See course page for more information
MIME 362	Mechanical Properties.	3
Mechanical Properties. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Stress-strain behaviour. Elasticity and plasticity of metals, ceramics and polymers. Dislocations theory. Single crystal and polycrystalline slip. Mechanical twinning. Strengthening mechanisms. Process-property and microstructure-property relationships. Notch toughness and fracture mechanics. Failure, fracture and damage accumulation. Fatigue. Creep and creep rupture. Fractography. Design considerations in materials selection. See course page for more information

¹: Students choose either CHEE 563 Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics. or MECH 563 Biofluids and Cardiovascular Mechanics..

Medical Physics and Imaging

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIEN 350	Biosignals, Systems and Control. ¹	4
Biosignals, Systems and Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Discrete- and continuous-time signals; basic system properties. Linear time-invariant systems; convolution. Frequency domain analysis; filtering; sampling. Laplace and Fourier transforms; transfer functions; poles and zeros; transient and steady state response. Z-transforms. Dynamic behaviour and PID control of first- and second-order processes. Stability. Applications to biological systems, such as central nervous, cognitive, and motor systems. See course page for more information
BIEN 530	Imaging and Bioanalytical Instrumentation.	3
Imaging and Bioanalytical Instrumentation. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Microscopy techniques with application to biology and medicine. Practical introduction to optics and microscopy from the standpoint of biomedical research. Discussion of recent literature; hands-on experience. Topics include: optics, contrast techniques, advanced microscopy, and image analysis. See course page for more information
BMDE 512	Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering.	3
Finite-Element Modelling in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 General principles of quantitative modelling; types of models; principles of the finite-element method, primarily as applied to mechanical systems; introduction to the use of finite-element software; model generation from imaging data; modelling various material types, mainly biological; model validation. See course page for more information
BMDE 519	Biomedical Signals and Systems.	3
Biomedical Signals and Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to the theoretical framework, experimental techniques and analysis procedures available for the quantitative analysis of physiological systems and signals. Lectures plus laboratory work using the Biomedical Engineering computer system. Topics include: amplitude and frequency structure of signals, filtering, sampling, correlation functions, time and frequency-domain descriptions of systems. See course page for more information
COMP 424	Artificial Intelligence.	3
Artificial Intelligence. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to search methods. Knowledge representation using logic and probability. Planning and decision making under uncertainty. Introduction to machine learning. See course page for more information
COMP 558	Fundamentals of Computer Vision.	4
Fundamentals of Computer Vision. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Image filtering, edge detection, image features and histograms, image segmentation, image motion and tracking, projective geometry, camera calibration, homographies, epipolar geometry and stereo, point clouds and 3D registration. Applications in computer graphics and robotics. See course page for more information
ECSE 206	Introduction to Signals and Systems. ¹	3
Introduction to Signals and Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Review of complex functions. Discrete-and continuous-time signals, basic system properties. Linear time-invariant systems, convolution. Fourier series and Fourier transforms, frequency-domain analysis, filtering, sampling. Laplace transforms and inversion, transfer functions, poles and zeros, solutions of linear constant-coefficient differential equations, transient and steady-state response. Z-transforms. See course page for more information
ECSE 412	Discrete Time Signal Processing.	3
Discrete Time Signal Processing. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Discrete-time signals and systems; Fourier and Z-transform analysis techniques, the discrete Fourier transform; elements of FIR and IIR filter design, filter structures; FFT techniques for high speed convolution; quantization effects. See course page for more information
PHYS 557	Nuclear Physics.	3
Nuclear Physics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. General nuclear properties, nucleon-nucleon interaction and scattering theory, radioactivity, nuclear models, nuclear reactions. See course page for more information

¹: Students choose either BIEN 350 Biosignals, Systems and Control. or ECSE 206 Introduction to Signals and Systems..

Neural Systems and Biosignal Processing

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIEN 350	Biosignals, Systems and Control. ¹	4
Biosignals, Systems and Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Discrete- and continuous-time signals; basic system properties. Linear time-invariant systems; convolution. Frequency domain analysis; filtering; sampling. Laplace and Fourier transforms; transfer functions; poles and zeros; transient and steady state response. Z-transforms. Dynamic behaviour and PID control of first- and second-order processes. Stability. Applications to biological systems, such as central nervous, cognitive, and motor systems. See course page for more information
BIEN 462	Engineering Principles in Physiological Systems.	3
Engineering Principles in Physiological Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic aspects of human physiology. Applications of general balance equations and control theory to systems physiology. The course will cover: circulatory physiology, nervous system physiology, renal physiology and the musculoskeletal system. See course page for more information
BMDE 501	Selected Topics in Biomedical Engineering.	3
Selected Topics in Biomedical Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An overview of how techniques from engineering and the physical sciences are applied to the study of selected physiological systems and biological signals. Using specific biological examples, systems will be studied using: signal or finite-element analysis, system and identification, modelling and simulation, computer control of experiments and data acquisition. See course page for more information
BMDE 502	BME Modelling and Identification.	3
BME Modelling and Identification. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Methodologies in systems or distributed multidimensional processes. System themes include parametric vs. non-parametric system representations; linear/non-linear; noise, transients and time variation; mapping from continuous to discrete models; and relevant identification approaches in continuous and discrete time formulations. See course page for more information
BMDE 503	Biomedical Instrumentation.	3
Biomedical Instrumentation. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The principles and practice of making biological measurements in the laboratory, including theory of linear systems, data sampling, computer interfaces and electronic circuit design. See course page for more information
BMDE 519	Biomedical Signals and Systems.	3
Biomedical Signals and Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to the theoretical framework, experimental techniques and analysis procedures available for the quantitative analysis of physiological systems and signals. Lectures plus laboratory work using the Biomedical Engineering computer system. Topics include: amplitude and frequency structure of signals, filtering, sampling, correlation functions, time and frequency-domain descriptions of systems. See course page for more information
ECSE 206	Introduction to Signals and Systems. ¹	3
Introduction to Signals and Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Review of complex functions. Discrete-and continuous-time signals, basic system properties. Linear time-invariant systems, convolution. Fourier series and Fourier transforms, frequency-domain analysis, filtering, sampling. Laplace transforms and inversion, transfer functions, poles and zeros, solutions of linear constant-coefficient differential equations, transient and steady-state response. Z-transforms. See course page for more information
ECSE 517	Neural Prosthetic Systems.	3
Neural Prosthetic Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Selected topics in bioengineering focusing on the principles of neural prosthetics systems (brain machine interfaces). Paralysis as a communication problem. Motor control theory receptive fields. Electrical properties of the central nervous system, modern measurement technologies, encoding and mutual information, statistical data analysis, decoding and thought prediction. See course page for more information
ECSE 526	Artificial Intelligence.	3
Artificial Intelligence. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Design principles of autonomous agents, agent architectures, machine learning, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and multi-agent collaboration. The course includes a term project that consists of designing and implementing software agents that collaborate and compete in a simulated environment. See course page for more information

¹: Students choose either BIEN 350 Biosignals, Systems and Control. or ECSE 206 Introduction to Signals and Systems..

0-6 credits can be taken by permission of the Departmental Adviser and approval of the Minor Adviser.

Biotechnology Minor (for Engineering Students) (B.Eng.) (24 credits)

Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 24

Program Description

Minor Adviser: Faculty Student Adviser in the McGill Engineering Student Centre (Student Affairs Office) (Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 22). For advising regarding Science courses, contact Nancy Nelson, Undergraduate Adviser, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science.

This Minor is offered by the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science for students who wish to take biotechnology courses that are complementary to their area. It has been designed specifically for Chemical Engineering students; other Engineering students who are interested in the Minor should contact a Faculty Student Adviser in the McGill Engineering Student Centre (Student Affairs Office) (Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 22).

To obtain the Biotechnology Minor, students must complete 24 credits, 18 of which must be exclusively for the Minor. Approved substitutions must be made for any of the required courses that are part of the student's major program.

The Department of Chemical Engineering permits students taking this Minor to complete BIOT 505 Selected Topics in Biotechnology. as one of their technical complementary courses. Chemical Engineering students complete 15 credits beyond their 141-credit (115-credit for CEGEP students) B.Eng. program to obtain this Minor.

