NSF Award
1827050
As a small private university, Arcadia's existing computing infrastructure constrains the productivity of faculty in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Chemistry, and Physics who are conducting data-intensive research. Specifically, the current infrastructure impedes researchers' ability to efficiently and securely access, share, or analyze large-data sets with collaborators at other institutions. To address these research and education needs, a collaborative team representing key university faculty and technologists at Arcadia is creating a Science DMZ with a data transmission network capable of 10Gbps connectivity (more than 10 times faster than current speeds) to the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research's (KINBER) PennREN network.<br/><br/>Project's objectives are to: (1) provide high performance, secure Science DMZ network capabilities for sharing of large datasets and cloud-based education; (2) eliminate technical barriers for faculty engaged in data-intensive projects through a dedicated, friction-free path to Internet2, PennREN, and other high performance computing and data resources; (3) leverage authentication and authorization mechanisms to support our faculty through the InCommon Federation; and (4) enable future scientific possibilities and unleash innovation for students and faculty researchers. <br/><br/>Arcadia is currently considering to incorporate a data analytics requirement into its general curriculum and leverage the newly developed cyberinfrastructure to enable cloud-based opportunities, distance learning and researching on a global scale. This opportunity is supporting greater faculty and student analytical scholarship by forming a frictionless environment built to innovate and thrive in our technology-drive world.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
