Top Software Programs Based on Your Studies

Software programs are vital productivity tools across almost all industry sectors, so learning and mastering programs specific to your chosen career path is essential. For students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses, your course will steer you towards particular industries. Mastering software programs your industry peers use daily will give you a head start over other new starters once you transition from your studies to a career.

Learning to use software programs while you're still studying also offers additional benefits. How they operate and present results can give you valuable insight into how things work outside academia and in the real world.

Often the way you learn subjects doesn't quite match how businesses that can sometimes value productivity and efficiency more than precision do things in the real world. This article will look at a few key software programs based on popular study areas and see how HP's tech can help you get the most out of these applications.

Key software programs

STEM studies

Students studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics encounter various programs to perform complex computational tasks such as finite element analysis, fluid dynamic simulations or quantum calculations. The STEM study area includes physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science, covering an enormous range of detailed subjects.

A common theme in STEM subjects is the 3D modelling of systems, whether predicting interactions between sub-atomic particles, modelling planetary movement or simulating the airflow around a structure in a wind tunnel. 

Maxon's Cinema 4D is an intuitive 3D modelling software package for modelling and animating motion graphics. This software is free for students to use for non-commercial applications and is renowned for being easy to learn with great online learning resources.

The HP 250 15.6-inch G9 Notebook PC is a great multipurpose laptop with great computational processing power thanks to its 12th Generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor. It displays the results clearly with its crystal clear Full High-Definition (FHD) 15.6-inch screen, making visualising software program outputs easy. This laptop includes essential business-ready features in a thin and light design designed to be easy to take everywhere you go.

Business and management studies

Students studying business and management will typically include subjects such as business administration, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, human resources, and supply chain management. Software programs will normally require a combination of data processing and information management.

When it comes to business productivity tools, industry sectors worldwide have almost universally adopted the Microsoft 365 suite. It supports everything from document management, financial spreadsheets, business presentations, and project planning to collaborative working and business communications.

There is a free version available for students that not only helps you to learn about business productivity but will also help with your data-to-day course work through document editing, staying in touch with email and teams video calling, and time management with its calendar.

The HP EliteBook 840 G8 Notebook PC is a powerful, secure and durable laptop designed to meet the demands of multi-task multi-place enterprise-business work that typify business and management career paths. Powered by the older 11th Generation Intel Core i5 processor, it offers value for money without sacrificing processing power. The 14-inch FHD display with its 1920 x 1080 resolution provides a great compromise between great visuals and a compact, easy-to-carry form.

Fine arts and performing arts studies

Students studying arts-based subjects cover the study of visual arts, painting, sculpture, photography, music, dance, theatre, and film studies. Software programs will generally require graphical processing capabilities for creating and manipulating digital media,

For students looking for photo editing and design software, Adobe Photoshop is one of the best options and has a student version available. This software can handle all your image editing and manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, graphic design, web and app prototyping, and 3D modelling. This program is not just the industry leader; Photoshop is now in the dictionary as the verb for editing pictures. The software has extensive features, making it ideal for students studying design, illustration, or digital art-based subjects.

The HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 Laptop 15-fe0027TU offers incredible graphical processing performance for the most demanding artistic applications. Its power comes from the latest 13th Generation Intel Evo™ processor, which is itself built from the powerful Core i7 Processor. An integrated Intel UHD graphics card delivers exceptional visual results through the 15-inch touch-enabled screen in full 3K+ resolution. 

This model is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop that can adapt to any work task, allowing you to use it as a tablet or conventional laptop to suit your needs. This laptop includes an incredible 1TB solid-state drive (SSD) to support creative media applications, perfect for holding large data files such as high-definition videos will you edit them.

Health sciences studies

Students studying health sciences will typically include subjects such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and public health studies. Software programs will normally require a combination of information processing with graphical representation.

One common theme in health sciences is animation, whether it's seeing how parts of the body articulate and interact or mapping the spread of pathogens in the environment. Autodesk Maya is a high-end, industry-leading 3D animation software program perfect for 3D modelling, animation, and rendering tasks with powerful features. Importantly, this software is free for students when used for non-commercial work.

The HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Laptop 16-f2002TU offers outstanding computational processing thanks to the latest 13th Generation Intel Evo processor technology supported by Intel's integrated UHD graphics. 

This adaptable 2-in-1 convertible laptop will allow you to use your programs anywhere, at your desk as a conventional laptop or on the move in its tablet form when studying in a hospital ward or research laboratory. Displaying application outputs is made easy with the 16-inch touch-enabled screen in full 3K+ resolution with its 3072 x 1920 pixels.

Architecture and design studies

Students studying architecture and design will typically include interior design, graphic design, industrial design, and landscape architecture. Software programs will typically require intense computation processing for design and simulation tools coupled with graphical processing for visual representation of results, including challenging real-time rendering applications.

The Autodesk Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection provides designers, engineers and contractors with a set of Building Information Management (BIM) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools supported by a cloud-based common data environment. This software collection facilitates project planning from early-stage design through to construction. It allows students to create and optimise building and infrastructure designs with conceptual and detailed design tools, including visualisation and simulation programs.

The HP ZBook Firefly G9 Mobile Workstation is a computational powerhouse designed to make light work of complex graphics-based design and simulation programs. The NVIDIA® T550 graphics processor card supports the 12th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, offering incredible graphical processing capability. The results are clear and vibrant thanks to a compact 14-inch display using Wide Quad Ultra Extended Graphics Array (WQUXGA) technology screen.

This mobile workstation delivers professional-level performance combined with true mobility in an amazingly sleek and powerful laptop. This laptop weighs just 1.47 kg and has up to 13 hours of battery life in an elegant yet durable design designed to deliver high-performance power on the go.

Where to learn

All the recommended software programs offer a wealth of online resources to help you learn how to use all their features and maximise your productivity. Having the skills to transition the use of these programs from student study exercises to real-world problem-solving can help you stand out to potential employers in a crowded marketplace.

If you have any specific problems or applications for your software that you need help with, then you can also reach out to other users via the software producers' forums. These forums allow you to interact with experts and other students with similar questions to learn more quickly.

You will also find a wealth of other material online, such as tutorial videos on YouTube, to help you kick-start your learning experience.

For more general teaching materials related to your studies, free online resources such as the MIT OpenCourseWare and the Khan Academy offer videos and course materials that can help support your lectures and provide invaluable background learning to help you improve your overall subject matter understanding.

Summary

Students studying at undergraduate and postgraduate levels now and in the future will need a computer. These are now essential tools for just about every facet of learning. Software programs have replaced pencils, notebooks and calculators as crucial tools for any complex process. Today's students will probably never see a slide rule or log tables.

Similarly, software programs are a vital part of business across all industry sectors worldwide, so mastering key tools relevant to your course is essential preparation for when your studies end and your working life begins. Having the knowledge and experience to use such tools before you start your first job is a valuable skill that employers recognise. It will mean you can be productive on your first day rather than spending the first few weeks learning how to use the business tools of the trade.

Being a student is also ideal for learning to use software programs. Many companies that produce such programs offer free or discounted versions to incentivise you to learn to use their products. The software can also help you create better coursework and attain higher grades.

Whatever course you enrol on, there will be software programs that will help you out and a range of HP computer products that will let you get the most out of these programs.

Remember to check out the great offers in the HP Student Store, including exclusive savings on HP Products for Students with warranty combos, cashback, laptop exchange value deals and more.

About the Author: Stephen Mash is a contributing writer for HP Tech Takes. Stephen is a UK-based freelance technology writer with a background in cybersecurity and risk management.