This FAQ is for DMEM Students - answers may not apply to students in other Departments/Faculties

Questions and Answers Specific to Homeworking are below

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Class	Question	Answer
Homeworking	I am off campus, I have a computer, but it does not have the OS/processor/memory/graphics to run SolidWorks. What could I do? FAQ Direct Link	The best option is likely to be using a Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD). See this FAQ answer: https://supportal.dmem.strath.ac.uk/HelpDesk/direct_homeworking_FAQ.php?q=4247 Autodesk provides all of their products free for educational purposes including Inventor (engineering), Fusion 360 (Product Design), AutoCAD (2D mainly and some 3D) and Alias (Advanced Surface Modelling). There is Mac compatibility, however, your machine may struggle with these too if older https://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/featured If you are working on surface modelling for product design in modules like DM300 and DM982, Rhino3D is a very good package which is available in DMEM labs and there is a 90 day fully functional trial available for download. The package works on both Windows and Mac https://www.rhino3d.com/download Where it is difficult to install a package on your machine, then it is worth trying Onshape. This is a cloud based CAD package (no install, runs entirely in an internet browser on Windows, Mac or Linux) which provides many of the same features as SolidWorks, including surfacing, solid modelling, FEA and 2D layouts. Free accounts are available for education https://www.onshape.com/education-plan

Class

Question

Answer

Homeworking

I am off campus, I have a computer, but it does not have the OS/processor/memory/graphics to run SolidWorks. What could I do?

FAQ Direct Link

The best option is likely to be using a Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD). See this FAQ answer:

https://supportal.dmem.strath.ac.uk/HelpDesk/direct_homeworking_FAQ.php?q=4247

Autodesk provides all of their products free for educational purposes including Inventor (engineering), Fusion 360 (Product Design), AutoCAD (2D mainly and some 3D) and Alias (Advanced Surface Modelling). There is Mac compatibility, however, your machine may struggle with these too if older https://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/featured

If you are working on surface modelling for product design in modules like DM300 and DM982, Rhino3D is a very good package which is available in DMEM labs and there is a 90 day fully functional trial available for download. The package works on both Windows and Mac https://www.rhino3d.com/download

Where it is difficult to install a package on your machine, then it is worth trying Onshape. This is a cloud based CAD package (no install, runs entirely in an internet browser on Windows, Mac or Linux) which provides many of the same features as SolidWorks, including surfacing, solid modelling, FEA and 2D layouts. Free accounts are available for education https://www.onshape.com/education-plan

This FAQ is for DMEM Students - answers may not apply to students in other Departments/Faculties

Questions and Answers Specific to Homeworking are below

General Questions and Answers are here

Questions and Answers specific to working from home are here

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