Required Courses (12 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIOT 505	Selected Topics in Biotechnology.	3
Selected Topics in Biotechnology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Current methods and recent advances in biological, medical, agricultural and engineering aspects of biotechnology will be described and discussed. An extensive reading list will complement the lecture material. See course page for more information
CHEE 200	Chemical Engineering Principles 1.	3
Chemical Engineering Principles 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the design of industrial processes. Survey of unit operations, and systems of units. Elementary material balances, first and second laws of thermodynamics, use of property tables and charts, steady flow processes. Relationships between thermodynamic properties, property estimation techniques. Laboratory and design exercise. See course page for more information
CHEE 204	Chemical Engineering Principles 2.	3
Chemical Engineering Principles 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Material and energy balances in chemical processes. Introduction to process design. Problem solving in the design of various industrial processes such as combustion, humidification, separation processes (evaporation, crystallization), and other reactive systems used in the diverse areas of chemical engineering. See course page for more information
CHEE 474	Biochemical Engineering.	3
Biochemical Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Bioreactor design for biotechnology and environmental applications; microbial growth kinetics; application of transport phenomena and selected chemical engineering unit operations. Bioreactor instrumentation and performance optimization. Air and media sterilization processes. Selected operations of downstream processing and product recovery. See course page for more information

Alternative Required Courses (for Chemical Engineering students)

A Chemical Engineering student may complete the Biotechnology Minor by taking the courses below plus one course from the list of complementary courses, not including FACC 300 Engineering Economy..

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIOL 200	Molecular Biology.	3
Molecular Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression. See course page for more information
BIOL 201	Cell Biology and Metabolism.	3
Cell Biology and Metabolism. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle. See course page for more information
BIOL 202	Basic Genetics.	3
Basic Genetics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to basic principles, and to modern advances, problems and applications in the genetics of higher and lower organisms with examples representative of the biological sciences. See course page for more information
BIOT 505	Selected Topics in Biotechnology.	3
Selected Topics in Biotechnology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Current methods and recent advances in biological, medical, agricultural and engineering aspects of biotechnology will be described and discussed. An extensive reading list will complement the lecture material. See course page for more information
MIMM 211	Introductory Microbiology.	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A general treatment of microbiology bearing specifically on the biological properties of microorganisms. Emphasis will be on procaryotic cells. Basic principles of microbial genetics are also introduced. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses

12 credits selected from courses outside the Department of the student's major program and/or from the lists below. If courses are chosen from the lists below, at least three courses must be taken from one area of concentration as grouped.

Biomedicine

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANAT 541	Cell and Molecular Biology of Aging.	3
Cell and Molecular Biology of Aging. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Complex aging process, including theories and mechanisms of aging, animal model systems used to study aging, age-dependent diseases, for example, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and cancer, and age-related diseases, for example, Werner's syndrome and dyskeratosis congenita. See course page for more information
EXMD 504	Biology of Cancer.	3
Biology of Cancer. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to the biology of malignancy. A multidisciplinary approach dealing with the etiology of cancer, the biological properties of malignant cells, the host response to tumour cell growth and the principles of cancer therapy. See course page for more information
PATH 300	Human Disease.	3
Human Disease. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Provides a fundamental understanding of the diseases prevalent in North America, for upper level students in the biological sciences. Includes: general responses of cells and organ systems to injury; assessment of individual diseases by relating the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention to the primary biological abnormalities in each disorder. See course page for more information

Chemistry

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CHEM 482	Organic Chemistry: Natural Products.	3
Organic Chemistry: Natural Products. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Structure, synthesis, stereochemistry and biosynthesis of terpenes, alkaloids, antibiotics and selected molecules of medicinal interest. See course page for more information
CHEM 502	Advanced Bio-Organic Chemistry.	3
Advanced Bio-Organic Chemistry. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course will cover biologically relevant molecules, particularly nucleic acids, proteins, and their building blocks. In each case, synthesis and biological functions will be discussed. The topics include synthesis of oligonucleotides and peptides; chemistry of phosphates; enzyme structure and function; coenzymes, and enzyme catalysis; polyketides; antiviral and anticancer agents. See course page for more information
CHEM 552	Physical Organic Chemistry.	3
Physical Organic Chemistry. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The correlation of theory with physical measurements on organic systems; an introduction to photochemistry; solvent and substituent effects on organic reaction rates, etc.; reaction mechanisms. See course page for more information

General

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
FACC 300	Engineering Economy.	3
Engineering Economy. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to the basic concepts required for the economic assessment of engineering projects. Topics include: accounting methods, marginal analysis, cash flow and time value of money, taxation and depreciation, discounted cash flow analysis techniques, cost of capital, inflation, sensitivity and risk analysis, analysis of R and D, ongoing as well as new investment opportunities. See course page for more information

Immunology

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANAT 261	Introduction to Dynamic Histology.	4
Introduction to Dynamic Histology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to light and electron microscopic anatomy in which cell and tissue dynamics will be explored in the principal tissues and organs of the body. See course page for more information
BIOC 503	Biochemistry of Immune Diseases.	3
Biochemistry of Immune Diseases. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Current selected topics in immunology. The biochemical mechanisms underlying various immuno-pathologies and the clinical significance of therapeutic interventions. See course page for more information
MIMM 214	Introductory Immunology: Elements of Immunity.	3
Introductory Immunology: Elements of Immunity. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic immunology, organs and cells, elements of innate immunity, phagocytes, complement, elements of adaptive immunity, B-cells, T-cells, antigen presenting cells, MHC genes and molecules, antigen processing and presentation, cytokines and chemokines. Emphasis on anatomy and the molecular and cellular players working together as a physiological system to maintain human health. See course page for more information
MIMM 414	Advanced Immunology.	3
Advanced Immunology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An advanced course serving as a logical extension of MIMM 314. The course will integrate molecular, cellular and biochemical events involved in the ontogeny of the lymphoid system and its activation in the immune response. The course will provide the student with an up-to-date understanding of a rapidly moving field. See course page for more information
PHGY 513	Translational Immunology.	3
Translational Immunology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Advanced key concepts in immunology as they relate to health and disease, including infectious diseases, non-infectious diseases and autoimmunity, and cancer immunology. See course page for more information

Management

Note: Engineering students may not use these courses to count toward a Management minor, nor toward the Complementary Studies requirement.

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ECON 208	Microeconomic Analysis and Applications.	3
Microeconomic Analysis and Applications. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 A university-level introduction to demand and supply, consumer behaviour, production theory, market structures and income distribution theory. See course page for more information
MGCR 211	Introduction to Financial Accounting.	3
Introduction to Financial Accounting. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The role of financial accounting in the reporting of the financial performance of a business. The principles, components and uses of financial accounting and reporting from a user's perspective, including the recording of accounting transactions and events, the examination of the elements of financial statements, the preparation of financial statements and the analysis of financial results. See course page for more information
MGCR 341	Introduction to Finance.	3
Introduction to Finance. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the principles, issues, and institutions of Finance. Topics include valuation, risk, capital investment, financial structure, cost of capital, working capital management, financial markets, and securities. See course page for more information
MGCR 352	Principles of Marketing.	3
Principles of Marketing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to marketing principles, focusing on problem solving and decision making. Topics include: the marketing concept; marketing strategies; buyer behaviour; Canadian demographics; internal and external constraints; product; promotion; distribution; price. Lectures, text material and case studies. See course page for more information
MGCR 372	Operations Management.	3
Operations Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Design, planning, establishment, control, and improvement of the activities/processes that create a firm's final products and/or services. The interaction of operations with other business areas will also be discussed. Topics include forecasting, product and process design, waiting lines, capacity planning, inventory management and total quality management. See course page for more information

Microbiology

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
MIMM 323	Microbial Physiology.	3
Microbial Physiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to the composition and structure of microbial cells, the biochemical activities associated with cellular metabolism and how these activities are regulated and coordinated. The course will have a molecular and genetic approach to the study of microbial physiology. See course page for more information
MIMM 324	Fundamental Virology.	3
Fundamental Virology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the fundamental properties of viruses and their interactions with host cells. Bacteriophages, DNA- and RNA-containing animal viruses, and retroviruses are covered. Emphasis will be on phenomena occurring at the molecular level and on the regulated control of gene expression in virus-infected cells. See course page for more information
MIMM 413	Parasitology.	3
Parasitology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of the biology, immunological aspects of host-parasite interactions, pathogenicity, epidemiology and molecular biological aspects of selected parasites of medical importance. Laboratory will consist of a lecture on techniques, demonstrations and practical work. See course page for more information
MIMM 465	Bacterial Pathogenesis.	3
Bacterial Pathogenesis. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Familiarizes students with key principles and recent advances in our understanding of the strategies that bacteria use to infect and cause disease, as well as the approaches used in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. See course page for more information
MIMM 466	Viral Pathogenesis.	3
Viral Pathogenesis. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of the biological and molecular aspects of viral pathogenesis with emphasis on the human pathogenic viruses including the retroviruses HIV and HTLV-1; herpes viruses; papilloma viruses; hepatitis viruses; and new emerging human viral diseases. These viruses will be discussed in terms of virus multiplication, gene expression virus-induced cytopathic effects and host immune response to infection. See course page for more information

Molecular Biology (Biology)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIOL 300	Molecular Biology of the Gene.	3
Molecular Biology of the Gene. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A survey of current knowledge and approaches in the area of regulation of gene expression, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and signal transduction. See course page for more information
BIOL 314	Molecular Biology of Cancer.	3
Molecular Biology of Cancer. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The molecular basis of human cancers, including analyzing the events that promote the formation of oncogenes and inhibit tumour suppressor genes, the biochemical properties of the proteins encoded by these genes, and their functions. Current molecular targets for cancer therapy and the concepts and consequences of inheriting mutations in genes that predispose to cancer. See course page for more information
BIOL 520	Gene Activity in Development.	3
Gene Activity in Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An analysis of the role and regulation of gene expression in several models of eukaryotic development. The emphasis will be on critical evaluation of recent literature concerned with molecular or genetic approaches to the problems of cellular differentiation and determination. Recent research reports will be discussed in conferences and analyzed in written critiques. See course page for more information
BIOL 524	Topics in Molecular Biology.	3
Topics in Molecular Biology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Molecular genetics and molecular, cellular and developmental biology, including signal transduction, cell differentiation and function, genetic diseases in eukaryotes. See course page for more information
BIOL 551	Principles of Cellular Control.	3
Principles of Cellular Control. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Fundamental principles of cellular control, with cell cycle control as a major theme. Biological and physical concepts are brought to bear on control in healthy cells.. See course page for more information

Molecular Biology (Biochemistry)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BIOC 311	Metabolic Biochemistry.	3
Metabolic Biochemistry. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The generation of metabolic energy in higher organisms with an emphasis on its regulation at the molecular, cellular and organ level. Chemical concepts and mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis are also emphasized. Included: selected topics in carbohydrate, lipid and nitrogen metabolism; complex lipids and biological membranes; hormonal signal transduction. See course page for more information
BIOC 312	Biochemistry of Macromolecules.	3
Biochemistry of Macromolecules. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Gene expression from the start of transcription to the synthesis of proteins, their modifications and degradation. Topics covered: purine and pyrimidine metabolism; transcription and its regulation; mRNA processing; translation; targeting of proteins to specific cellular sites; protein glycosylation; protein phosphorylation; protein turn-over; programmed cell death (apoptosis). See course page for more information
BIOC 450	Protein Structure and Function.	3
Protein Structure and Function. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of enzymes. Active site mapping and site-specific mutagenesis of enzymes. Enzyme kinetics and mechanisms of catalysis. Multienzyme complexes. See course page for more information
BIOC 454	Nucleic Acids.	3
Nucleic Acids. Terms offered: Fall 2025 RNA processing, localization and stability. RNAi mechanisms, regulation and applications. Regulation of DNA replication. Genomics: human genome sequence, regulation and organization. DNA repair mechanisms. Special topics on transgenics, genetic diseases and cancer. See course page for more information

Physiology

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
EXMD 401	Physiology and Biochemistry Endocrine Systems.	3
Physiology and Biochemistry Endocrine Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Offered in conjunction with the Department of Physiology. The course provides a basic knowledge of endocrine systems encompassing biosynthesis, metabolism and physiological actions of hormones. Specific topics covered are hormones of the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals, thyroids, parathyroids, pancreas, gut and the gonads. The role of hormones and growth factors in pregnancy and fetal development are also discussed. See course page for more information
EXMD 502	Advanced Endocrinology 1.	3
Advanced Endocrinology 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course is designed for U3 students who are in a major or honours program in anatomy, biology, biochemistry or physiology and for graduate students. A multidisciplinary approach will be used to teach biosynthesis and processing of hormones, their regulation, function and mechanism of action. The material will cover hypothalamic, pituitary, thyroid, atrial and adrenal hormones as well as prostaglandins and related substances. See course page for more information
EXMD 503	Advanced Endocrinology 02.	3
Advanced Endocrinology 02. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Study of the parathyroids, gut and pancreatic hormones and growth factors. In addition, the role of hormones and growth factors in reproduction and fetal maturation will be discussed. See course page for more information
PHAR 562	Neuropharmacology.	3
Neuropharmacology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Topics in pharmacology with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms of drug-action and cellular targets in the nervous system. See course page for more information
PHAR 563	Endocrine Pharmacology.	3
Endocrine Pharmacology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This advanced course covers selected topics in pharmacology of reproductive, endocrine, and metabolic disorders. See course page for more information
PHGY 518	Artificial Cells.	3
Artificial Cells. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Physiology, biotechnology, chemistry and biomedical application of artificial cells, blood substitutes, immobilized enzymes, microorganisms and cells, hemoperfusion, artificial kidneys, and drug delivery systems. PHGY 517 and PHGY 518 when taken together, will give a complete picture of this field. However, the student can select one of these. See course page for more information

Pollution

Note: Engineering students may not use these courses to count toward the Environmental Engineering Minor.

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CIVE 225	Environmental Engineering.	4
Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to environmental chemistry; mass balance analyses in engineered and natural systems; water, soil and air pollution characterization and control; water quality parameters; drinking water and wastewater treatment technologies; global climate change: possible causes and effects; risk assessment for pollutant exposure; solid- and hazardous-waste management. See course page for more information
CIVE 430	Water Treatment and Pollution Control.	3
Water Treatment and Pollution Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Principles of water and sewage treatment. Water and sewage characteristics; design of conventional unit operations and processes; laboratory analyses of potable and waste waters. See course page for more information
CIVE 557	Microbiology for Environmental Engineering.	3
Microbiology for Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Microbiological concepts applied to the practice of environmental engineering and biotechnologies including the following topics: cellular and pathway organizations, evolution, growth, gene expression, horizontal gene transfer, metabolic microbial diversity, ecosystem structures, and quantitative mathematical modelling. See course page for more information

Computer Science Minor (B.Eng.) (26 credits)

Offered by: Computer Science (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 26

Program Description

24-26 credits

This program gives students in Engineering an introduction to core computer science concepts. The Minor is open to B.Eng. and B.Sc.(Arch.) students in Engineering who have already taken ECSE 202 Introduction to Software Development., COMP 202 Foundations of Programming., or COMP 208 Computer Programming for Physical Sciences and Engineering .. This program is not open to students in the B.Eng.; Co-op in Software Engineering program. All courses in the Minor must be passed with a grade of C or better. The Minor program may be completed in 24-26 credits, of which no more than 6 credits may overlap with the primary program. Students who are interested in this Minor should consult with the Undergraduate Program CooThis program gives students in Engineering an introduction to core computer science concepts. The Minor is open to B.Eng. and B.Sc.(Arch.) students in Engineering who have already taken ECSE 202 Introduction to Software Development., COMP 202 Foundations of Programming., or COMP 208 Computer Programming for Physical Sciences and Engineering .. This program is not open to students in the B.Eng.; Co-op in Software Engineering program. All courses in the Minor must be passed with a grade of C or better. The Minor program may be completed in 24-26 credits, of which no more than 6 credits may overlap with the primary program. Students who are interested in this Minor should consult with the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the School of Computer Science for administrative matters, and should consult with both the Minor Adviser in Computer Science and with their department adviser for approval of their course selection. Forms must be submitted and approved before the end of the drop/add period of the student's final term

Required Courses (3 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
COMP 206	Introduction to Software Systems.	3
Introduction to Software Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Comprehensive overview of programming in C, use of system calls and libraries, debugging and testing of code; use of developmental tools like make, version control systems. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (21-23 credits)

3 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
COMP 250	Introduction to Computer Science.	3
Introduction to Computer Science. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Mathematical tools (binary numbers, induction,recurrence relations, asymptotic complexity,establishing correctness of programs). Datastructures (arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists,trees, binary trees, binary search trees, heaps,hash tables). Recursive and non-recursivealgorithms (searching and sorting, tree andgraph traversal). Abstract data types. Objectoriented programming in Java (classes andobjects, interfaces, inheritance). Selected topics. See course page for more information
ECSE 250	Fundamentals of Software Development.	3
Fundamentals of Software Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Software development practices in the context of object-oriented programming. Elementary data structures such as lists, stacks and trees. Recursive and non-recursive algorithms: searching and sorting, tree and graph traversal. Asymptotic notation: Big O. Introduction to tools and practices employed in commercial software development. See course page for more information

3 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
COMP 302	Programming Languages and Paradigms.	3
Programming Languages and Paradigms. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Programming language design issues and programming paradigms. Binding and scoping, parameter passing, lambda abstraction, data abstraction, type checking. Functional and logic programming. See course page for more information
COMP 303	Software Design.	3
Software Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Principles, mechanisms, techniques, and tools for object-oriented software design and its implementation, including encapsulation, design patterns, and unit testing. See course page for more information

