Today’s employers give preference to job candidates who are team players with strong verbal communication skills. This course will help students find their voice and develop their ability to work in teams, giving them the competitive advantage they need in today’s job market. It will also strengthen reading comprehension, writing ability, presentation skills and computer application proficiency, all of which are skills fundamental to success in college and in the workplace.

This a practical lab subject that is intended to give science and engineering technology students the spreadsheet and documentation skills that they will need in their college and professional careers.  The students will gain experience using WINDOWS 7 and MICROSOFT WORD/EXCEL/POWERPOINT.  This subject consists of one two hour lab per week which is accompanied by extensive home assignments.  It is the students’ responsibility to ask for help for any parts of the assignments that they don’t understand.

This lecture-based course introduces students to the foundations of engineering drawings. Topics include orthographic projection, auxiliary views, section views, freehand sketching, working drawings, dimensions and tolerances, specifications, notes and revisions.

This lab-based course focuses on the creation of engineering drawings using AutoCAD. Topics include 2D AutoCAD drawing and editing techniques, construction of orthographic views, layers and appearance, AutoCAD layouts, basic dimensioning and drawing annotation.

This course is designed to give the Student a fundamental, entry-level introduction to some of the many varied processes utilized in a conventional machine/fabrication shop.  Student will also apply some of this theoretical information while performing safe, effective operation of hand and machine tools by practical demonstration within a "shop" environment.  Safety will be an integral, on-going topic.   

The purpose of this course is to refresh and upgrade existing mathematical skills such as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and more.  Emphasis is placed on developing problem solving techniques by applying these math topics to related engineering problems.  Portions of this course will be spent supporting the first year Physics course PHYS 1131.  It is configured as four one hour classes per week.

This course introduces students to the concepts of kinematics, dynamics, gravity, work, energy, torque, power, momentum, circular motion, sound, light and heat through an extensive use of formulas to calculate various physical quantities within these topics.  As a result, the ability to perform algebraic manipulation is an essential skill to succeed in this course and students must also develop a firm understanding and ability to specify the correct units for all of their calculations.  

This course analyses the static forces and moments that are created in a variety if structures due to externally applied forces.  Classroom examples will focus on problems commonly encountered within the industrial workplace and problems will concentrate on static solutions where the body is both stationary and rigid.  It is assumed that students possess an understanding of algebra and trigonometry before attempting this subject and emphasis is placed on a problem solving approach using mathematical and calculator methods combined with free body diagrams and sketches.

Electrical Control Fundamentals is designed to educate students at an introductory level, the theory of electricity fundamentals primarily applied to an industrial environment. Key concepts of Ohm’s Law are explored to provide students with a necessary foundation in the investigation of Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC) circuit theory.

Electric motors, VFDs and associated control devices are studied along with schematics reading and electrical symbols. The course concludes with an introduction to relay ladder logic. The laboratory component of this course provides practical experience with electrical devices that can be directly related to industrial control components found in industry. This course is a prerequisite for Automation Fundamentals, OPER 3133.

This course focuses on the creation of working drawings as well as introductory drawing office and engineering procedures. Topics include conventional dimensioning, detail drawings, assembly drawings, limits and fits, drawing office procedure, datums and positioning, engineering changes, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.

The used of fluid under pressure to transmit power and control motion are studied in this course. The principles of fluid power are presented to relate the laws of physics to practical hydraulic control systems and applications. The operation of various fluid power components (pumps, valves, actuators and system accessories applications) is covered in depth. The fundamental concepts and basic skills necessary to develop a logical approach to the design and troubleshooting of hydraulic controls systems will be emphasized in this course.

This is the second of the two first year mathematics courses.  Students develop problem solving skills by applying topics of study to related practical problems.  Topics of study include: quadratic equations; systems of linear equations in two and three unknowns; trigonometric functions; exponents and radicals; direct and indirect variation; complex numbers; sequences; exponents and logarithms; and analytical geometry.  It is configured as four one hour classes per week.

Technical Communication is the “art and science of making complex technical information accessible, usable and relevant to most people in most settings.”  This course reinforces and expands on technical communication skills introduced in first semester, which students will require in the workplace. Students will learn to select and use appropriate research, language, and layout for different technical documents, while further developing their written and verbal communication skills and their ability to work in a team.

