Computer Requirements for Engineering Students
A functional laptop is important to being successful in the R.B. Annis School of Engineering. Reliability and durability are important, as students will be transporting and using their laptop for multiple classes every day. Therefore, for a laptop we recommended a high-end, business-class model that will last a student for all 4 years.
See below for major-specific requirements and recommendations:
- Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and General Engineering - prefers Microsoft Windows.
- Computer Engineering and Electrical Electrical Engineering - Windows is recommended and required for some classes.
- Software Engineering and Computer Science prefer Mac or Linux.
For the PC, a Lenovo (Thinkpad, Legion, or Yoga), Dell (Precision, XPS), or HP (Spectre) have been well-liked by students.
For a Mac, a MacBook Pro is recommended. Students do fine with a MacBook Air but sometimes struggle with the smaller screen.
For both PC and Mac, an external mouse is a necessity for all majors, with appropriate adapters.
For any questions contact Dr. Paul Talaga at talagap@uindy.edu.
Specifications
For Mac, any M chip is fine.
A solid state hard drive (SSD) with minimum of 512GB of storage.
Minimum 16GB of RAM. 32GB or more is recommended.
An integrated graphics card with at least 16GB of system RAM or a dedicated video card with at least 8GB of system RAM. Integrated video cards share system RAM with the OS, so you'll need more to compensate.
If you are planning to major in mechanical engineering, run any graphics-intensive programs (CAD, for instance), a dedicated video card is highly recommended. You simply cannot use CAD without one.
It is recommended that you purchase at least a three-year warranty with accidental damage protection. About half of our students purchase an extended warranty, but only 5% of our students take advantage of the warranty.
UIndy education discounts
See UIndy's tech guide for information on computer discounts.