[comp.sys.sgi] Undergraduate Engineering Education

patrick@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (patrick fitzhorn) (03/13/91)

I am interested in corresponding with SGI owners whose machines
are entirely used for undergraduate engineering education.

What courses are they used for?
Any freshman engineering classes?
Are applications packages used, or do students write their own software?
What languages and graphics packages do the students use?
Are the machines used at the Department level, College level, University
level?

We are considering the replacement of our collection of 24 Evans &
Sutherland PS300's with SGI equipment, but are somewhat concerned
about the apparent lack of an interactive graphics environment such as
an interpreted PHIGS.  Although our students typically write all code
they require, the language is an interpreted data-flow PHIGS-like
language that is extremely easy to learn: no C or Fortran wizardry
or mastery of a number of procedural graphics calls is necessary to 
build and manipulate quite complex visual environments.

Thanks.

Patrick Fitzhorn            !  
Mechanical Engineering      ! Then remembering he was an automaton,
Colorado State University   ! he decided to  spend the night at the
Fort Collins, CO  80523     ! Hotel du Determinisme.
(303) 491-5505              !                           (P. Morand)

LEONARDZ@VM.UOGUELPH.CA (Len Zaifman) (03/15/91)

On 12 Mar 91 20:25:25 GMT you said:
>I am interested in corresponding with SGI owners whose machines
>are entirely used for undergraduate engineering education.
>
        .
        .
        .
>Sutherland PS300's with SGI equipment, but are somewhat concerned
>about the apparent lack of an interactive graphics environment such as
>an interpreted PHIGS.  Although our students typically write all code

   I just received from SGI's software express some info on TGS Phigs products
including a product called PCI ( PHIGS command interpreter ). This sounds like
it may be what you want. Call 1-800 345-0222 and choose the right options to
get to software sales,assuming you have a digital phone.

   You may want to talk to someone about it as all I have is a twosided glossy.

>they require, the language is an interpreted data-flow PHIGS-like
>language that is extremely easy to learn: no C or Fortran wizardry
>or mastery of a number of procedural graphics calls is necessary to
>build and manipulate quite complex visual environments.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Patrick Fitzhorn            !
>Mechanical Engineering      ! Then remembering he was an automaton,
>Colorado State University   ! he decided to  spend the night at the
>Fort Collins, CO  80523     ! Hotel du Determinisme.
>(303) 491-5505              !                           (P. Morand)

Len Zaifman
Information Technology Coordinator,College of Physical and Engineering Science
Department of Computing Services
University of Guelph
Guelph,Ontario.  N1G 2W1
(519)821-4120 xt 6566
email : LeonardZ@VM.UOGUELPH.CA