|Do you really think that some dinky laptop is going to be able to deal with simulations? Yes, considering all of the researches that I have worked with (University) used their desktops to run simulations and debug their code. You don't tie up a cluster with debugging your simulations; at least not in that department. Yours may be different.

If she is going to be running simulations, I suggest a processor with at least 4 physical cores, and at least 8 GB of ram. I worked for a few years in a hydroscience department where simulations were run extensively. the software was capable of threading to many cores, and it was a big plus to have those cores available (think hours of processing, versus days). Some of those river simulations could also make use of huge amounts of ram. I think 8 GB would be a good start. Some of the software can also make use of a good GPU for acceleration, but that is more for a desktop than laptop. It doesn't matter which vendor, although intel provides better throughput that AMD in my experience.

It has gotten to the point that I shudder at the thought of relying on Google for anything beyond search and email. I fear that I will use something of theirs only to have it shut down out of nowhere. I would never use them for anything mission critical.

My company uses Jira to track issue, both technical and nontechnical. It is very flexible and customizable.

I would like to see a smart watch paired with other items for access control, specifically, a smart gun. The gun should not be able to shoot without the iBullet app verifying the user's identity and unlocking the gun's firing mechanism. The logistics around it would be a nightmare I'm sure, but I think the watch would be a good starting point for 2 factor(ish) authentication. Factor #1 something you have (the watch). Factor #2, something you are (biometrics)