About SolidWorks
Eligibility
Faculty, Staff, Students
SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) computer program that runs on Microsoft Windows. SolidWorks is published by Dassault Systèmes.
How to Obtain SolidWorks
Student Version
College of Engineering students are licensed to use the tool for one year.
The ZIP file is ~8GB, so depending on your network connection/speed, it can take some time to download. A wired connection is recommended.
Ensure you have at least 30GB of free space before downloading so you will have room to extract and install all the files. Additionally, you will need to run the EXE to unzip the installer and you will need to run the installer as an admin or uncheck the Electrical option to avoid the SQL Express error.
This software is supported on Windows 64-bit operating systems. Visit the College of Engineering’s YouTube channel for a step-by-step guide.
Faculty/Staff Version
College of Engineering faculty and staff may access the software through the link below with myBama credentials.
The College of Engineering offers support, contact support@eng.ua.edu for assistance. The support team can install the software for faculty and staff if you specify your computer name in your support request.
Faculty and staff must be connected to the campus network to install this software. This software is supported on Windows 64-bit operating systems.
ELIGIBILITY AND COST
Students should use the free student version of this software. The faculty and staff version is only available to College of Engineering faculty and staff.
SOFTWARE INFORMATION
Connection to campus VPN is not required to for the free student edition but is required for the campus FEA bundle.
This software is supported on Windows 64-bit operating systems.