This course introduces the student to the Siemens NX modeling software. Students begin by learning to create only 2-Dimensional models and drawings and the progress to constructions of 3-Dimensional models using primitives and features. This includes efficient use of Layers, Coordinate Systems, Datum Features, and the Part Navigator. Finally, students are shown how 2D parametric sketches can be used to create 3D models. Emphasis is also placed on creating basic engineering drawings from the 3-D models that are created.

Students apply the principles of calculus to technical problem solving. Topics in differential calculus include; limits, rates of change, maxima, minima, points of inflection, related rates and optimization. Topics in integral calculus include; motion, area and volume. Basic rules for differentiation and integration are taught.

This course establishes the basis for understanding the behaviour and characteristics of engineering materials. The course focuses on the materials properties and their relationship to the atomic structures, plastic deformation and recrystallization, principles of mechanical and non-destructive testing and thermal equilibrium diagrams.

Learn more about the prominent environmental issues of our time.  This course will focus on timely issues in the environmental field that present varying degrees of risk to the health of humans, ecosystems and our planet.  It will be a look beyond the media headlines at the policies, politics and basic science of our most interesting environmental challenges.  Topics will include climate change, arctic ecosystems, water conservation and water quality, endocrine disrupting substances (gender benders), renewable energy, resource depletion, the dilemma of pesticide use and natural toxins. The course will begin with a brief look at the responsibilities of the federal, provincial and municipal governments as they relate to environmental matters.  Then, each issue will be considered in the Canadian and global context.

Fluid mechanics is the technology concerned with the fundamentals of fluid properties, fluid pressure, hydrostatic forces on surfaces, buoyancy, fluid flow, flow measurement, and both major and minor losses associated with fluid flow in piping systems.

Students learn about the production of finished parts in metal and non-metal substances, and how planning a manufactured product can affect the decision to use or not to use a particular process. Topics include casting and forming, non-metallic materials, non-traditional machining processes, manufacturing systems and automation, production systems, and jigs and fixtures.

This course teaches students how to determine where (and if) a mechanical component will break as well as how much it will deflect under an applied load.  In order to do this, previous knowledge of applied mechanics is coupled with the fundamental mechanical design concepts of stress and strain.   Class examples will cover members under tensile and compressive forces, twisting of solid and hollow shafts, bending and deflection of beams, thermal stresses and thin walled pressure vessels.  The application of appropriate safety factors and stress concentrations is also covered and students will have an opportunity to apply their knowledge by competing in a small classroom design competition.

This course continues to introduce more advanced modeling concepts such as swept shapes. It also introduces the modeling tools required to correctly model injection moulded plastic parts. Assemblies of parts using parametric constraints are also covered.

In recognition for the need to interchange CAD data between incompatible programs, the course teaches methods of data exchange such as STEP and IGES. In addition, synchronous modeling techniques are covered that allow editing of interchanged data.

Finally, with an increasing emphasis of design techniques, the course introduces the use of standard supplier parts and NX part families.

This course is an introduction to computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Students are introduced to the concepts of using a computer to control a machine tool. Exposure is given to fundamental programming techniques for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines. These techniques are further expanded to include computer assisted programming using the APT language. The final portion of the course introduces programming techniques using NX CAM software. Throughout the course, hands-on experience is provided using CNC machines in the Internet Manufacturing Lab.

This course introduces students to the elements of mechanical design. Topics include mechanical engineering components (e.g. fasteners, bearings, and springs) and basic machine elements (e.g. gears, belts and pulleys, chains and sprockets). Students exercise their knowledge and ability via design assignments in assembly and machine design.

This course will introduce students to the fundamental legal principles applicable to businesses in Canada.  Students will gain an understanding of the Canadian Legal System, Dispute Resolution, Contract Law, Business Torts, Property Law, Employment Law, Intellectual Property Law, as well as the key distinctions between Civil and Criminal Law.  Students will examine the legal theory in a practical manner through case scenarios and case analyses.

