AE Graduate Computing

Computers

The department may provide a repurposed standard desktop setup to PHD students upon request. If you are running intense simulations for research, it will not be suitable for that use. If you require something other than a standard computer it is the responsibility of  your advisor to provide you the proper approved resources that meet your needs.

Software

Any software the department has access to is available to you. You can also browse to software.psu.edu to look for any software that may be available through the University. The University offer a variety of software free to students/faculty/staff or at a discounted price.

If you need to purchase software, it is your advisors responsibility to provide you the software.

If there is software that you need to purchase that the department doesn’t already have access to or that isn’t available through the University, it will need to go through an software approval process before it can be purchased and installed.

CoE Computer Usage Policies

Per College of Engineering Least User Privilege Policy, admin credentials will not be provided to install software on your own. All software that you need for research needs to be approved first if it hasn’t already been before it can be installed and all software installations will be done by IT.

If elevated privileges are needed for use of software, CoE IT can leverage Cyberark to assist with privilege escalation where needed. If  you run into a scneraio that you need privilege escalation to use certain features with software, please email AEHELPDESK@ENGR.PSU.EDU and we will work with you to set up Cyberark polices to run the software at an elevated privilege where needed.

Research

If you are a funded PHD student you must use a Penn State provided device for your research and make sure your data is stored/backed up appropriately. For level 1 and 2 data I suggest using OneDrive. For level 3 and 4 data the Office of Information Security will assist but I recommend using Sharepoint as it is approved for storing level 3 and 4 data.

If you are self funded you can use your own device.

Export Control

If you plan on leaving the country for break/vacation and have a laptop that was provided to you by the University, speak with your advisor first to make sure you are able to take the laptop with you or use specific software while you are traveling. There may be some strict restrictions depending on where you are traveling.