"What courses were most and least useful to you in your engineering career?"

I'm probably alone in saying this as well, but I'd probably say the most useful course was one of the first courses I took - ENGG1000 Introduction to Engineering Design and Innovation.

Straight into university, fresh out of high school with literally no expertise whatsoever, mixed with people you've never met before, but united by a common problem defined by the course convenor, a set of constraints, defined teams and some limited mentorship. The course was the steepest of learning curves, but was also one of the most rewarding as a result. From feeling like we knew nothing and were completely powerless, we were able to branch-out and try things hands on, narrowing down a path toward a solution as if our lives counted on it. The mentors would answer some questions but ultimately didn't do much to "steer the boat". Team interactions and dynamics were defined ad-hoc and a feeling of camaraderie developed as we all learned to speak the same (technical) language, understanding we were all just as clueless in the beginning. I think this course did the most to reinforce to its students that there are many solutions to a problem, that we don't know what the solution might be at the beginning (but we can still get there), that research is necessary and a methodical iterative approach can provide solutions, that we learn along the way, that teamwork is important and that we should consider our decisions carefully because they matter.

I'd probably say the second-most useful would be the ELEC4122 Strategic Leadership and Ethics course that came at the end of the undergraduate degree - it really made us all aware about the power that technology wields and the responsibility we must take to use it appropriately. A good reminder, especially in the present time when companies are undergoing an "at all costs" drive to boost profits.

As for the least useful course - that's actually quite a tough one. I quite enjoyed all my university courses, although that doesn't mean that I did well on all of them ... I'd have to disagree with the sentiment that general education courses weren't useful - after all, I chose rather interesting ones from my perspective so I enjoyed them and learned something different from them. I'd have to say all courses are useful to some degree if you're interested, even if it's not entirely obvious initially. But some of the more foundational courses may teach you first principles that are rarely used outside of formal derivation ... so not useful but still good to know rather than taking it for granted.

- Gough

I'm probably alone in saying this as well, but I'd probably say the most useful course was one of the first courses I took - ENGG1000 Introduction to Engineering Design and Innovation.

Straight into university, fresh out of high school with literally no expertise whatsoever, mixed with people you've never met before, but united by a common problem defined by the course convenor, a set of constraints, defined teams and some limited mentorship. The course was the steepest of learning curves, but was also one of the most rewarding as a result. From feeling like we knew nothing and were completely powerless, we were able to branch-out and try things hands on, narrowing down a path toward a solution as if our lives counted on it. The mentors would answer some questions but ultimately didn't do much to "steer the boat". Team interactions and dynamics were defined ad-hoc and a feeling of camaraderie developed as we all learned to speak the same (technical) language, understanding we were all just as clueless in the beginning. I think this course did the most to reinforce to its students that there are many solutions to a problem, that we don't know what the solution might be at the beginning (but we can still get there), that research is necessary and a methodical iterative approach can provide solutions, that we learn along the way, that teamwork is important and that we should consider our decisions carefully because they matter.

I'd probably say the second-most useful would be the ELEC4122 Strategic Leadership and Ethics course that came at the end of the undergraduate degree - it really made us all aware about the power that technology wields and the responsibility we must take to use it appropriately. A good reminder, especially in the present time when companies are undergoing an "at all costs" drive to boost profits.

As for the least useful course - that's actually quite a tough one. I quite enjoyed all my university courses, although that doesn't mean that I did well on all of them ... I'd have to disagree with the sentiment that general education courses weren't useful - after all, I chose rather interesting ones from my perspective so I enjoyed them and learned something different from them. I'd have to say all courses are useful to some degree if you're interested, even if it's not entirely obvious initially. But some of the more foundational courses may teach you first principles that are rarely used outside of formal derivation ... so not useful but still good to know rather than taking it for granted.

- Gough