This course continues the study of engineering materials and their properties. The knowledge of material structure and theories of deformation developed in the course METL 1131 is applied to the discussion of the high temperature behaviour of the materials. Topics of the course include thermal, creep, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of engineering materials. Various aspects of corrosion and oxidation mechanisms as well as ways of protection are considered. In the second part of the course students will research various aspects of interrelationship between materials and environment, learn the eco-audit tools and sustainable development concepts.

This course introduces students to various techniques for automated data processing in an engineering and manufacturing environment. Student will cover topics such as Windows command line interface scripting, the Awk program for data transformation, basic data transmission using serial and TCP/IP communications. Finally, the course will introduce the concept of scripting within a CAD software to automate repetitive tasks.

Thermodynamics is the science of the conversion of heat energy from available sources into other energy forms and mechanical work. Thermodynamics investigates the relationship between heat, work, and system’s properties. The basic concepts of thermodynamics and their application to engineering problems are introduced. The course includes a study of terminology, properties of a system, processes, ideal gas laws and an introduction to thermodynamics cycles.  

This course deals with advanced topics in computer aided design (CAD) using unigraphics NX and allows students to follow the design cycle through which all engineered products pass. Building on the fundamentals covered in previous courses, students will have the opportunity to create a variety of mechanical components and assemblies as well as develop their ability to generate detail and assembly drawings, work with standard material sizes, model parametrically, apply geometrical dimensioning & tolerancing (GD&T), create bills of materials (BOM’s) and use mass and finite element analysis tools to analyze their creations. These topics will be covered by completing a variety of assignments, a reverse-engineering project and both individual and team design projects where students will design, analyse, manufacture and test their designs either in a lab or in head-to-head competion against each other.

Students will study the use of CAM software to create milling programs of increasing difficulty starting with simple prismatic shapes and continuing to free form shapes. Additionally, students will study the creation of programs for turning as well. During the course students are given more practical experience in the Integrated Manufacturing Lab to setup and machine the programs they have created.

Placement is considered an important part as a technologist’s education, and student are required to obtain a minimum of 80 hours on the job placement in their chosen field and 5 hours of required workshops. There is no formal set of topics of instruction for placement but it must provide the student with practical experience in their chosen field. Each placement will be different as there will be a variety of organizations participating.

Students may achieve their placement requirement in various ways by completing one of the following:

1. A summer position after second year related to their field of study.
2. Working one day a week during the fall or winter academic school year.
3. Working during a block period of time such as the Christmas break, Reading week or in May after all courses work is completed.
4. Completing an internship for 4,8,12 or 16 months.
5. Applying for a prior work experience with proper approval and documentation.

Placement is approached as an actual job, with students attending interviews and being selected for positions by the employer. Students are to perform as technologists in training. A satisfactory completion is mandatory in order to graduate from Durham College.

This course delves into the theory and practice of pneumatics: using air in the generation, control and transmission of power, fluid logic control systems, circuits and electrical controls for fluid power systems. The development of ladder logic code for programmable logic controllers and the integration of these controllers within electro-pneumatics system will be explored.

In this dimensional metrology course, students examine the theory and applications of various measuring devices and their application to industrial quality assurance. Topics include standards, calibration and traceability, tolerancing systems, the principles of measurement, amplifying devices, sources of error, and manual and CNC co-ordinate measuring machines.

The course commences with the basic concepts of Statistics including population versus sample, descriptive and inferential statistics and data types. Methods of visualizing patterns of variation using pictures or graphs, such as stem-and-leaf displays, run charts, pie charts, bar graphs, and histograms are studied. When graphical representations do not lend themselves to inference making, numerical descriptive measures must be used to indicate location, shape, and spread in a data set. Numerical analysis is accomplished using mean, medium, midrange, range, percentiles, variance, Interquartile Range (IQR), and standard deviation.

Basic probability concepts are introduced since analysis, in Statistics, is based on probability. Discrete probability distributions that play an important role in technical applications include the Hypergeometric, Binomial, and Poisson. Continuous distributions are handled using the Normal distribution (bell curve). Finally, to help make statistical inferences about populations, sampling distributions and interval estimates are studied.

