I applied for two reasons:

  1. My grade 12 average was below the cutoff for the more competitive engineering programs at Waterloo.
  2. Cool name

I’d recommend Nano to people who want to do engineering, are interested in physics and materials science, and most importantly, don’t have the grades for ECE, chemical, mechatronics, mechanical, software, or biomedical.

Nano is very niche. There simply are not that many “nanotechnology engineering” positions out there. Especially not entry-level. Most people I know from the program have gone on to work in software, chemistry, mech, or IT.

Checking the co-op employment stats for Nano is depressing. Across most work terms, Waterloo engineering programs sit at 65-80% employed. Nano sits at 55%. For first work terms specifically, most programs hit 55-75%. The 2026 Nano cohort hit 35%.

I think there are a few niches that this degree does set you up well for. Chip fabrication, materials science, polymer science, and quantum computing to name a few.

I want to make it clear that I am grateful for this program’s existence. It’s gotten me to where I am today. 

Statistically though? It’s the worst one.