diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 38bcb42e26..6210e93340 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.12.2)
 
+# Set a default build type if none was specified
+if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
+  message(STATUS "Setting build type to 'Debug' as none was specified.")
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug CACHE STRING "Choose the type of build." FORCE)
+  # Set the possible values of build type for cmake-gui
+  set_property(CACHE CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE PROPERTY STRINGS "Debug" "Release" "MinSizeRel" "RelWithDebInfo")
+endif()
+
+string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} UPPER_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+
 if (USE_ANDROID_TOOLCHAIN)
   set(CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/android/android.toolchain.cmake")
   set(ANDROID_NATIVE_API_LEVEL 19)
@@ -148,12 +158,6 @@ set(HIFI_LIBRARY_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/libraries")
 # setup for find modules
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/modules/")
 
-if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
-  string(TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} UPPER_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
-else ()
-  set(UPPER_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE DEBUG)
-endif ()
-
 set(HIFI_CMAKE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 set(MACRO_DIR "${HIFI_CMAKE_DIR}/macros")
 set(EXTERNAL_PROJECT_DIR "${HIFI_CMAKE_DIR}/externals")
diff --git a/cmake/externals/glew/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/externals/glew/CMakeLists.txt
index b82faf19c9..5f59cc2377 100644
--- a/cmake/externals/glew/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/externals/glew/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ include(ExternalProject)
 ExternalProject_Add(
   ${EXTERNAL_NAME}
   URL http://hifi-public.s3.amazonaws.com/dependencies/glew_simple.zip
-  URL_MD5 95a97d3690aa6ba8f1cf5941880efbf6
-  CONFIGURE_COMMAND CMAKE_ARGS ${ANDROID_CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<INSTALL_DIR>
+  URL_MD5 0507dc08337a82a5e7ecbc5417f92cc1
+  CONFIGURE_COMMAND CMAKE_ARGS ${ANDROID_CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<INSTALL_DIR>
   LOG_DOWNLOAD 1
   LOG_CONFIGURE 1
   LOG_BUILD 1
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@ ExternalProject_Get_Property(${EXTERNAL_NAME} INSTALL_DIR)
 string(TOUPPER ${EXTERNAL_NAME} EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER)
 set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_INCLUDE_DIRS ${INSTALL_DIR}/include CACHE PATH "List of glew include directories")
 
-if (WIN32)
-  set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_DEBUG ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/glew_d.lib CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew debug library")
-  set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_RELEASE ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/glew.lib CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew release library")
-else ()
-  set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_RELEASE ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/libglew.a CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew release library")
-  set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_DEBUG "" CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew debug library")
-endif ()
\ No newline at end of file
+if (UNIX)
+  set(LIB_PREFIX "lib")
+  set(LIB_EXT "a")
+elseif (WIN32)
+  set(LIB_EXT "lib")
+endif ()
+
+set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_DEBUG ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/${LIB_PREFIX}glew_d.${LIB_EXT} CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew debug library")
+set(${EXTERNAL_NAME_UPPER}_LIBRARY_RELEASE ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/${LIB_PREFIX}glew.${LIB_EXT} CACHE FILEPATH "Path to glew release library")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmake/modules/FindGLEW.cmake b/cmake/modules/FindGLEW.cmake
index b2a9ec7ac7..4f22271e3e 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/FindGLEW.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/FindGLEW.cmake
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@ find_library(GLEW_LIBRARY_DEBUG glew32d PATH_SUFFIXES "lib/Debug/Win32" "lib" HI
 include(SelectLibraryConfigurations)
 select_library_configurations(GLEW)
 
-set(GLEW_LIBRARIES ${GLEW_LIBRARY})
-
 include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
 find_package_handle_standard_args(GLEW DEFAULT_MSG GLEW_INCLUDE_DIRS GLEW_LIBRARIES)
 
diff --git a/libraries/gpu/CMakeLists.txt b/libraries/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
index 01103189eb..9e81feaa2f 100644
--- a/libraries/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libraries/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,14 +11,15 @@ add_dependency_external_projects(glew)
 find_package(GLEW REQUIRED)
 add_definitions(-DGLEW_STATIC) 
 target_include_directories(${TARGET_NAME} PUBLIC ${GLEW_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${GLEW_LIBRARIES})
+message(${GLEW_LIBRARY})
+target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${GLEW_LIBRARY})
 
 if (APPLE)
   # link in required OS X frameworks and include the right GL headers
   find_library(OpenGL OpenGL)
   target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${OpenGL})
 elseif (WIN32)
-  target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${GLEW_LIBRARIES} opengl32.lib)
+  target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${GLEW_LIBRARY} opengl32.lib)
 
   if (USE_NSIGHT)
     # try to find the Nsight package and add it to the build if we find it