This course deals with the application and design of plastic injection moulds and die cast injection moulds as related to industry. Students will complete mould designs using unigraphics software and deciding components needed. Students will also design parts that are being moulded.

This course is designed to teach students about the automation of machining systems into what is commonly called a work cell. Students will learn how various machines interface to each other to allow programs to be run on a continuous basis. In addition, the course will explore process planning and economic considerations that employers must consider when planning to manufacture a product.

The goal of this course is two-fold.  Primarily it assists students in developing a well planned and organized job search plan. In order to accomplish this, students develop professional cover letters, resumes, portfolios and career action plans. The second goal of this course is to introduce students to subject matter which will assist them to meet today’s workforce challenges. An introduction of Organizational Behaviour is explored including; Understanding and working with management to attain company and career goals, working and communicating in a team environment, functioning and managing stress in today’s workplace and understanding why organizational change and development take place.

Students examine the dynamic nature of machine elements and mechanisms, including gearing, belt drives, linkages and balancing. Other topics include gearing parameters, speed ratios, power characteristics, common linkage mechanism analysis, and the dynamic balancing of rotary systems using graphical techniques.

This course exposes students to the entire design process by providing them with an opportunity to design and manufacture their own, unique and functional, pneumatic piston engine.  In doing so, they will need to understand and incorporate the specifications, manufacturing limitations and time constraints imposed on them while simultaneously designing, calculating, modeling, detailing, sourcing, manufacturing, assembling, testing, analysing, documenting and presenting their final design.  In doing so, students will work in the multiple roles of lead design engineer, draftsman, material acquisitoner, assembly technician, test engineer, cost estimator and project engineer in order to give them a wholistic view of the design process.  Students will manufacture their own engine parts using a variety of conventional machines (lathes, mills, etc..) as well as have the opportunity to use a rapid prototyping machine to quickly itterate the design of a select number of their components.  In addition, since the functionality of their engine is greatly dependant upon the quality of the parts they create, their detail drawings must be generated with a firm understanding of design standards, materials, fits, surface finishes, GD&T and drafting techniques in order to be successful.

Placement is considered an important part as a technologist’s education, and student are required to obtain a minimum of 80 hours on the job placement in their chosen field and 5 hours of required workshops. There is no formal set of topics of instruction for placement but it must provide the student with practical experience in their chosen field. Each placement will be different as there will be a variety of organizations participating.

Students may achieve their placement requirement in various ways by completing one of the following:

1. A summer position after second year related to their field of study.
2. Working one day a week during the fall or winter academic school year.
3. Working during a block period of time such as the Christmas break, Reading week or in May after all courses work is completed.
4. Completing an internship for 4,8,12 or 16 months.
5. Applying for a prior work experience with proper approval and documentation.

Placement is approached as an actual job, with students attending interviews and being selected for positions by the employer. Students are to perform as technologists in training. A satisfactory completion is mandatory in order to graduate from Durham College.

Elective general education courses appear in your program of study as GNED 0000. This is called a “placeholder.” This placeholder is replaced by an actual course that you will select from a list of available "elective" general education courses when you register in the relevant semester.

Please note that the type and number of elective courses available will vary from semester to semester and from year to year.

Please visit the General Education website for more information.

Students enhance their knowledge of the theory and applications of various measuring devices and how they are applied to industrial quality assurance. Topics include the kinematic design of instruments, comparator systems, surface and roundness assessment, metrology optics, co-ordinate measuring machines, and in-process gauging.

This course starts by reviewing the Statistical concepts learned in Statistical Quality Control I and then continues on to interval estimation and hypothesis testing. Interval estimated are used to make inferences about population parameters which are checked using hypothesis testing for both small and large sample sizes.

Statistical quality control is studies including Deming’s quality management steps as well as ISO-9000 certification. The tools of quality control are also introduced including cause-and-effect diagrams, Pareto charts, histograms, and control charts.

Students also learn how to apply Statistics to Process Control (SPC) including how to use and interpret various control charts for variable and attributed. Finally, reliability and lot-by-lot acceptance sampling by attributes are covered along with the statistical aspects of calculating both.