UPDATED: Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 at 12:54 a.m.

The latest initiative launched by Syracuse University’s Student Association gives remote access to computers for students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Launched Nov. 4, up to 30 students at a time can access a Link Hall desktop from their personal computers. While there is no time limit on the program, it is intended for students to use in emergencies, said SA Co-Chair of Student Life Anjani Ladhar.

Remote access is available for students living in off-campus housing “so students can work on their assignments from their dorms or apartments,” Ladhar said. They are intended out of necessity rather than convenience, though, according to the remote access instructions.

This program’s goal is to “utilize engineering softwares and retrieve documents,” Ladhar said.

There are nine programs that can be used by students, including MATLAB, COMSOL Multiphysics and Polymath.

Ladhar began working on the initiative in March 2016 along with Eddie Devino, a senior in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and James Spoelstra, director of Information and Technology.

The idea began when 30 computers in Link Hall were robbed, Devino said.

“This limited students access to computer programs that were necessary to finish their assignments,” Devino said. “It was also nearing finals, so it was very hectic.”

The initial work began when Ladhar, Devino and Spoelstra began forming instructions, user testing both on and off campus and outreaching to departments throughout the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The work also took place during summer 2016, with the goal to have the program launch at some point during the fall 2016 semester.

This pilot program is similar to one implemented to the School of Information Studies, and found out that here was a remote server within the engineering school, Devino said.

Ladhar and Devino reached out to students about wanting to test some of the software. Tara Picudella, a senior chemical engineer major, was one of the student testers who tried out the software.

“I really liked the idea because I personally hated having to come all the way from South Campus just to use a computer in Link because that’s the only place that had the programs I needed,” Picudella said.

Because Picudella spent this past summer in Syracuse, Devino asked her to test some of the software. These tests proved to show positive results, and so changes were made to the servers.

Once the account is made, it becomes easier to access the information as students only have to enter their NetID and password, Picudella said.

While testing the programs, Picudella found different ones had different speed levels, specifically that MATLAB was slower and Polymath works faster than on a school computer.

The actual desktop computers should still be a preference for engineers as they have more than the nine programs available, Devino said.

Because the remote access server is through Windows, the programs will update on their own the third Tuesday each month from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., so students must save their work, according to the remote access instructions.

But Devino and Landhar said they believe the remote access program is something that will bring the school and university forward with remote access technology.

“We feel like it is essential that the university develops greater access to necessary software, and we have taken it upon ourselves to work for the student body,” Devino said.

Published on November 6, 2016 at 8:13 pm

Contact William: wgmuoio@syr.edu