3-4 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
COMP 273	Introduction to Computer Systems.	3
Introduction to Computer Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Number representations, combinational and sequential digital circuits, MIPS instructions and architecture datapath and control, caches, virtual memory, interrupts and exceptions, pipelining. See course page for more information
ECSE 324	Computer Organization.	4
Computer Organization. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Basic computer structures; instruction set architecture; assembly language; input/output; memory; software; processor implementation; computer arithmetic. Lab work involving assembly language level programming of single-board computers. See course page for more information

3-4 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CHEE 390	Computational Methods in Chemical Engineering.	3
Computational Methods in Chemical Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Linear systems of algebraic equations, Gaussian elimination; non-linear algebraic systems: Taylor series, incremental search, bisection method, linear interpolation, Newton-Raphson's method; differentiation and integration; initial value problems: Euler's and Runge Kutta's methods, stiff equations, adaptive solvers; boundary value problems; curve fitting; numerical optimization; probability theory and stochastic simulation: Monte Carlo method. See course page for more information
CIVE 320	Numerical Methods.	4
Numerical Methods. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Numerical procedures applicable to civil engineering problems: integration, differentiation, solution of initial-value problems, solving linear and non-linear systems of equations, boundary-value problems for ordinary-differential equations, and for partial-differential equations. See course page for more information
COMP 350	Numerical Computing.	3
Numerical Computing. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Computer representation of numbers, IEEE Standard for Floating Point Representation, computer arithmetic and rounding errors. Numerical stability. Matrix computations and software systems. Polynomial interpolation. Least-squares approximation. Iterative methods for solving a nonlinear equation. Discretization methods for integration and differential equations. See course page for more information
ECSE 343	Numerical Methods in Engineering.	3
Numerical Methods in Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Number representation and numerical error. Symbolic vs. numerical computation. Curve fitting and interpolation. Numerical differentiation and integration. Optimization. Data science pipelines and data-driven approaches. Preliminary machine learning. Solutions of systems of linear equations and nonlinear equations. Solutions of ordinary and partial differential equations. Applications in engineering, physical simulation, CAD, machine learning and digital media. See course page for more information
MATH 317	Numerical Analysis.	3
Numerical Analysis. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Error analysis. Numerical solutions of equations by iteration. Interpolation. Numerical differentiation and integration. Introduction to numerical solutions of differential equations. See course page for more information
MECH 309	Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering.	3
Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Numerical techniques for problems commonly encountered in Mechanical Engineering are presented. Chebyshev interpolation, quadrature, roots of equations in one or more variables, matrices, curve fitting, splines and ordinary differential equations. The emphasis is on the analysis and understanding of the problem rather than the details of the actual numerical program. See course page for more information

9 credits from:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
COMP 251	Algorithms and Data Structures.	3
Algorithms and Data Structures. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Data Structures: priority queues, balanced binary search trees, hash tables, graphs. Algorithms: topological sort, connected components, shortest paths, minimum spanning trees, bipartite matching, network flows. Algorithm design: greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, randomization. Mathematicaltools: proofs of asymptotic complexity and program correctness, Master theorem. See course page for more information
MATH 240	Discrete Structures.	3
Discrete Structures. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to discrete mathematics and applications. Logical reasoning and methods of proof. Elementary number theory and cryptography: prime numbers, modular equations, RSA encryption. Combinatorics: basic enumeration, combinatorial methods, recurrence equations. Graph theory: trees, cycles, planar graphs. See course page for more information

COMP courses at the 300 level or above except COMP 396 Undergraduate Research Project., COMP 400 Project in Computer Science.

It is strongly recommended that students take COMP 251 Algorithms and Data Structures., as it is a prerequisite of many later computer science courses.

Construction Engineering and Management Minor (B.Eng.) (24 credits)

Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 24

Program Description

This Minor covers construction project management, law related to construction, labour-management relations, financial accounting and project finance, in addition to topics in other construction-related fields, architecture or mining engineering.

All courses in the Minor must be passed with a grade of C or better.

A maximum of 12 credits of coursework in the student's major may double-count with the Minor.

Minor Adviser: Prof. L. Chouinard, Macdonald Engineering Building, Room 491 (Telephone: 514-398-6446)

Minor program credit weight: 24 credits

Note: This Minor is particularly designed for Civil Engineering students, but is open to all B.Eng. and B.Sc.(Arch.) students.

All courses in the Minor must be passed with a grade of C or better.

Prerequisites

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CIVE 208	Civil Engineering System Analysis.	3
Civil Engineering System Analysis. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to civil engineering systems; system modelling process; systems approach and optimization techniques; application of linear programming; simplex method; duality theory; sensitivity analysis; transportation problem; assignment problem; network analysis including critical path method; integer linear programming method. See course page for more information
CIVE 302	Probabilistic Systems.	3
Probabilistic Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introduction to probability and statistics with applications to Civil Engineering design. Descriptive statistics, common probability models, statistical estimation, regression and correlation, acceptance sampling. See course page for more information
COMP 208	Computer Programming for Physical Sciences and Engineering .	3
Computer Programming for Physical Sciences and Engineering . Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Programming and problem solving in a high level computer language: variables, expressions, types, functions, conditionals, loops, objects and classes. Introduction to algorithms such as searching and sorting. Modular software design, libraries, file input and output, debugging. Emphasis on applications in Physical Sciences and Engineering, such as root finding, numerical integration, diffusion, Monte Carlo methods. See course page for more information
FACC 300	Engineering Economy.	3
Engineering Economy. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to the basic concepts required for the economic assessment of engineering projects. Topics include: accounting methods, marginal analysis, cash flow and time value of money, taxation and depreciation, discounted cash flow analysis techniques, cost of capital, inflation, sensitivity and risk analysis, analysis of R and D, ongoing as well as new investment opportunities. See course page for more information

Required Courses: Management and Law (15 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CIVE 324	Sustainable Project Management.	3
Sustainable Project Management. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Lifecycle approach to project and construction management. Sustainable practices are introduced at all project stages: Team formation, materials and equipment use, cost estimation and economic valuation, financing, scheduling, quality control and safety, monitoring and performance assessment, decision-making. See course page for more information
FACC 220	Law for Architects and Engineers.	3
Law for Architects and Engineers. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Aspects of the law which affect architects and engineers. Definition and branches of law; Federal and Provincial jurisdiction, civil and criminal law and civil and common law; relevance of statutes; partnerships and companies; agreements; types of property, rights of ownership; successions and wills; expropriation; responsibility for negligence; servitudes/easements, privileges/liens, hypothecs/ mortgages; statutes of limitations; strict liability of architect, engineer and builder; patents, trade marks, industrial design and copyright; bankruptcy; labour law; general and expert evidence; court procedure and arbitration. See course page for more information
INDR 294	Introduction to Labour-Management Relations.	3
Introduction to Labour-Management Relations. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to labour-management relations, the structure, function and government of labour unions, labour legislation, the collective bargaining process, and the public interest in industrial relations. See course page for more information
MGCR 211	Introduction to Financial Accounting.	3
Introduction to Financial Accounting. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The role of financial accounting in the reporting of the financial performance of a business. The principles, components and uses of financial accounting and reporting from a user's perspective, including the recording of accounting transactions and events, the examination of the elements of financial statements, the preparation of financial statements and the analysis of financial results. See course page for more information
MGCR 341	Introduction to Finance.	3
Introduction to Finance. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the principles, issues, and institutions of Finance. Topics include valuation, risk, capital investment, financial structure, cost of capital, working capital management, financial markets, and securities. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (9 credits)

3 credits from List A

6 credits from List B

List A

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ARCH 447	Energy, Environment, and Buildings 2.	3
Energy, Environment, and Buildings 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Advanced exploration of the interrelationships among energy, environment, and building. Topics include energy efficiency, thermal envelopes, life-cycle design, materials selection, fluid mechanics of natural ventilation, thermal science of passive design, adaptive thermal comfort, the 'air-conditioning trap', the 'embodied carbon blindspot,' and the 'timber-carbon sink'. See course page for more information
ARCH 451	Building Regulations and Safety.	3
Building Regulations and Safety. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The study of building codes with specific emphasis on the National Building and National Fire Codes of Canada. Examples of existing buildings with assignments to illustrate regulations. Development of a systematic approach to the implementation of codes during the preliminary design stage of an architectural project. See course page for more information
MIME 322	Fragmentation and Comminution.	3
Fragmentation and Comminution. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Principles of drilling, penetration rates, and factors affecting the choice of drilling method. Characteristics of explosives, firing systems and blast patterns. Blasting techniques in surface and underground workings. Special blasting techniques at excavation perimeters. Vibration and noise control. Mechanical and continuous approaches to fragmentation, including longwall shearing and fullface boring. Economics of drill/blast practice, interface with transport and crushing systems, drivers for mine-to-mill integration including energy considerations. Modelling of fragment and particle size distributions; comminution as a transfer function. Comminution technology: crushing, grinding, size classification. Integrated analysis of fragmentation and comminution operations. See course page for more information
MIME 333	Materials Handling.	3
Materials Handling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Physical and mechanical characteristics of materials related to loading, transport and storage. Dynamics of particles, systems and rigid bodies, mass-acceleration, work-energy, impulse-momentum. Types and selection of excavation and haulage equipment. Layout of haul roads. Rail transport. Conveyor belts and chain conveyors. Mine hoists. Layout of mine shafts. See course page for more information

