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First Year Supplies

What You’ll Need

Please ensure that you have the following school supplies ready for when classes start:

Laptop Requirements

All Engineering students need to have a laptop (not a tablet or chromebook) – the minimum recommended specifications are:

Students enrolled in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering programs (Aerospace, Mechanical, Biomedical and Mechanical, and Sustainable and Renewable Energy – Stream B) recommended for working with CAD or simulations: processor – Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7; dedicated graphics card with at least 2 GB of dedicated memory, such as the NVIDIA GTX or RXT series, and display 15.6″ Full HD or higher. Information regarding MAE computing requirements can be found HERE.

Students enrolled in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering programs (Software, Computer Systems, Communications, and Biomedical Electrical) will require MS Windows or Linux laptops for software used in SYSC courses. Systems should have at minimum an Intel Core i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, and at least 512 GB of free disk space to install software. Apple Mac systems (including those with M-series processors) can be used with the assistance of appropriate virtualization software, either by purchasing a (student) copy of Parallels (supports Intel and M-series CPU) for Mac, or by using VirtualBox (for Intel CPU only).

Students enrolled in the Department of Electronics programs (Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Sustainable and Renewable Energy – Stream A) will require MS Windows or Linux laptop for software used in upperyear ELEC courses. Apple Mac systems can be used with the assistance of using Virtual Box (free, only supports Intel chipset), or by purchasing a (student) copy of Parallels (supports Intel and M1 chipsets) for Mac. Please note the department does not support MacOS systems – more information regarding DOE laptop requirements can be found HERE.

Students enrolled in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering programs (Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering) will require MS Windows laptops for software used in civil and environmental engineering courses. Systems should have at minimum an Intel Core i9/i7 or AMD Ryzen 7/9 CPU, 16-32 GB RAM, 500+ GB of free disk space to install software and dedicated graphics card NVIDIA or AMD with at least 4 GB of dedicated memory. Apple Mac systems (including those with M-series processors) can be used with the assistance of appropriate virtualization software, either by purchasing a (student) copy of Parallels (supports Intel and M-series CPU) for Mac, or by using VirtualBox (for Intel CPU only).

Students enrolled in the Mechatronics program will require MS Windows or Linux laptops for software used in Mechatronic courses. Systems should have at minimum an Intel Core i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB of free disk space to install software. Apple Mac systems (including those with M-series processors) can be used with the assistance of appropriate virtualization software, either by purchasing a (student) copy of Parallels (supports Intel and M-series CPU) for Mac, or by using VirtualBox (for Intel CPU only). For mechatronics students working with CAD or simulations: processor – Intel I7 or AMD Ryzen 7; dedicated graphics card with at least 2 GB of dedicated memory.

Other School Supplies

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