In many ways, specialized computer labs are the black holes of IT organizations. Budgets, equipment, employees--even space itself--are sucked in. Given a choice, many IT shops would engage warp drive and escape their gravitational pull forever. While Captain Kirk might have looked to Scotty for a fix to the problem, colleges and universities are increasingly relying on a solution that comes without the Aberdeen accent: virtualization. Virtualization gives institutions the ability to deliver the benefits of a computer lab--even specialized labs for disciplines such as computer science and engineering--to students anywhere without the hassles or expense. With demand for lab access increasing and budgets in a tailspin, more institutions are using software from vendors such as Citrix and VMware to reconfigure their servers and virtualize access to the applications in specialized computer labs. All the applications run on the campus' servers and can be accessed via a web browser from anywhere students can find an internet connection. (Contains 4 online resources.)