Essential Software for School of Engineering Students

Please review the School of Engineering’s recommendations for personal computers before making any equipment purchases. It can be found on our computer recommendation page.

VPN Client Downloads: software required for accessing certain School of Engineering resources, including software licensing servers. The School of Engineering has retired the OpenVPN Access Server and School of Engineering students are now being provided off-campus access via the University’s AnyConnect VPN Portal.

(links will be available when documentation is complete)

Access to the following servers do not require the use of a VPN connection at this time:

  • GITLAB: the School of Engineering’s software development server
  • YOUTRACK: the School of Engineering’s project management server

SFTP Drive: Windows software which will allow you to mount your School of Engineering home directory as a local drive on your machine using either Sloop or Clipper without the need for a VPN connection. This will allow software on your computer to access your School of Engineering files.

SFTP Drive Install, Configuration and Usage Directions!

(Alternatives solutions can be found here: https://web.engr.ship.edu/for-students/faq/accessing-user-home-directory/ )

MobaXterm: Windows software for remotely accessing departmental resources using SSH. We recommend using the installer edition for personal devices. The portable version has been verified to work with non-SoE lab machines on campus. When establishing an SSH connection to one of our servers, the software also initiates an SFTP session and an X-Windows session allowing for easy access to your files and the execution of graphical applications.

JetBrains IDE’s: These are the recommended development tools used in nearly all of the School of Engineering courses which involve programming. Students can refer to FAQ #9 for download links and instructions on software licensing. The four specific IDEs installed in the School of Engineering labs are: CLion for C/C++ development, IntelliJ for Java development, PyCharm for python development, and Rubymine for Ruby development.

MATLAB: We now have an agreement with MathWorks which allows all SHIP students to install Matlab on their personal devices. For this process, you will need to use your standard SHIP.EDU credentials. If you are having issues, you can find excellent installation instructions and other useful resources on the SHIP.EDU site. You can also get assistance at the student help desk located in the library.


NOTE: OrCAD, Solidworks, and Civil 3D are ONLY available for Windows 10 / 11 – We do not recommend the use of virtualization with these products!


Cadence: The installation files for the OrCAD and PSpice software tools. You MUST be logged into your School of Engineering sponsored GSuite Account (CS/ENGR) in order to access the files. To use this software from off campus, you will be required to establish an active VPN connection in order to access the licensing server.

(Checksum: 6efad8c2603eeb94520fc8d7956a3de2)

Redistribution of this software is in direct violation of the University’s computer usage policy.

Cadence Download and Installation Instructions

Solidworks: Due to the size of the installation package, we needed to go old school (something we used back in the 90’s) to provide students secure access to the Solidworks. The technique is called disk span zipping. What this means is you will need to download a number of smaller files rather than just one large file. To use this method, you MUST be logged into your School of Engineering sponsored GSuite Account (CS/ENGR). To use this software from off campus, you will be required to establish an active VPN connection in order to access the licensing server. 

Redistribution of this software is in direct violation of the University’s computer usage policy.

Access the Solidworks Download and Installation Instructions Here

AutoCAD Civil 3D: As with Solidworks, we needed to go old school to provide students secure access to a file as large as the Civil3D setup program. Using a technique called disk span zipping, we break the large install files up into parts which will allow reliable and timely downloads from less stable network connections. This requires you to download multiple small files rather than one large file. To use this method, you MUST be logged into your School of Engineering sponsored GSuite Account (CS/ENGR). To use this software from off campus, you will be required to establish an active VPN connection in order to access the licensing server. 

Redistribution of this software is in direct violation of the University’s computer usage policy.

Access the AutoCAD Civil 3D Download and Installation Instructions Here