Systems Design Engineering: Indigenous Engineering Resources, Patents, Standards, and More

The University of Waterloo's Library recognizes that library systems are built on colonial frameworks that historically do not represent Indigenous peoples, contributing to harm. This research guide was created with engineers in mind, to provide links to Indigenous-engineering relevant resources.

Engineers may need to search for patents (a document granting exclusive rights to a product or process) to gain insight into how products are manufactured. They may also need to search patents, if they believe that have a unique product or process, for which they're interested in obtaining a patent.

Engineers may require standards (a set of agreed-upon rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results) to ensure their designs meet industry requirements, and thus make it possible for their products to be used both nationally and internationally. Engineers may also require standards to conduct testing and ensure materials meet their specifications.

In your search for information, you may find many different sources, which may not all be of equal value in terms of accuracy, reliability, or relevance. It’s your job to make sure you are using the best information possible when informing your project and design decisions. To determine which of your sources can be relied upon, you need to critically evaluate them.