It used to be that students wanting to work off campus from their personal computer and take advantage of specialized software for a project were out of luck. This is no longer the case for engineering students using Citrix XenApp. Using their own devise (computer, tablet, even smart phone) students can now access the applications they would normally find in engineering computer labs.

The software program allows engineering students to work on projects from the comfort of their own home, or anywhere that has wifi for that matter. It eliminates the need for long hours in computer labs and decreases unnecessary time on campus.

Besides these benefits, Citrix facilitates participation in important learning opportunities, such as studying abroad or doing off-campus internships.

Glen Winters, an electrical/computer engineering student at Oregon State, is studying abroad in France. While away, he still needed to access the classroom software he would use if he were in Corvallis. Using the Citrix XenApp he was able to run all of the necessary devices and programs, regardless of the poor Internet connection.

“This is awesome. I’m running Matlab on my laptop on bad wifi in France, and it’s smooth and quick. Citrix rocks. Nice job,” said Winters.

When Brianna Nagle, a senior in chemical engineering, was asked about how she likes Citrix, she said, “The Citrix connection time is much faster than using a remote desktop connection. It’s also easier to go back and forth between information saved to my computer and applications being used with Citrix.”

Overall Citrix is a great resource for engineering students, and if you haven’t already download it you can here.

–Chelsi Rayford