All incoming Engineering students are required to have a laptop computer for use in their academic studies.  Students are not required to purchase from a specific vendor or a specific model of laptop, but it is strongly recommended that the laptop you purchase meet or exceed the minimum specifications on these pages.

Dell and Apple have been the preferred vendors of The University of Kentucky for several years, and through these relationships UK students and employees receive discounts on computers and other items purchased through the UK Dell discount site and UK Apple Employee/Student discount site.

Laptop specifications and information

Apple Macintosh Information

Software information

Calculators

Which calculator a student can use in a class, or at least on the tests, is determined by the course's instructor. In the first few semesters, students will generally be limited to calculators that are allowed on the SAT, ACT, or AP tests (basically, calculators that are not capable of performing symbolic manipulations). The Texas Instrument’s TI-84 Plus meets this standard, and a list of other AP approved calculators can be found on the College Board web site. Later in their academic careers, students will be able to use more powerful models.

Additional Information

Students have access to Microsoft OneDrive and Google G-Suite cloud drives to back up their data files, though they may also want to have an external hard drive to backup their entire computer (operating system, programs, etc.). Students may also want a couple inexpensive thumb/jump drives for use as needed. 

If you have questions not covered here, please contact Lynn Tilley (lynn.tilley@uky.edu or 859-257-3452) in Engineering’s Computing Services group.