University of California, Berkeley Mechanical Engineering

Computer Networking

Faculty, staff, and students may connect their devices to the  eduroam wireless network by obtaining an Wi-Fi Key.  Additional information regarding the Campus wireless infrastructure and setup instructions can be found on the IST website.

Visitors to Etcheverry Hall may connect to the Berkeley-Visitor public Wi-Fi network. 

Research groups may establish Ethernet connections within Etcheverry Hall by registering their devices with the Campus DHCP Service.  

*Restrictions and additional security requirements apply. 

ME CAD/CAM Lab

The department manages two CAD/CAM labs (1171 and 1109 Etcheverry) for instructional use. For class use reservation, please contact the Undergraduate Student Services Advisor to schedule your class/lab sessions.  The Lab can also be used used by ME students when there is no class session. List of software installed in the lab computers

Software

Campus provides a repository of system, productivity, and engineering software (including Matlab, Mathematica, and LabVIEW, etc.) to eligible Campus affiliates free of charge.  Please visit Software Central for the list of available software and download instructions.

List of engineering software used in ME:

Research Lab Websites

A free web hosting service is provided to all ME research labs by the Davis-Etcheverry Computing Facility (DECF).  For details on how to set up a research lab website, please contact the DECF Consult.

Computer Requirements for Students

Our technical staff prefer PCs rather than MACS. Most departmental software only runs on PCs because there are no MAC equivalent. However, there are software tools that allow a MAC to dual boot and run PC software. MACs also support Virtual Machine PCs (VM PCs), however our report on such setup is that it’s problematic and may cause performance issues. Any PCs with a minimum of Intel Core i3 CPU and up (and it’s AMD equivalent) should suffice. Regarding RAM, 16Gb should be fine – more would be better. Anything beyond that may not be particularly helpful for our purposes.

Calculator Requirements for Students

Please note that, according to Department policy, the only type of calculators that are allowed during undergraduate examinations are simple models such as the TI-30XS or TI-83/84 Plus. This policy, in place for several years now, was implemented to help ensure a level playing field for all students during exams.

IT Security and Policies

In order to protect sensitive data and IT assets, all users must comply with the IT policies set forth by the Berkeley IT Policy Team.  These policies include, but are not limited to, Computer Use Policy and Minimum Security Standards.  For details regarding Campus IT policies and security standards, please visit the Berkeley Security website.