At the University of Oklahoma Polytechnic Institute (OUPI), we are committed to providing a hands-on education that prepares you for today’s workforce, and to support this, we have a technology (laptop) requirement for all students.
The University of Oklahoma Polytechnic Institute (OUPI) requires all incoming students to have a laptop to be used during their time at OU. This requirement is designed to support the use of multimedia-based software and web-based course materials that are integral to OUPI's hands-on, practical approach to education. With the wireless network available in all OU-Tulsa buildings, students can access course content and communicate with faculty anytime and anywhere, enhancing both teaching and learning. To ensure students are fully equipped for their studies, it is important to have a laptop that meets recommended specifications, providing the necessary tools and capabilities for both classroom activities and assignments. This policy is a key component of OUPI's commitment to producing work-ready graduates, and all students with majors in OUPI are expected to have a laptop computer to use throughout their curricula.
To ensure the best possible learning experience, it is strongly recommended to have a laptop with the following specifications. All devices must be under a Dell or Apple active warranty for OU Information Technology assistance in repair services. (See section below under repair services.)
For Apple MacOS:
• Any Apple MacOS laptop with MacOS 13 (Ventura) or newer.
• Apple M1 or later processor, or Intel i7 or later processor.
• 13-15 inch display.
• Minimum * 32GB RAM.
* 32GB of RAM is sufficient to run software but 64GB is recommended.
• Minimum 500GB Hard Drive (Solid State Drive SSD highly recommended).
For any brand of a Windows-based Laptop:
• Windows 10(64 bit)/11 (Education version acceptable) or later.
• Intel i7 or better (or AMD equivalent) processor.
• 13-15 inch display.
• Minimum * 32GB RAM.
* 32GB of RAM is sufficient to run software but 64GB is recommended.
• Minimum 500GB Hard Drive (Solid State Drive SSD highly recommended).
• 1 GB Integrated Video (Discrete/Dedicated GPU such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, AMD Radeon HD 7970M, NVIDIA Quadro K500M recommended).
• At least 1 USB 2.0 Port.
• 3 Year Warranty with accidental coverage (highly recommended, not required).
• Webcam (integrated preferred but USB is acceptable).
• Microphone (integrated preferred but USB is acceptable).
OU Information Technology (IT) and OUPI have partnered to provide a comprehensive computer support infrastructure. This includes wireless coverage, repair services, network file storage, and classrooms with additional power and network capability.
IT provides students with support for their computing needs. To locate the IT Service Center nearest you, visit needhelp.ou.edu. The IT Service Center is a Dell and Apple certified warranty repair center and provides support for these and other brands of computer. This service is free of charge, excluding any parts, for computers still under warranty. For student laptops without Dell or Apple warranty coverage, IT can provide hardware support services for a $60 fee and the student must provide replacement parts.
The IT Service Center is in the Admin Building, Room 1C65. Here is a link to phone support as well as additional information on face-to-face support: https://www.ou.edu/tulsa/it.
1TB of network storage space is provided for students to store homework, projects or other academic-related files.
OUPI is home to the OU-Tulsa Accelerated Composable Computing System (OU-TACCS). This system provides state-of-the-art resources for machine learning and artificial intelligence coursework and research. Dedicated to OUPI, this system provides an array of accelerated computing modules (GPUs)
