Computing Facilities

The School has embarked on an ambitious campaign to incorporate state-of-the-art digital technologies in the design curriculum.  Since the introduction of the Digital Design Center and the Digital Fabrication Lab during the last decade, there has been substantial annual investment and dramatic improvements in the facilities and electronic infrastructure for research, teaching, presentation, computer-aided design, and general computing in the SoA. The general computing resources provided by the University are continuously upgraded and include a variety of e-mail and online services as well as a campus-wide wireless network.

All SoA students in Storrs Hall have immediate access to high-end computing at their individual studio desks, which also provide space for drafting and model making.  There are also computer lab areas within the School.  A centralized technical and administrative structure allows the School to provide a higher level of technical support, standardization of computer hardware and software, and more generous computing resources for all SoA students. The result is a very wide selection of professional software packages ranging from CAD to multimedia and video editing, available at all times from any one of well over 45 workstations in the School, plus a vast central data-storage capacity that is measured in terabytes.

The School lends digital projectors, digital-still and video cameras, and laptop computers for student reviews, classes, and special events. The School maintains several electronic theater and digital classroom spaces that are network connected and equipped with MACs and ceiling-mounted projectors.  The School has a Digital Output Facility with a variety of large-format color plotters, color laser printers, and 3D output devices.

Computer Labs:

Design Computer Lab - Storrs 230

Maya Computer Lab - Storrs 285

Digital Fab Lab - Storrs 148C

Design Computer Lab

The Design Computer Lab, located in Storrs 230, is available to SoA and CoAA students 24 hours a day via the 49er card key access. This high-end lab consists of 18 Macintosh computers, running Mac OS X, with either writeable CD or DVD drives, flat-bed scanners and film scanners. Each of the computers in this lab offers access to the following applications:

• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe PhotoShop
• Microsoft Office - Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Internet Browsers
• PowerCADD
• AutoDesSys FormZ
• SketchUp
• Apple iApps - iPhoto, iTunes, iCal, iMovie, iDVD

Printing

The computers in the Design Computer Lab and the Maya Computer Lab are connected to print devices in the SoA Print Shop. See Print Shop employee for printing costs and payment procedures.

Computer Access

To access the computers in this lab you must have a valid userid and password assigned by the SoA -- there is no guest access. If you do not have a valid userid/password contact Matthew Hodgman in Storrs 222.

Computer Lab Assistance

The Design Computer Lab is not staffed. If you need assistance, check with the TA (Teaching Assistant) on duty in the SoA Print Shop. If the TA is unable to assist you, you can check the IT Links page for possible on-line help or contact: