Required Laptop Program

Architecture at UIC engages contemporary methods of architectural design and presentation. In support of this, the school requires that all students own and bring to studio a laptop computer. This policy affords students the best possible design education. The advanced software used by architecture students requires more powerful and more expensive laptops than those that are used by other students.

Below is a list of general laptop computer and software requirements for students entering the school in Fall 2011.

Laptop Computer Minimum Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i5 (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache) / Dual-Core AMD Operton
Memory (RAM): 4 GB RAM
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Business (SP2 or higher), XP Professional (SP3 or higher), or 7 Professional / Apple OS/X 10.6.2
Graphics Card: Discrete or dedicated memory

Suggested laptop computers:

Apple Computers
15" MacBook Pro
17" MacBook Pro

Lenovo
ThinkPad W510

Hewlett-Packard
EliteBook 8740w
EliteBook 8540w

Dell
Precision M6600
Precision M4600

Software

The software students will be exposed to changes constantly but includes: AutoCAD, Maya, 3ds Max, Rhinoceros, Maxwell and more.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Standard includes required programs Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat Professional. Education-priced copies are available from the UIC Bookstore, JourneyEd.com and other sources.

Wordprocessing, Spreadsheet, Presentation software such as MS Office, Wordperfect Office, Apple iWork, or StarOffice. MS Office is available as a student version from the UIC Bookstore.

AutoCAD, 3ds Max and certain other Autodesk products are available for download as Educational Versions with student account at http://students.autodesk.com. You must possess a UIC email address.

MAD-Crit Students: Master of Arts in Design Criticism students should purchase Adobe Creative Suite as well as wordprocessing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Other software (i.e., Autodesk products including AutoCAD, Maya, etc.) are not typically required as part of the MAD-Crit program.

Software Tutorials: UIC has a site account agreement with the software tutorial provider Lynda.com. Students and faculty on the UIC network can access the site's materials, including tutorials for Adobe programs, Maya, Rhino, and AutoCAD, at no charge.

www.go.uic.edu/lynda

Anti-Virus: UIC provides the latest version of Symantec Anti-Virus to all students at no cost from ACCC.

Rev. 6.13.2011