Training Sessions
Throughout the academic year we offer more than 200 introductory and advanced Scientific and Engineering Software Applications (SESA) training sessions for the entire WPI community in programs including MATLAB, MATHCAD, ANSYS, COMSOL, Labview. Most sessions...
Account Requests
ARC supports the use of both Windows Terminal Servers and HPC clusters. If you are unsure of what resources you need access to, feel free to schedule a short consultation with ARC staff. When using...
Poster Printing
ARC offers large-scale printing options for WPI students, faculty, and staff. Before submitting your request, please take note of the following: Since we use the “page size” of your document to set the print dimensions,...
Consultations
Consultations with ARC staff are available free of charge to all faculty, staff, and students. Topics range from theory to coding, and from visualization to rapid prototyping. Please consider acknowledging ARC staff members for their...

Hardware, Software, Support, & Training

WPI Academic & Research Computing (ARC) maintains state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including a robust computing infrastructure, fully equipped laboratories and facilities, and up-to-date Scientific and Engineering Software Applications (SESA). Our staff members work across campus to provide system administration, data management, training, and consulting for a variety of requests for all WPI faculty and students free of charge.

Science and engineering increasingly rely on numerical analysis and computational simulations to better understand the underlying details of complex phenomena. From the study of the cosmos, to the design of unmanned vehicles, and exploration of human genetics, today’s research makes intensive use of computational resources. ARC supports the efforts of our computational researchers by making available a broad spectrum of high-end, robust hardware, and up-to-date commercial and open-source software.

Our main offices and Rapid Prototyping (RP) laboratory are located in Higgins Laboratory (HL 232), with our training sessions and poster printing located in the adjacent Design Studio (HL 234).

Hardware

Hardware is available for all domains of scientific computation, including Windows and Linux servers, high performance computing clusters, and hosting of virtual machines. Faculty can also have ARC host, manage, and maintain their research group computing hardware in one of our campus server rooms.

Access to ARC hardware is available by request.

Software

All of the computational hardware available supports a wide range of scientific software, both commercial and open source. Training sessions on many of these applications are available throughout the academic year.

Design Studio

The 1600 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Higgins Design studio, part of the Keck Design Center at WPI, serves as both an innovative classroom and a premier workspace centered on computer-aided design, simulation, and visualization.

With a focus on design technologies and collaboration, the studio is used for lectures and labs in mechanical design and manufacturing, as well as training sessions in Scientific and Engineering Software Applications (SESA).

When not in use, the studio is available for student projects, coursework and faculty research. It is equipped with high-end workstations running software for mechanical design including parametric solid modeling, structural, thermal, fluid and dynamic analysis, and general purpose applications. The Design Studio is built to facilitate student collaboration and teamwork.

Access to the Design Studio is available by request.

Training Sessions

Each year ARC offers more than 200 group and individual training sessions in Scientific and Engineering Software Applications (SESA) for over 1,200 students and faculty members. As the world-renowned research at WPI continues to makes new strides, our services continue to grow.

The most up-to-date listing of upcoming SESA training sessions can be found on the Design Studio Training page.

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Prototyping (RP) is a method of producing models directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) program. It uses a computer-driven, additive process to print solid three-dimensional models one layer at a time.

WPI has four models of RP machines available for students, faculty, and staff: the Dimension SST 1200es, the Stratasys J826 Prime, the Markforged Mark Two, and the Formlabs Form 2, all located in Higgins Laboratory 232. The machines are meant to be used for parts that cannot be easily purchased or produced using other on-campus resources such as the machine shop. For more information on using the RP machines, read our Rapid Prototyping Guidelines and visit the SharePoint WPI Rapid Prototype Machine site.

Last Updated on June 27, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get access to ARC computing resources?

Go to the accounts page of the ARC website and fill out the corresponding account request form for Turing or Windows Terminal Server access. Make sure to include details on the software that you will be using.

Who do I contact if I am having trouble with ARC resources?

Email the ARC staff at archelp@wpi.edu.