List B

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
CIVE 446	Construction Engineering.	3
Construction Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Project management principles; construction equipment economics, selection, operation; characteristics of building, heavy, marine, underground and route construction projects; international projects. See course page for more information
CIVE 527	Renovation and Preservation: Infrastructure.	3
Renovation and Preservation: Infrastructure. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Maintenance, rehabilitation, renovation and preservation of infrastructure; infrastructure degradation mechanisms; mechanical, chemical and biological degradation; corrosion of steel; condition surveys and evaluation of buildings and bridges; repair and preservation of materials, techniques and strategies; codes and guidelines; case studies, sustainable development; group project. See course page for more information
ECSE 461	Electric Machinery.	3
Electric Machinery. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Electric and magnetic circuits. Notions of electromechanical energy conversion applied to electrical machines. Basic electrical machines - transformers, direct-current motors, synchronous motors and generators, three phase and single phase induction machines. Elements of modern electronically controlled electric drive systems. See course page for more information
FINE 445	Real Estate Finance.	3
Real Estate Finance. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Fundamentals of mortgages from the viewpoint of both consumer and the firm. Emphasis on legal, mathematical and financial structure, provides a micro basis for analysis of the functions and performance of the mortgage market, in conjunction with the housing market. See course page for more information
MIME 520	Stability of Rock Slopes.	3
Stability of Rock Slopes. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Properties of structural discontinuities. Influence of geological structures on slope stability. Kinematic analysis. Limit equilibrium methods. Empirical methods. Numerical modelling. Slope stabilization and monitoring. Case studies. See course page for more information
MIME 521	Stability of Underground Openings.	3
Stability of Underground Openings. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The properties of rock masses and stability classification systems. The influence and properties of geological structural features. Stability related to the design of underground openings and mining systems. Site investigations. Methods of stabilization. See course page for more information
MPMC 321	Mécanique des roches et contrôle des terrains. ¹	3
Mécanique des roches et contrôle des terrains. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Pressions de terrains au pourtour des excavations: solutions analytiques et numériques. Stabilité des excavations souterraines et à ciel ouvert: analyse des instabilités structurales par projection stéréographique méridienne, analyse des instabilités causées par les excès de contraintes. Soutènement. Surveillance. Études de cas. See course page for more information

¹: Course offered in French at École Polytechnique in Montreal

Environmental Engineering Minor (B.Eng.) (21 credits)

Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 21

Program Description

The Minor program is designed to focus on the principles of environmental engineering in all engineering disciplines providing a specialization at the undergraduate level.

The Environmental Engineering Minor is offered by the Department of Civil Engineering for all students in Engineering and in the Department of Bioresource Engineering wishing to pursue studies in this area.

Note: Not all courses listed are offered every year. Students should see the "Courses" section of this Course Catalogue to know if a course is offered.

A maximum of 12 credits of coursework in the student's major may be double-counted with the Minor.

Complementary Courses (21-22 credits)

3-4 credits from the following list:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 327	Bio-Environmental Engineering.	3
Bio-Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods. See course page for more information
CIVE 225	Environmental Engineering.	4
Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to environmental chemistry; mass balance analyses in engineered and natural systems; water, soil and air pollution characterization and control; water quality parameters; drinking water and wastewater treatment technologies; global climate change: possible causes and effects; risk assessment for pollutant exposure; solid- and hazardous-waste management. See course page for more information

18 credits from Stream A or Stream B:

Stream A

15 credits¹ from the Engineering Course List and 3 credits from the Non-Engineering Course List below

¹: A minimum of 6 credits must be from outside the student's department. A maximum of 6 credits of research project courses may be counted toward this category, provided the project has sufficient environmental engineering content (project requires approval of project supervisor and coordinator of the Minor).

Stream B

9 credits of courses specified from the "Barbados Interdisciplinary Tropical Studies (BITS)" field semester below, provided the project has sufficient environmental engineering content (project requires approval of the Coordinator of the Minor):

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
AEBI 425	Tropical Energy and Food.	3
Tropical Energy and Food. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Tropical biofuel crops, conversion processes and final products, particularly energy and greenhouse gas balances and bionutraceuticals. Topics include effects of process extraction during refining on biofuel economics, the food versus fuel debate and impact of biofuels and bioproducts on tropical agricultural economics. See course page for more information
AEBI 427	Barbados Interdisciplinary Project.	6
Barbados Interdisciplinary Project. Terms offered: Summer 2025 The planning of projects and research activities related to tropical food, nutrition, or energy at the local, regional, or national scale in Barbados. Projects and activities designed in consultation with university instructors, government, NGO, or private partners, and prepared by teams of 2-3 students working cooperatively with these mentors. See course page for more information

9 credits chosen from the Engineering Course List below, excluding CHEE 496 Environmental Research Project..

Engineering Course List

Courses offered at the MacDonald campus:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BREE 217	Hydrology and Water Resources.	3
Hydrology and Water Resources. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways. See course page for more information
BREE 322	Management of Organic Residue ¹	3
Management of Organic Residue Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of handling, storage, and treatment of organic residues in agricultural and municipal contexts. Technologies, design approaches, and management strategies for resource recovery and increasing the circularity of material and energy flows. See course page for more information
BREE 416	Engineering for Land Development.	3
Engineering for Land Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Engineering aspects of land stewardship and water resource conservation, including: introduction to the hydrologic cycle and agricultural water use; computation of soil loss by water erosion; conservation farming practices; reservoirs and embankments; water and sediment control structures; stream restoration and water supply; wetlands and wetland design; irrigation principles and design; pumps and pumping; introduction to drainage and water table management. See course page for more information
BREE 518	Ecological Engineering.	3
Ecological Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course. See course page for more information
BREE 533	Water Quality Management.	3
Water Quality Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The water phases of terrestrial ecological systems and the processes that link them. Physical, chemical, and biological properties of water, and water quality standards. The fate and transport of pollutants in rivers and streams, lakes, and wetlands. Methods to quantify soil carbon and nitrogen cycle to predict nutrient leaching. Impacts of human activities (e.g., agricultural drainage) on water quality and measures to improve drainage water quality. Assess the effectiveness of proposed engineering measures or management practices in improving or maintaining water quality of a real site/water body using numerical methods or a computer modelling approach. See course page for more information

¹: Not open to students who have passed CIVE 323 Hydrology and Water Resources..

