Student Computer Recommendation

Recommendations for student computers in UTA's College of Engineering

If you already have a laptop which meets the UTA Office of Information Technology minimum standards, you may continue to use it as long as it continues to meet our coursework needs. The following recommendation is provided for students wishing to purchase a laptop that is likely to be sufficient for four years of undergraduate engineering coursework.

At minimum, because software must be installed on your device, a laptop that either has the full Mac OS (not iOS), Windows, (or Linux for Computer Engineering students) is necessary. Chromebooks, netbooks, iPad Pros, etc. do not have the option to have these operating systems and will be insufficient for the engineering program.

General Laptop Suggestion for Fall 2025 Engineering Students

  • 64 bit platform
  • Intel 10th (or higher) Generation i5 or i7 processor (equivalent or higher) or AMD Ryzen 5 processor ( or higher ) with 4 core / 8 thread processor minimum
  • 16 GB RAM (or higher)
  • Screen size 15 inch (or your preference)
  • 512 GB hard drive (or higher), SSD recommended
  • WiFi, sound, and camera
  • Two or more USB-A ports. USB-A ports built-in to the laptop are preferred. Adapters that convert USB-C to USB-A must be verified to work with external devices.

Software

The following software tools are often used in engineering courses:

  • Microsoft Office (licensed through UTA/free)
  • Mathworks MATLAB (licensed through UTA/free)

Specific software requirements will be included in the syllabus for each course. Many of these required software licenses are free to UTA engineering students.   For many others, student versions of engineering software applications are available from the individual manufacturers at relatively low cost. Contact your department to see which ones are. In general, SolidWorks, Matlab, and Microsoft applications are free. Also, in some cases, free open source software is available.

Hardware and Software Suggestions for Specific Majors

Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Whereas mathematics software (MATLAB, Mathematica) is available in Windows and MacOS versions, several 3D modeling and analysis packages in widespread use—including our department—are Windows-native (for example, SolidWorks, CATIA, ABAQUS, and ANSYS). MAE does not endorse a particular OS, but notes that (1) a midrange Windows laptop from any reputable manufacturer will run all required software, and (2) prospective MacOS should verify that their systems can support applications such as SolidWorks and ANSYS through emulation software. Students may also use the many Windows systems available in the computer labs.

Civil Engineering

Many required Civil Engineering software packages only work on Windows-based computers.  Even when the Windows operating system is run on a Mac, they could be too slow to be productive. Of the standard CAD software, only AutoCAD has a native Intel-based Mac OS version. Currently, 3D modeling software, including ANSYS, Inventor, SolidWorks, PTC/CREO and CATIA run only on native Windows-based computers or an Intel-based MAC OS through a Windows emulator. FE software ABAQUS runs only on native Windows-based computers. Standard CAD and FE software does not currently support the Mac M1 ARM architecture, which requires ARM64 format software. Standard mathematics software, such as MatLab, Mathematica, and Mathcad, also have both Intel-based Mac OS and Windows versions.  ABAQUS, Altair, ANSYS, Inventor, SolidWorks, MathCAD, Mathematica, and Matlab are available in on-campus computer labs for coursework.

Electrical Engineering

  • Windows 11 laptop with 12th Gen (or later) Intel Core i7 (or equivalent) CPU
    • MacOS laptops are great but some software used in EE is Windows only
    • Macs may need to be able to run Windows in a virtual machine
  • RAM: 16Gb (minimum)
  • Solid State HD at least 256 Gb
  • USB-A, and HDMI ports (or a good quality USB-C adapter hub)

 A few things to avoid: Tablets, iPads, Chromebooks, Surface devices/tablets** (there have been some hardware compatibility issues with Surface devices). Laptops marketed as 'Thin and light' are often over-priced and under-powered. Gaming laptops are often heavy and expensive. The 15in screen size is usually just right for an engineering curriculum.

Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, and Data Science

In addition to the general suggestions above, undergraduate students majoring in computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering also need a Raspberry Pi 4b computer running 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS.

For Computer Engineering students the following suggestions are provided for machine configurations:

  • Intel-based Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or 24.04 LTS or Intel-based Windows 11 with Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2)
  • At least 16 GiB of memory is required (32 GiB recommended)
  • At least 1 USB 2.0 or later, type A port (2 recommended)
  • Ethernet port (or a USB to Ethernet adapter)

To better evaluate your choice of machine for Computer Engineering, here is a list of common software used in the Computer Engineering curriculum: Microsoft Office or LibreOffice; Mathworks MATLAB with 5G Toolbox, Antenna Toolbox, Communication Systems Toolbox, Control System Toolbox, Instrument Control Toolbox, LTE System Toolbox, Phased Array System Toolbox, RF Toolbox, and Signal Processing Toolbox; GNU C/C++ Compiler and Linker; KiCAD; Analog Devices LTspice; Texas Instruments Code Composer Studio; Altera Quartis Prime Lite; Xilinx Vivado ML; National Instruments Digilent Waveforms and Adept; PuTTY; Filezilla; and Wireshark