Computing
The Department of Aeronautics is well known for its intensive use of computing facilities at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The following subsections provide general information about IT services at Imperial College London and also specific IT information from the Department of Aeronautics.
Visit the ICT website for further resources for new students.
Getting help
- For all enquiries about Windows, accounts, login problems, MS Outlook Calendar or email contact ICT (Ext. 49000, service.desk@imperial.ac.uk, 4th floor of Sherfield Building).
- For queries with access to courses or content on Blackboard please contact the Undergraduate Office on ae.office@imperial.ac.uk.
- For any software/hardware issues or queries in Aeronautics computer rooms then please contact email aero.computing@imperial.ac.uk
Printing
Whatever else you do at Imperial, you will at some time or other need to print a document or make a photocopy or scan an image or document, ICT provides ICTprintservice where the functions of printing, scanning and copying are available on a multi-function printer (“MFP”).
The ICTprintservice is available on most campuses, with MFPs located in libraries, departments and PC clusters. MFPs may be mono or colour with respect to the output printed. All MFPs will scan in colour. Some MFPs are capable of producing output in A3 size. All will print in A4.
The ICTprintservice MFPs provide a "pay-for-print" service using your Imperial ID card for authentication and payment. All Imperial ID cards should automatically be registered with the ICTprintservice within an hour or two of issue by Imperial security. Go to any convenient ICTprintservice MFP and swipe your Imperial ID card (slowly and firmly) in the slot to see if you can access the service. Most students are normally set-up as "pay" users.
Credit needs to be added to a card before it can be used for printing or copying. There are money loaders, which accept both coins and notes, at the central and main medical campus libraries. However, the easiest way to add credit is by using your credit or debit card online (ePay). To find the location of money loaders or printers, departmental charges or to make a card payment, please visit the ICT Print Service
Look after your Imperial ID card - it is money!
Software
List of software offered by Aeronautics under Windows:
You can access a variety of Windows pieces of software via the University Software Hub (link to https://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/ict/self-service/computers-printing/devices-and-software/get-software/software-hub/). This includes commonly used pieces of software such as Matlab, Star CCM+ and Abaqus. The department additionally provided licenses to Office 365 and the Dassault 3DExperience platform
Under Linux (Ubuntu):
- Abaqus
- Anaconda Python
- FEniCS
- Fluidity dev package
- Gmsh
- Inksape
- Intel Fortran compiler
- LS Dyna
- Matlab
- MiKTeX
- Nektar++
- Octave
- OpenFoam
- Paraview
- StarCCM
- StarCD
- Texmaker
Computer rooms
Aeronautics offers the following computer room:
- Room CAGB 205 - 24 Machines (Dual boot).
Shared rooms:
- Room SKEM 208 – 70 Machines (Windows Only)
- Room SKEM 317 – 41 Machines (Windows Only)
- Room CAGB 203 – 90 Machines (Windows Only)
- Room CAGB 761 – 42 Machines (Windows Only)
- Room CAGB 762 – 42 Machines (Windows Only)
Computers can be used between the hours of 8:00 and 23:59
- Eating or drinking is not allowed in computer rooms (except for water).
- Reboot Dual Boot PCs to use the system of choice (Linux or Windows) but never turn off the computers.
- Report any software or hardware faults promptly: Windows or Linux to ICT service.desk@imperial.ac.uk
- It is requested that you keep noise levels down, particularly please use mobile phones outside the rooms.
- Users doing low priority tasks, such as e-mail or web browsing, must let others use the computer when there is a queue of people waiting.”
To use any of the University computers you must have an active login account. To use the Linux side in Aeronautics you use the same account although your Linux home directory will be stored on a dedicated server within the department which provides you with more file & data storage. Follow the instructions below to set up your account.
In addition to dual boot Windows/Linux computer rooms, Aeronautics also offers Linux compute servers which provide high-performance Linux compute platforms that are permanently running and can be accessed remotely from any Windows, Mac or Linux computer in the department; members of the Aeronautics department can also access these compute servers from outside the University via the department’s external gateways.
Imperial College London account
As a new member of Imperial College London, you will automatically be provided with an Imperial username and email address. These enable you to:
- send and receive email;
- log-on to the University network and Virtual Learning Environment e.g. (Blackboard); and
- access electronic information services provided by the library.
- The central computing services, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) create an inactive Imperial College London account. You must activate this account online or by following the instructions posted in the public computer rooms by ICT.
- You will need your CID (College Identifier) number and you will choose a password. Passwords should have three types of character out of: upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters (i.e. + - , /) and they must be at least 8 characters long. Please DO NOT choose dictionary words or proper names as part of the password!
- After the account is active you login with your own User Name and the password you chose.
- If the details you have entered are correct your Imperial computer account should be activated within a few seconds and your Imperial username and email address will be displayed. Please write these down so you do not forget them.
- If you have made a late entry to the University or there have been problems with your registration then it may take a few days before your Imperial computer account can be set up. Please repeat the above again a day or so later before reporting a problem.
- If you have problems with activating your account, please contact ICT service desk on West Wing, Level 4, Sherfield building, South Kensington Campus.
The central computing services, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) create an inactive Imperial College London account. You must activate this account online or by following the instructions posted in the public computer rooms by ICT. Any problems with accessing electronic journals, books and databases access service should be reported to the Central Library Help Desk library@imperial.ac.uk. More information about Electronic Library Services can be found on the Library website.
Departmental account
The Department has its own servers for Linux users and you use the same username and password for both your university and your Aero Linux accounts. A separate home directory with up to 5 GB of storage has been created for you to use when using Linux and additional filespace will be made available if required.
If you need further help or if you missed the start of session talk, please contact Dr Masoud Seifikar
Back up of data
Data may be lost for a number of reasons, e.g. hardware failure, theft, flooding or fire, and the effects on your work may be catastrophic. For this reason you are required to back-up all your data files regularly.
All students are expected to back-up their data files, preferably daily, to avoid any major problems in submitting their coursework. Back-up files and original files should be kept at two separate locations, e.g. on your own computer, CD/DVD, on a university server or on a separate memory stick. A memory stick which is kept attached to your computer or a CD/DVD left in your computer is not a valid back-up!
ICT provides centrally backed up disk space via a ‘Home Directory’. This is commonly referred to as the H: drive. It is good practice to organize your files so that your most important work is kept on the H: drive which is backed up nightly. If you need to regain lost data in the future please contact the ICT Service Desk.
Loss of data due to violation of these guidelines will not be considered as a valid reason for failure to submit coursework!
University wide rules (extracted from ICT rules)
- Password and Login Names cannot be disclosed to anyone else.
- Use is restricted to non-commercial university related work.
- Displaying, handling, or sending offensive, derogatory or pornographic material is strictly forbidden.
- Users must respect copyright laws and intellectual property rights.
Users must comply with the DATA PROTECTION ACT 1984 regulating the use of data about living persons. Failure to comply with university rules will lead to disciplinary action. Penalties can go from temporary suspension from all use of the computing facilities to in serious cases, expulsion and dismissal from the university.
Home computer and laptops
Specific software requirements vary along the whole range of courses offered and it could change from year to year. Despite this, software like Matlab is now widely used in many branches of science and engineering and forms part of introductory and advanced courses in our Department. For this reason, the Faculty of Engineering currently offers free personal downloads for students.