1999 Engineering Handbook - Computing in the faculty

Computing in the faculty

The engineering courses offered at all campuses aim to provide high-level computing skills for the professional engineer.
At Caulfield, students have access to many computer laboratories of which nineteen are PC based and three are UNIX based. They are located in buildings B, C, F and K and are connected to a university-wide Ethernet service incorporating Novell servers for these PCs. This network then interconnects to several minicomputers, Unix work stations and supercomputer facilities at the Computer Centre. Connection to the AARNet and the world-wide Internet and its services is readily available. The Internet provides remote logins, mail, news, ftp, Netscape, World Wide Web and many other useful facilities including free software in huge quantities. All students and staff have access to these facilities and are encouraged to use them. There are additional computer resources dedicated to computer interfacing, computer networking, digital signal processing, AutoCad, computer-aided manufacturing and electronic design automation (EDA), the latter being accessed from Sun Micro workstations. A highly sophisticated manufacturing prototyping system connected to the Silicon Graphics workstations is available for student and staff project and research work.
At Clayton, a number of engineering computing laboratories are operated in conjunction with the university Computer Centre. These laboratories are open to all engineering students as well as those of the university Computer Centre. In addition to these common facilities, several departments operate their own laboratories. Engineering runs a part of the campus-wide Ethernet network consisting of three Novell file servers and a number of UNIX work stations. Sub-nets are connected to the university Computer Centre and from there to AARNet and the rest of the world. This provides Internet access, bringing telnet, mail, news, ftp, Netscape, World Wide Web and all the other Internet services. The standard Linux, Windows 3.11, Windows 95 and Microsoft office computing environment is readily available on the network as well as more than thirty specialised engineering software packages. All students and staff have access to electronic mail and these other services and are encouraged to use them. Undergraduates have access to five laboratory areas in building 60, rooms G11, G14, G15, G18 and G19. These laboratories are open throughout semesters on weekdays from 9 am to 11 pm and on weekends from 9 am to 5 pm.
At Gippsland, there are two networked PC laboratories, one of which is specially equipped for computer-aided design. Other microcomputer laboratories are available elsewhere on campus. There is a strong emphasis on computing in the engineering course and computer literacy is taught at the beginning of the course. There is a special resource, NETFACE, for distance education students requiring access to main frame computers or to email staff and other students. The campus resources include work stations and other advanced computers and there are high speed links to the central computer facilities at Clayton and through to the Internet. Gippsland Computer Centre staff are available to assist with information and with registration of computer password codes.