The computing laboratory of the department (room 514 in Hydrotechnical building-II) was established in 1986. It was the first laboratory of the faculty, equiped with personal computers. The type of computers was "Iskra-1256".

In a very difficult for Russian higher school and our university period, due to the efforts of M.P.Feodorov, who had been a faculty dean at that time, and the laboratory head A.Y.Babskiy new computers were purchased, and in October 1995 renewed computer laboratory, the first at the faculty, equiped with IBM PC compatible computers started its work.

Shortage of finances and at the same time necessity to provide maximal number of working places (the only on that moment computer laboratory had to satisfy the demands of the whole faculty) made to choose the cheapest possible network solution. Particulary, monochrome monitors were purchased, workstations were not equiped with hard disks, the computers' operating speed and operative memory were extremly small (machines on the base of 386 processors wth random access memory of 1Mb).

In spite of forcedly low charachteristics the laboratory provided necessary capacity, working with very high intension. Hundreds of faculty students and pupils of secondary school No.118, which had been under the faculty patronage, received in the laboratory basical knowledges and skills in computer science. Due to A.Y.Babskiy's, M.S.Smirnov's, G.S.Kolosova's, V.V.Lalin's efforts new software for department courses was developed and introduced to the educational process. This fact has seriously changed and renewed pedagogical technology in many department courses.

Unfortunately, follow-up investments to the laboratory didn't take place, and its modernization and development was financed almost from the small off-budget department resourses only. Nevertheless, the right strategy, chosen for the class development in such situation, has let not only keep the class in a work state, but rize its level very high.

All the time computers capacity has been consistently increasing step by step. By April 2000 all the machines were supplied with hard disks. This let the laboratory rize to higher level - pass from DOS to modern 32-bit operational system WINDOWS. Modern software applications using in educational process became possible. In February 2002 new high-capasity server started working in the laboratory. It gave an opportunity to pass to a new network software, which helped to get rid of some limitations, that existed before, and increase the network security level. In 2003 all the network equipment was changed, monochrome monitors were changed for modern color monitors. The decoration works over the class room are being conducted.

On the present moment the computing laboratory of the department admiss using of any modern software, necessary for specialists training in structural mechanics and other disciplines on the acceptable in modern conditions level.

In the schedule of the computing laboratory special time for faculty students' independent work, SPbSPU Natural-Sciences Liceum students and external students work is provided. Laboratory computers are also used for students' and employees' researches and for paper work.

On the present moment the department laboratory is equiped with 14 personal computers on the base of Pentium and Pentium-II processors, with random access memory from 16 to 256 Mb. All machines are connected into the local network and to the network of the faculty. 11 machines are given into students' disposal, 2 are used by the department officers and 1 is used as a server. The head of the laboratory M.S.Smirnov constantly works over its efficiency support and, within the possible limits, modernization.

The department officers hope, that on condition of the faculty administration support, the laboratory will be effectivly used by more than one generation of future students.

	Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnical University
	STRUCTURAL MECHANICS AND THEORY OF ELASTICITY DEPARTMENT
	Russian version