Software used in Mechanical Engineering
Adobe
Adobe annual subscriptions for Acrobat Pro and the Creative Suite are available to UCSB faculty and staff (including those in a research group) with a valid UCSB CCOA account number. To request a subscription in the ME department, please fill out this Google form
Once funding has been verified you will receive an email when your Adobe account has been created. If your funding source is not in the ME
department, then please check with that department on their process for Adobe subscriptions.
Ansys CES Edupack
CES EduPack is a set of teaching resources that support Materials Education across Engineering, Design, Science and Sustainable Development.
Availability
CES is only available on Windows computers in the ECI Labs for instructional course work.
COMSOL
COMSOL is a cross-platform finite element analysis, solver and multiphysics simulation software.
- COMSOL for academic non-research use is offered in the ECI labs only
- COMSOL for research is part of a shared license pool
Mathematica
Wolfram Mathematica software: Is a campus site license covering all Faculty, Staff, and Students at UCSB. More information is available here: https://software.ucsb.edu/software-catalog/mathematica
Labview
Labview is a system-design platform and development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments.
- Labview academic non-research use is in the and the Mechanical Engineering Instructional labs
- Each research group will need to purchase their own license for Labview. Most groups will find the Professional covers what their requirements. Review which version you are looking for the product features list: https://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/labview/select-edition.html
- You will need to generate a quote from a reseller such as Test Force.https://www.testforce.com/brands/national-instruments/labview-series.html
- Once you have your quote verify any educational pricing then attach it to a cart in Gateway as a non-catalog item.
Solidworks
SolidWorks is CAD and solid modeling software in use within the department that runs on Windows.
Full network license
The full network licensed version is only available for faculty, staff, and research groups within the Mechanical Engineering Department. The full network license requires a Windows computer connected to the campus wired, wireless, or VPN for off campus use.
For instructional, no-research use only students can access the ECI Labs remotely for course work.
Please note: We are currently running Solidworks 2025 SP3 for the academic year. We only upgrade once a year in the Fall for compatibility reasons. If you are planning on using a version outside of our labs please make sure you are using the same version and service pack level or you will have compatibility issues.
The full version will still be available remotely for instructional use in the ECI Labs.
For those wishing to learn Solidworks outside of required classes, there are 2 resources available:
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Linkedin Learning is available to many with a netID
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SolidProfessor also offers training as well as a pay for service. Follow the Student Store Link and select UCSB from the drop down menu.