Courses offered at the Downtown campus:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ARCH 377	Energy, Environment, and Buildings 1.	3
Energy, Environment, and Buildings 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Exploration of the interrelationship between energy, environment, and building. Climate analysis and design, daylighting, electrical systems, plumbing and water conservation, and conveyance systems. See course page for more information
ARCH 515	Sustainable Design.	3
Sustainable Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course will address sustainable design theory and applications in the built environment with students from a variety of fields (architecture, urban planning, engineering, sociology, environmental studies, economics, international studies). Architecture will provide the focus for environmental, socio-cultural and economic issues. See course page for more information
CHEE 351	Separation Processes.	3
Separation Processes. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Concepts underlying equilibrium based separation, design of processes and equipment for distillation, absorption/stripping, liquid extraction, washing, and leaching. Consideration of mass transfer effects. See course page for more information
CHEE 370	Elements of Biotechnology.	3
Elements of Biotechnology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Biological macromolecules; cell structure and metabolism; industrially significant microbes; enzyme kinetics; introduction to molecular biology and genetic engineering, laboratory exercises. See course page for more information
CHEE 496	Environmental Research Project.	3
Environmental Research Project. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Independent study and experimental work on environmental topic(s) chosen by consultation between the student and professor. Students must find a supervisor amongst department faculty before registering for this course. See course page for more information
CHEE 591	Environmental Bioremediation.	3
Environmental Bioremediation. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The presence and role of microorganisms in the environment, the role of microbes in environmental remediation either through natural or human-mediated processes, the application of microbes in pollution control and the monitoring of environmental pollutants. See course page for more information
CHEE 593	Industrial Water Pollution Control.	3
Industrial Water Pollution Control. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Wastewater constituents of concern; legislation pertinent to wastewater treatment; wastewater sampling and analysis techniques; process analysis and selection; physical, chemical and biological processes; advanced wastewater treatment methods; integration of sciences and engineering principles to design wastewater treatment processes. See course page for more information
CIVE 225	Environmental Engineering.	4
Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to environmental chemistry; mass balance analyses in engineered and natural systems; water, soil and air pollution characterization and control; water quality parameters; drinking water and wastewater treatment technologies; global climate change: possible causes and effects; risk assessment for pollutant exposure; solid- and hazardous-waste management. See course page for more information
CIVE 323	Hydrology and Water Resources. ¹	3
Hydrology and Water Resources. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Precipitation, evaporation and transpiration. Streamflow, storage reservoirs, flood routing. Groundwater hydrology. Ecohydrology. Statistical analysis in hydrology, stochastic modelling. Simulations using hydrologic models. Case studies in flood damage mitigation, surface and ground water management, and water-energy-food nexus. See course page for more information
CIVE 421	Municipal Systems.	3
Municipal Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Design of water-related municipal services; sources of water and intake design; estimation of water demand and wastewater production rates; design, construction and maintenance of water distribution, wastewater and stormwater collection systems; pumps and pumping stations; pipe materials, network analysis and optimization; storage; treatment objectives for water and wastewater. See course page for more information
CIVE 428	Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering.	3
Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of continuity, energy and momentum equations to open channel flow; design of channels considering uniform flow and flow resistance, non-uniform flow and longitudinal profiles; design of channel controls and transitions; unsteady flow and flood routing; river ice engineering; sediment transport and river morphology; sustainability in river engineering; industry standard numerical models. See course page for more information
CIVE 430	Water Treatment and Pollution Control.	3
Water Treatment and Pollution Control. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Principles of water and sewage treatment. Water and sewage characteristics; design of conventional unit operations and processes; laboratory analyses of potable and waste waters. See course page for more information
CIVE 520	Groundwater Hydrology.	3
Groundwater Hydrology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Fundamentals of subsurface hydrological processes. Field data and simulation under parameter uncertainty. Numerical modelling. Quantifying groundwater resources and groundwater flow to wells. Groundwater sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective including engineering and policy. See course page for more information
CIVE 550	Water Resources Management.	3
Water Resources Management. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. State-of-the-art water resources management techniques; case studies of their application to Canadian situations; identification of major issues and problem areas; interprovincial and international river basins; implications of development alternatives; institutional arrangements for planning and development of water resources; and, legal and economic aspects. See course page for more information
CIVE 555	Environmental Data Analysis.	3
Environmental Data Analysis. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Application of statistical principles to design of measurement systems and sampling programs. Introduction to experimental design. Graphical data analysis. Description of uncertainty. Hypothesis tests. Model parameter estimation methods: linear and nonlinear regression methods. Trend analysis. Statistical analysis of censored data. Statistics of extremes. See course page for more information
CIVE 557	Microbiology for Environmental Engineering.	3
Microbiology for Environmental Engineering. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Microbiological concepts applied to the practice of environmental engineering and biotechnologies including the following topics: cellular and pathway organizations, evolution, growth, gene expression, horizontal gene transfer, metabolic microbial diversity, ecosystem structures, and quantitative mathematical modelling. See course page for more information
CIVE 561	Greenhouse Gas Emissions.	3
Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Greenhouse gas inventories at various scales from national to institutional. Emission estimation methods including field measurements and engineering calculations for anthropogenic sources including fossil fuel combustion from transportation and energy production, cement production, hydroelectric reservoirs, oil and gas systems, landfills, wastewater treatment and sewer systems, and agriculture. Technical and policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Group project. See course page for more information
CIVE 572	Computational Hydraulics.	3
Computational Hydraulics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Computation of unsteady flows in open channels; abrupt waves, flood waves, tidal propagations; method of characteristics; mathematical modelling of river and coastal currents. See course page for more information
CIVE 573	Hydraulic Structures.	3
Hydraulic Structures. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Hydraulic aspects of the theory and design of hydraulic structures. Storage dams, spillways, outlet works, diversion works, drop structures, stone structures, conveyance and control structures, flow measurement and culverts. See course page for more information
CIVE 574	Fluid Mechanics of Water Pollution.	3
Fluid Mechanics of Water Pollution. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Mixing, dilution and dispersion of pollutants discharged into lakes, rivers, estuaries and oceans; salinity intrusion in estuaries and its effects on dispersion; biochemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen as water quality indicators; thermal pollution; oil pollution. See course page for more information
CIVE 577	River Engineering.	3
River Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Fluvial geomorphology; sediment properties; river turbulence; mechanics of the entrainment, transportation and deposition of solids by fluids; threshold of movement; bed forms; suspended load, bed load and total load equations; stable channel design and regime rivers; river modelling; river engineering; and river management. See course page for more information
CIVE 584	Mechanics of Groundwater Flow.	3
Mechanics of Groundwater Flow. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Origins and types of groundwater; Darcy's law; hydraulic anisotropy; conservation laws; fundamental equations of porous media flow; Laplace's and Poisson's equations: analytical solution of potential flow problems; determination of hydraulic conductivity; flow in unconfined and confined acquifers; seepage modelling; unsaturated flow; transient flows in porous media; introduction to computational methods. See course page for more information
MECH 447	Combustion.	3
Combustion. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Equilibrium analysis of reacting systems, Hugoniot analysis, flame propagation mechanisms, introduction to chemical kinetics, models for laminar flame propagation, ignition, quenching, flammability limits, turbulent flames, flame instability mechanisms, detonations, solid and liquid combustion. See course page for more information
MECH 534	Air Pollution Engineering.	3
Air Pollution Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Pollutants from power production and their effects on the environment. Mechanisms of pollutant formation in combustion. Photochemical pollutants and smog, atmospheric dispersion. Pollutant generation from internal combustion engines and stationary power plants. Methods of pollution control (exhaust gas treatment, absorption, filtration, scrubbers, etc.). See course page for more information
MECH 535	Turbomachinery and Propulsion.	3
Turbomachinery and Propulsion. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to propulsion: turboprops, turbofans and turbojets. Review of thermodynamic cycles. Euler turbine equation. Velocity triangles. Axial-flow compressors and pumps. Centrifugal compressors and pumps. Axial-flow turbines. Loss mechanisms. Dimensional analysis of turbomachines. Performance maps. 3-D effects. Introduction to numerical methods in turbomachines. Prediction of performance of gas turbines. See course page for more information
MECH 560	Eco-design and Product Life Cycle Assessment .	3
Eco-design and Product Life Cycle Assessment . Terms offered: Winter 2026 Fundamentals of both product and process engineering with an emphasis on life cycle models and sustainability. Practical and theoretical topics, methodologies, principles, and techniques. Practical methods such as Life Cycle Analysis, eco-design strategies, streamlined Life Cycle Assessment, environmental impact assessment, and Life Cycle Engineering. Introduction to important product development theories and life cycle assessment theories. See course page for more information
MIME 422	Mine Ventilation.	3
Mine Ventilation. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Statutory regulations and engineering design criteria. Occupational health hazards of mine gases, dusts, etc. Ventilation system design. Natural and mechanical ventilation. Measuring and modelling air flow in ventilation networks. Calculation of head losses. Selection of mine ventilation fans. Air heating and cooling. Aspects of economics. See course page for more information
MIME 428	Environmental Mining Engineering.	3
Environmental Mining Engineering. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Effect of mining on the environment: ecology, legislation, effluents and wastes, environmental impact. Acid mine drainage: prediction, treatment, prevention, control. Mineral processing agents. Solid wastes. Mine site closure, reclamation and monitoring. Economic aspects. Environmental practices. See course page for more information
MIME 512	Corrosion and Degradation of Materials.	3
Corrosion and Degradation of Materials. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Electrochemical theory of metal corrosion, Evans Diagrams, corrosion rate controlling mechanisms, mixed corrodents, alloying effects, passivation. Discussion and analysis of the various forms of corrosion. Corrosion prevention methods. Oxidation of alloys-mechanisms and kinetics. Degradation of ceramics and polymers. Case studies. See course page for more information
MIME 556	Sustainable Materials Processing.	3
Sustainable Materials Processing. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Sustainability, population and environment impact, environmental impact indicators, materials flows, enthalpy flows, the carbon cycle, materials intensity, energy intensity, global warming potential, acidification potential, FACTOR-Two, -Four and -Ten, life-cycle-inventory/assessment, end-of-pipe strategies, supply-chain and flow-sheet redesign, recycling, waste treatment and materials case studies. See course page for more information
MPMC 328	Environnement et gestion des rejets miniers.	3
Environnement et gestion des rejets miniers. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Effets du milieu de travail sur l'homme (hygiène du travail) : législation; contraintes thermiques, problèmes de bruit, de contaminants gazeux et de poussières; techniques de mesures. Effets de l'exploitation d'une mine sur le milieu (environnement et écologie) : législation; études d'impacts; effluents miniers: origine, nature et traitement des effluents; entreposage des résidus; restauration des sites. See course page for more information
SEAD 515	Climate Change Adaptation and Engineering Infrastructure .	3
Climate Change Adaptation and Engineering Infrastructure . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Climate resilience and sustainability of engineering systems such as the built environment and engineering infrastructure in the context of a changing climate, possible mitigation and adaptation strategies and associated challenges and opportunities. Review of the basic principles that underpin the science of climate change; the role of global and regional climate models in predicting the behaviour of the climate system in response to different forcing scenarios, and the use of climate model outputs in support of across scale climate-resilience of various engineering systems including infrastructure systems. See course page for more information
SEAD 520	Life Cycle-Based Environmental Footprinting .	3
Life Cycle-Based Environmental Footprinting . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to Life Cycle-Based Environmental Footprinting and the application of basic methods for life-cycle environmental inventory and impacts modeling. LCA theory and quantitative analysis, approaches for assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of product, process, and technology systems. System boundary and functional unit design approaches, process-based and input-output-based methods for modeling mass and energy flows in life-cycle systems. How LCA can facilitate sustainable technology innovation and deployment, behavioural and societal changes, and policies, standards and regulations. See course page for more information
SEAD 550	Decision-Making for Sustainability in Engineering and Design.	3
Decision-Making for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Role and importance of engineering decisions of environmental, social, and economic problems and the application of decision-making approaches and tools to engineering sustainability. Multi-criteria decision-making, uncertainty analysis, game theory, sustainability metrics, life cycle analysis evaluation and impact assessment methodologies, design problem formulation, stage-dependent strategies, case studies. See course page for more information
URBP 506	Environmental Policy and Planning.	3
Environmental Policy and Planning. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Analytical and institutional approaches for understanding and addressing environmental issues at various scales; characteristics of environmental issues, science-policy-politics interactions relating to the environment, and implications for policy; sustainability, and the need for and challenges associated with interdisciplinary perspectives; externalities and their regulation; public goods; risk perception and implications; the political-institutional context and policy instruments; cost-benefit analysis; multiple-criteria decision-making approaches; multidimensional life-cycle analysis; policy implementation issues; conflict resolution; case studies. See course page for more information

