Engineering Design
Collaborative Innovation: Engineering Design at Guelph
At Guelph Engineering, our interdisciplinary design courses are at the core of your learning experience. Each year, you'll dive into a hands-on, collaborative environment, working alongside students from different engineering disciplines.
With four unique design courses spread across your studies, you'll tackle real-world challenges, develop practical solutions, and build the teamwork skills essential for success in today’s engineering world. Prepare to innovate, create, and make an impact.
Interdisciplinary Innovation
Design at Guelph brings together students from all our disciplines to solve complex, real-world problems from multiple perspectives.
Team-Based Learning
Great design doesn’t happen in a silo. From day one, you'll work in diverse teams to brainstorm, prototype, and iterate — just like in the professional world.
Project & Time Management
Master the tools and techniques used in industry. Learn how to plan, lead, and deliver design projects on time and on budget — preparing you for co-op, capstone, and career success.
Hands-On, Impactful Projects
Every semester is a chance to build something that matters. Tackle real challenges through client-based design courses, giving you the opportunity to apply your skills and see your ideas come to life.
Major-Specific Design
As you progress, your design projects become more specialized—applying your skills to real challenges in your chosen field, from robotics to water systems to sustainable structures.
Creative Freedom, with Real Impact
You bring the ideas — we provide the space to develop them. In our collaborative labs and studios, you’ll test bold concepts, protect your IP, and create real-world solutions.
Design 1 | Teddy Bear Wheelchair
Design Challenge: Build. Program. Compete.
Kick off your engineering journey at Guelph with ENGG*1100, a hands-on, team-based design course where you’ll:
Work in interdisciplinary teams to design, build, and program a custom vehicle
Tackle real-world-inspired challenges
Use tools like CAD, spreadsheets, and engineering software
This is more than just a class—it’s your launchpad into engineering. You’ll build skills in:
Creative problem-solving
Teamwork and collaboration
Independent learning
Put Your Skills to the Test
Each year brings new twists to the challenge. Past tests have included:
Speed, stability, and safety trials
Launching ping-pong balls at targets
Navigating obstacle courses with programmed sensors
It’s your chance to innovate, compete, and bring your ideas to life—starting on day one
Design 2 | Prototype Design
3D-Printed Kinder Toy Challenge
In ENGG*2100, you’ll level up your engineering design skills with a project that’s as fun as it is challenging: designing a fully functional toy that fits inside a Kinder Egg!
What You’ll Do:
Work in mixed-discipline teams
Reverse engineer real-world objects (like lawn mowers or sewing machines)
Design, prototype, and present a unique, functional toy
Learn advanced CAD/CAM/CAE tools and database software
Build leadership, teamwork, and communication skills
Explore engineering safety and sustainable design principles
Design a toy that:
Fits disassembled into a 10 cm Kinder Egg
Is at least 75% 3D-printed by weight
Can move, fly, or launch a projectile using stored energy
Follows an annual theme (past themes: Biomimicry, Science Fiction, Sports)
Get creative, think big (within a small egg), and bring your design to life!
Design 3 | Problem Definition
The Creative Solution Project
In ENGG*3100, you’ll bring together everything you’ve learned so far—engineering theory, science fundamentals, and hands-on design skills—to tackle real-world, open-ended problems.
What You’ll Do:
Apply knowledge from your discipline-specific courses
Work in a studio-style, team-based learning environment
Use advanced design tools like:
Simulation & sensitivity analysis
Linear programming
Knowledge-based systems
Computer programming
Build communication and professional skills through:
Public speaking
Technical writing
Project management
Environmental and safety considerations
The Project Process:
Identify a meaningful, real-world problem
Brainstorm and evaluate multiple solutions
Select and refine the best design based on constraints and criteria
Submit a professional-level final report
ENGG*3100 is your opportunity to take ownership of a design challenge, make an impact, and show what you can do.
Design 4 | Final Capstone Design Project
The 41X Design Project
Your engineering journey at Guelph ends with a challenge that brings everything together. The 41X Final Capstone Design Project is your chance to tackle a real-world problem, apply everything you’ve learned, and make a meaningful impact.
What You’ll Do:
Work in small teams (3–5 students)
Solve an open-ended, discipline-specific engineering problem
Apply engineering design, analysis, and project management skills
Assess environmental, ethical, and socio-economic impacts
Build a solution that meets professional engineering standards
Project Components:
Develop a working prototype or simulation
Present your project in a professional-grade poster
Submit a final, detailed design report
Present findings to peers, faculty, and industry professionals
Past Projects Have Tackled:
Smart farming and sustainable agriculture
Renewable energy systems
Environmental and water quality solutions
Robotics, AI, and automation
Healthcare, femtech and accessibility innovations
41X is more than a final project—it's your launch into professional engineering, where classroom knowledge meets real-world impact.
The Purple Pad: A Postpartum infection sensing pad
About
The College of Engineering combines hands-on learning and innovative research to prepare engineers who shape a better future.
Departments
- Civil, Environmental, and Water Resources Engineering
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Interdisciplinary Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
Our Engineering Majors
Contact
Albert A. Thornbrough Building
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON
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