EWS maintains a large number of installed software packages requested by Engineering faculty that teach in our labs.
EWS Windows Lab Software
EWS Windows lab software is divided into three categories, depending on the software type and the location. Core software is available within all EWS labs, Department-Specific software is available in some labs based on the software, and Optional software is available to be installed on-demand within all EWS labs.
Core Software
EWS Core software is the standard base software that is installed on every Engineering Workstation Windows computer, regardless of purpose or location. You can expect to see the following software pre-installed on any EWS Windows computer that you use:
- 7-Zip
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Wolfram Mathematica
- Microsoft Office 365
- Notepad++
- PuTTY
- Python 3
- MathType
- VLC Media Player
- WinSCP
Department-Specific Software
In addition to the Core software listed above, many courses require additional software or specific software versions to complete their coursework. Department-Specific software is installed in addition to Core software, but is specific to the location in which it is installed. For example, Computer Science computer labs may have various editors and IDEs installed, while Mechanical Engineering labs may have CAD and modeling programs. If you have questions, please
Submit a Help Request.
If you are an instructor and use a particular software title in your course, EWS can pre-install the software in the labs you are teaching the course in and/or departmental open labs. Please fill out the software request form at
https://go.illinois.edu/EWSSoftware.
Optional Software
Some software is not frequently used by a course directly, but may be helpful for students to complete that coursework (for example, the Adobe Creative Cloud suite). To reduce loading times and keep computers running efficiently, this software is not pre-installed but can be installed on-demand on any EWS Windows computer using the Software Center application (shortcut on desktop).
In the Software Center application, you can expect to see several additional optional software titles on any EWS Windows computer that you use. This list will vary depending on location and requests by instructors, but examples include:
- Adobe Creative Cloud applications
- Autodesk Fusion 360
- Box Drive
- Git
- OriginPro
- Mathworks Matlab
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code
- Zoom Client for Meetings
For information on installing optional software, please see EWS Labs, Installing Optional Software .
EWS Linux Lab Software
EWS Linux utilizes the Module system to access software. For information on using software modules, please see Linux Software Modules.
EWS Remote Lab Software
Many software titles in the EWS labs can also be made available through our Citrix and FastX remote environments.
Software available for Personal Devices
The University of Illinois Webstore hosts many software titles available to Engineering students and faculty to use on their personal devices, including some titles that are otherwise only available through EWS labs.
Some frequently requested applications include:
- aPriori
- EES
- ESRI ArcGIS Pro
- ETABS
- OriginPro:
- Siemens NX
Please note some applications are restricted to a particular department or course based on licensing limitations. Please check the Eligibility field listed on its Webstore offer page for each product to verify if you are eligible to purchase and use the software.
Requesting Additional EWS Software
Some courses may require software in addition to what is already installed/available. EWS will accept software requests that are of an academic nature (used within an Engineering course or course project, or by an Engineering RSO for academic work). Software requests must be tied to an academic course with an assigned CRN. EWS Labs are an instructional resource; due to the terms of our software license contracts and instructional funding for EWS resources,
EWS Labs, Research Computing Policy. The instructor is also responsible for purchasing the appropriate software licenses, if applicable.
We ask for a minimum of 10 business days' notice to fulfill software requests (or more for multiple software titles). Many requests are processed more quickly, but licensing issues and conflicts with our environment may cause additional delay.