Frequently asked questions
What are your goals?
Our goal is for students to learn by building things that solve important problems.
Does this expose students to liabilities to hurt themselves or others?
No more than any other engineering design team. Safety comes first: professors oversee every project, and we work with research security.
Do you have oversight?
Yes. We work in university labs under the supervision of professors, and we are moving toward working with research security.
Are you deploying drones or systems in Ukraine or anywhere else?
No. We don't deploy systems anywhere. We design, build, and test them in controlled settings overseen by professors.
Is there anything you won't build?
Yes: anything illegal, and anything we judge to be wrong based on what it does, who it is for, and what it could enable. That rules out every weapon Canada bans by law or treaty, such as chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, anti-personnel landmines, and cluster munitions.
Are you affiliated with the University of Waterloo?
We are not affiliated with the University of Waterloo. We are a student design team of University of Waterloo students, working in a Waterloo lab under University of Waterloo professors, but we are independent of the Sedra Student Design Centre.
Is this an official student design team?
Yes, this is an official student design team.
Are you entering any competitions?
Yes. We are competing in the Department of National Defence's 2027 CUAS Urban Sandbox.
How do you pick sponsors?
We favour Canadian companies and Canadian divisions of allied firms that support Canadian defence and respect our members' independence. Sponsors fund hardware, sensors, and machining; no student is required to work with one.
Who owns what you build?
Everything we build belongs to the team and is held by Waterloo Defence Association. Our leads decide what we build, together with the team.
How do you handle IP?
Everything we build stays private to the team. Our work is never sold to defence contractors; it exists only for student learning and development.
Do you sell what you build?
No.
Do I have to want a career in defence to join?
No. You can learn what defence engineering involves and decide for yourself.