Broader Impacts

IUP’s Involvement in the PA Science DMZ Project 

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's involvement in the NSF-funded project to establish the Pennsylvania Science DMZ is making an impact. Faculty from IUP participated in the fall joint workshop with PA DMZ and Access-ci.org, specifically at the Institute for Computational & Data Sciences (ICDS) Symposium and CyberAccelerate Research Workshop in October 2024. This event provided a valuable opportunity to connect with faculty from across Pennsylvania who are engaged in computational and data-driven research. These collaborations are helping IUP researchers explore how to best utilize the enhanced network infrastructure.

Engagement with KinberCon and Other Computational Research Conferences

In addition to participating in the ICDS Symposium, IUP faculty and staff have expanded their engagement through participation in related events such as the KinberCon conference. These efforts strengthen collaborations with institutions and researchers working on high-performance computing, big data, and digital infrastructure advancements. IUP’s ongoing engagement in these events continues to enhance its research capabilities, offering faculty and students access to new resources, expertise, and collaboration opportunities.

Broader Impacts Efforts at KeystoneREN

KeystoneREN is committed to advancing research, education, and innovation across Pennsylvania through strategic infrastructure investments like the PA Science DMZ. This service plays a vital role in enabling high-performance, low-latency collaboration among researchers by offering a specialized, performance-based network enclave exclusive to KeystoneREN-connected institution

Key Broader Impacts:

• Any-to-Any connectivity – Any customer can send traffic to any other customer within the PA Science DMZ with minimal configuration in the customer’s network.

• Cost effective – Easy to use and cost effective Ethernet technologies makes the PA Science DMZ very accessible without additional infrastructure investment

• Flexible – Simplicity of Ethernet hand off maximizes use cases and implementation options.

• Simplified bandwidth scaling – Incremental connectivity options allow bandwidth to be upgraded without additional network infrastructure or long provisioning times.

Upcoming Events:

• Modern Cyberinfrastructure for Research Data Management - Globus Workshop June 17-18, 2025 Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 

• KINBERCON 2025 – KeystoneREN Advanced Research Cyberinfrastructure Track; October 15-17, 2025 Lancaster County Convention Center, Lancaster, PA

Swarthmore Highlights Impact Through RCSI Conference

In both 2024 and 2025, Swarthmore hosted the Research Computing for Smaller Institutions (RCSI) conference, which included presentations focusing on the broader PA DMZ project as well as on Swarthmore-specific outcomes and impacts.

Expanding Connectivity and Impact for Lafayette College

As an under-resourced institution, Lafayette College's involvement in the NSF-funded project to establish the Pennsylvania Science DMZ has had several immediate impacts. These include the College's expanded involvement with several cross-state peers, including both Kinber and KeystoneREN. Attendance at related conferences and workshops, specifically the KinberCon conference and PSU-hosted Institute for Computational & Data Sciences (ICDS) Symposium and CyberAccelerate Research Workshop in 2024. Along with the future promise of being readily able to broadly participate and collaborate within the community of diverse institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally, resulting in a greater diversity of research teams, unanticipated avenues of inquiry, and long-desired realization of this capabilit

Advancing Smart Manufacturing Through Digital Foundry at New Kensington Initiatives

DFNK continues to expand its capabilities within the Digital Learning and Demonstration Lab, integrating new software, hardware, and data analytics tools from top-tier industry partners. These enhancements strengthen our ability to demonstrate Smart Manufacturing concepts and support industry technical assistance projects. 

With active involvement from students, faculty, and industry professionals, DFNK has completed multiple industry-driven projects, applying physical and digital automation solutions to real-world manufacturing challenges. Additionally, DFNK has expanded its workforce training workshops, offering quarterly training programs for local manufacturers. 

These initiatives have significantly increased awareness and interest in Smart Manufacturing, reinforcing the value of continued investment in DFNK’s Science Driver and technological advancements.