¹: Not open to students who have passed BREE 217 Hydrology and Water Resources..

Non-Engineering Course List

Courses offered at the MacDonald campus:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ENVB 210	The Biophysical Environment.	3
The Biophysical Environment. Terms offered: Fall 2025 With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system. See course page for more information
LSCI 230	Introductory Microbiology. ¹	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. See course page for more information
MICR 331	Microbial Ecology. ¹	3
Microbial Ecology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The ecology of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Microbial interactions with the environment, plants, animals and other microbes emphasizing the underlying genetics and physiology. Diversity, evolution (microbial phylogenetics) and the application of molecular biology in microbial ecology. See course page for more information
MICR 341	Mechanisms of Pathogenicity.	3
Mechanisms of Pathogenicity. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the means by which bacteria cause disease in animals and humans. Includes response of host to invading bacteria, bacterial attachment and penetration processes, and modes of actions of exotoxins and endotoxins. See course page for more information
RELG 270	Religious Ethics and the Environment.	3
Religious Ethics and the Environment. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Environmental potential of various religious traditions and secular perspectives, including animal rights, ecofeminism, and deep ecology. See course page for more information
SOIL 331	Environmental Soil Physics.	3
Environmental Soil Physics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course addresses physical properties and processes in soil, state and transport of matter and energy affecting environment and agriculture (State: soil texture, structure, temperature, water; Transport: water flow, chemical transport, heat and gas flow), mass and energy balance in soil, effect of various environmental events on soil physical properties, management of physical properties and processes for various practical agricultural, hydrological and environmental applications including land reclamation. See course page for more information

¹: Not open to students who have passedCHEE 370 Elements of Biotechnology..

Courses offered at the Downtown campus:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
ANTH 206	Environment and Culture.	3
Environment and Culture. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to ecological anthropology, focusing on social and cultural adaptations to different environments, human impact on the environment, cultural constructions of the environment, management of common resources, and conflict over the use of resources. See course page for more information
BIOL 205	Functional Biology of Plants and Animals.	3
Functional Biology of Plants and Animals. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Unified view of form and function in animals and plants. Focus on how the laws of chemistry and physics illuminate biological processes relating to the acquisition of energy and materials and their use in movement, growth, development, reproduction and responses to environmental stress. See course page for more information
BIOL 432	Limnology.	3
Limnology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of lakes and other inland waters, with emphasis on their functioning as systems. See course page for more information
CMPL 580	Environment and the Law.	3
Environment and the Law. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Environmental law, with emphasis on ecological, economic, political, and international dimensions. See course page for more information
ECON 225	Economics of the Environment.	3
Economics of the Environment. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of the application of economic theory to questions of environmental policy. Particular attention will be given to the measurement and regulation of pollution, congestion and waste and other environmental aspects of specific economies. See course page for more information
ECON 326	Ecological Economics.	3
Ecological Economics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Macroeconomic and structural aspects of the ecological crisis. A course in which subjects discussed include the conflict between economic growth and the laws of thermodynamics; the search for alternative economic indicators; the fossil fuels crisis; and "green'' fiscal policy. See course page for more information
ECON 347	Economics of Climate Change.	3
Economics of Climate Change. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The course focuses on the economic implications of, and problems posed by, predictions of global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Attention is given to economic policies such as carbon taxes and tradeable emission permits and to the problems of displacing fossil fuels with new energy technologies. See course page for more information
EPSC 549	Hydrogeology.	3
Hydrogeology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to groundwater flow through porous media. Notions of fluid potential and hydraulic head. Darcy flux and Darcy's Law. Physical properties of porous media and their measurement. Equation of groundwater flow. Flow systems. Hydraulics of pumping and recharging wells. Notions of hydrology. Groundwater quality and contamination. Physical processes of contaminant transport. See course page for more information
GEOG 200	Geographical Perspectives: World Environmental Problems.	3
Geographical Perspectives: World Environmental Problems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to geography as the study of nature and human beings in a spatial context. An integrated approach to environmental systems and the human organization of them from the viewpoint of spatial relationships and processes. Special attention to environmental problems as a constraint upon Third World development. See course page for more information
GEOG 201	Introductory Geo-Information Science.	3
Introductory Geo-Information Science. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to Geographic Information Systems. The systematic management of spatial data. The use and construction of maps. The use of microcomputers and software for mapping and statistical work. Air photo and topographic map analyses. See course page for more information
GEOG 203	Environmental Systems.	3
Environmental Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to system-level interactions among climate, hydrology, soils and vegetation at the scale of drainage basins, including the study of the global geographical variability in these land-surface systems. The knowledge acquired is used to study the impact on the environment of various human activities such as deforestation and urbanisation. See course page for more information
GEOG 205	Global Change: Past, Present and Future.	3
Global Change: Past, Present and Future. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An examination of global change, from the Quaternary Period to the present day involving changes in the physical geography of specific areas. Issues such as climatic change and land degradation will be discussed, with speculations on future environments. See course page for more information
GEOG 302	Environmental Management 1.	3
Environmental Management 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An ecological analysis of the physical and biotic components of natural resource systems. Emphasis on scientific, technological and institutional aspects of environmental management. Study of the use of biological resources and of the impact of individual processes. See course page for more information
GEOG 308	Remote Sensing for Earth Observation.	3
Remote Sensing for Earth Observation. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A conceptual view of remote sensing and the underlying physical principles. Covers ground-based, aerial, satellite systems, and the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to microwave. Emphasis on application of remotely sensed data in geography including land cover change and ecological processes. See course page for more information
GEOG 321	Climatic Environments.	3
Climatic Environments. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The earth-atmosphere system, radiation and energy balances. Surface-atmosphere exchange of energy, mass and momentum and related atmospheric processes on a local and regional scale. Introduction to measurement theory and practice in micrometeorology. See course page for more information
GEOG 404	Environmental Management 2.	3
Environmental Management 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Practical application of environmental planning, analysis and management techniques with reference to the needs and problems of developing areas. Special challenges posed by cultural differences and traditional resource systems are discussed. This course involves practical field work in a developing area (Kenya or Panama). See course page for more information
MIMM 211	Introductory Microbiology.	3
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A general treatment of microbiology bearing specifically on the biological properties of microorganisms. Emphasis will be on procaryotic cells. Basic principles of microbial genetics are also introduced. See course page for more information

Technological Entrepreneurship Minor (B.Eng.) (18 credits)

Offered by: Engineering - Dean's Office (Faculty of Engineering)
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering
Program credit weight: 18

Program Description

This Minor in Technological Entrepreneurship is a collaboration of the Faculty of Engineering and the Desautels Faculty of Management. The program focusses on an entrepreneurial mindset to see opportunity in the world and provide training in an entrepreneurial method to bring opportunities for change to life. This program takes a democratized approach to entrepreneurship, with exposure to the diverse manifestations of entrepreneurship in the world including but not limited to new ventures, social enterprise, tech start-ups, cooperatives, corporate venturing, side hustles, and passion projects. Up to 6 credits of Complementary Studies (Group B., Humanities, and Social Science courses) and/or elective courses may double-count towards the Minor.

Required Courses (9 credits)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
FACC 500	Technology Business Plan Design.	3
Technology Business Plan Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course combines several management functional areas such as marketing, financial, operations and strategy with the skills of creativity, engineering innovation, leadership and communications. Students learn how to design an effective and winning business plan around a technology or engineering project in small, medium or large enterprises. See course page for more information
INTG 215	Entrepreneurship Essentials for Non-Management Students.	3
Entrepreneurship Essentials for Non-Management Students. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Fundamental concepts, theories, and practices of entrepreneurship. Focus on identifying opportunities, developing business ideas, and understanding key components of starting and managing a business. See course page for more information
MGPO 362	Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship.	3
Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Study of the key aspects involved in starting and managing a new venture: identifying opportunities and analyzing new venture ideas, identifying common causes of failure and strategies for success, understanding intellectual property systems, comparison of multiple modes of funding. Applies to for-profit and not-for-profit start-ups. See course page for more information

Complementary Courses (9 credits)

3 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
MGCR 211	Introduction to Financial Accounting.	3
Introduction to Financial Accounting. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The role of financial accounting in the reporting of the financial performance of a business. The principles, components and uses of financial accounting and reporting from a user's perspective, including the recording of accounting transactions and events, the examination of the elements of financial statements, the preparation of financial statements and the analysis of financial results. See course page for more information
MGCR 222	Introduction to Organizational Behaviour.	3
Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Individual motivation and communication style; group dynamics as related to problem solving and decision making, leadership style, work structuring and the larger environment. Interdependence of individual, group and organization task and structure. See course page for more information
MGCR 331	Information Technology Management .	3
Information Technology Management . Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to principles and concepts of information systems in organizations. Topics include information technology, transaction processing systems, decision support systems, database and systems development. Students are required to have background preparation on basic micro computer skills including spreadsheet and word-processing. See course page for more information
MGCR 341	Introduction to Finance.	3
Introduction to Finance. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the principles, issues, and institutions of Finance. Topics include valuation, risk, capital investment, financial structure, cost of capital, working capital management, financial markets, and securities. See course page for more information
MGCR 352	Principles of Marketing.	3
Principles of Marketing. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to marketing principles, focusing on problem solving and decision making. Topics include: the marketing concept; marketing strategies; buyer behaviour; Canadian demographics; internal and external constraints; product; promotion; distribution; price. Lectures, text material and case studies. See course page for more information
MGCR 372	Operations Management.	3
Operations Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Design, planning, establishment, control, and improvement of the activities/processes that create a firm's final products and/or services. The interaction of operations with other business areas will also be discussed. Topics include forecasting, product and process design, waiting lines, capacity planning, inventory management and total quality management. See course page for more information
MGCR 382	International Business.	3
International Business. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the world of international business. Economic foundations of international trade and investment. The international trade, finance, and regulatory frameworks. Relations between international companies and nation-states, including costs and benefits of foreign investment and alternative controls and responses. Effects of local environmental characteristics on the operations of multi-national enterprises. See course page for more information
MGCR 423	Strategic Management.	3
Strategic Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An integrative and interdisciplinary introduction to strategy formation and execution. Concepts, tools, and practical application to understand how firms leverage resources and capabilities to gain competitive advantage in dynamic, contemporary industries. Strategic positioning, organizational design, and managerial action for the long-term success of businesses and positive social and ecological outcomes. See course page for more information
MGCR 460	Social Context of Business.	3
Social Context of Business. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Examination of how business interacts with the larger society. Exploration of the development of modern capitalist society, and the dilemmas that organizations face in acting in a socially responsible manner. Examination of these issues with reference to sustainable development, business ethics, globalization and developing countries, and political activity. See course page for more information

3-6 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
FACC 501	Technology Business Plan Project.	3
Technology Business Plan Project. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Students work in teams to develop a comprehensive business plan project based on a technological or engineering innovation while utilizing site visits. See course page for more information
MGPO 364	Entrepreneurship in Practice.	3
Entrepreneurship in Practice. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Provides hands-on experience with the development of an entrepreneurial venture or a contribution to an existing entrepreneurial venture. Involves the creation of a venture development or business plan. Applicable to many kinds of new ventures, both private companies and social enterprises. See course page for more information

0-3 credits from the following:

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
BUSA 465	Technological Entrepreneurship.	3
Technological Entrepreneurship. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Concentrating on entrepreneurship and enterprise development, particular attention is given to the start-up, purchasing and management of small to medium-sized industrial firms. The focal point is in understanding the dilemmas faced by entrepreneurs, resolving them, developing a business plan and the maximum utilization of the financial, marketing and human resources that make for a successful operation. See course page for more information
LAWG 570	Innovation for Non-Law Students.	3
Innovation for Non-Law Students. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course provides an introduction to the concept of innovation, its role in the economy, the institutions that foster or hinder it, the laws that promote or undermine it, and its historical, psychological and social context. Through a combination of interactive lectures students will explore the complexity of the subject and its connections with law, the economy, history, sciences and technology and government and firm policies. In addition, through small group projects, students will deploy and extend their knowledge by applying it to a particular proposed innovation. See course page for more information
MGPO 438	Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.	3
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Explores key concepts associated with social entrepreneurship and social innovation – the application of principles of entrepreneurship and innovation to solve social problems through social ventures, enterprises and not-for-profit organizations. Focuses on the social economy, including how the market system can be leveraged to create social value. See course page for more information
ORGB 321	Leadership.	3
Leadership. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Leadership theories provide students with opportunities to assess and work on improving their leadership skills. Topics include: the ability to know oneself as a leader, to formulate a vision, to have the courage to lead, to lead creatively, and to lead effectively with others. See course page for more information

Students interested in pursuing a minor should consult an academic advisor.

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Undergraduate programs

Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource) - (B.Eng.(Bioresource))

Available Programs

Bachelor of Engineering (Bioresource) – B.Eng.(Bioresource) Related Programs

Minor in Environmental Engineering

Barbados Field Study Semester

Internship Opportunities

Major in Bioresource Engineering

Bioresource Engineering Major (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (62 credits)

Complementary Courses (45 credits)

Set A

Set B - Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Set C - Social Sciences

Set D - Engineering

Major in Bioresource Engineering (Honours)

Bioresource Engineering Honours (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (68 credits)

Complementary Courses (45 credits)

Set A

Set B - Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Set C - Social Sciences

Set D - Engineering

Major in Bioresource Engineering (Professional Agrology)

Bioresource Engineering - Professional Agrology (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) (113 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (65 credits)

Complementary Courses (48 credits)

Set A

Set B - Natural Sciences

Group 1 - Biology

Group 2 - Agricultural Sciences

Set C - Social Sciences

Set D - Engineering

Group 1 - Soil and Water

Group 2 - Food Processing

Group 3 - Other Engineering

Minors

Agribusiness (B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.)) (24 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (12 credits)

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

Agricultural Production Minor (B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.)) (24 credits)

Program Description

General Regulations

Required Courses (12 credits)

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

Biomedical Engineering Minor (B.Eng.) (21 credits)

Program Description

Complementary Courses (21-25 credits)

Introductory Life Sciences

Specialization Courses

Physiological Systems, Artificial Cells and Organs

Bioinformatics, Genomics and Proteomics

Biomaterials, Biosensors and Nanotechnology

Biomechanics and Prosthetics

Medical Physics and Imaging

Neural Systems and Biosignal Processing

Biotechnology Minor (for Engineering Students) (B.Eng.) (24 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (12 credits)

Alternative Required Courses (for Chemical Engineering students)

Complementary Courses

Biomedicine

Chemistry

General

Immunology

Management

Microbiology

Molecular Biology (Biology)

Molecular Biology (Biochemistry)

Physiology

Pollution

Computer Science Minor (B.Eng.) (26 credits)

Program Description

Required Courses (3 credits)