The recent digging project near Stright Hall might have appeared fairly routine, but the results of this effort could make a huge positive impact on the university for a generation or more.
The smattering of backhoes and workers was the first obvious sign of IUP’s position on the “mainline” of the nation’s sixth-largest stimulus project. The $99.6-million federal stimulus grant awarded to the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research Network (KINBER) in February 2010 is being used to create PennREN—a high-speed computer network for Pennsylvania designed to connect national networks with “last mile” regional and local networks. IUP has been selected as home to an important part of the network.
“IUP is proud to be the site of one of only 13 core nodes positioned along the 1,600 miles of fiber running through parts of 39 counties that comprise the PennREN infrastructure,” said IUP Chief Information Officer Bill Balint. “Not only will this high-speed network connectivity open the door to new levels of learning and research, but it also presents a truly unique collaboration that binds the likes of Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, Pitt, and the University of Pennsylvania to IUP and PASSHE as well as community colleges, small private institutions, and others as full partners.
“Early planning work is already bringing together information technology experts representing all of these segments for the first time. It opens the door to a new era in Pennsylvania with public and private higher education institutions working on a common project, with entities like K-12 education and health care involved as well.”
The PennREN fiber will literally run underneath a portion of the IUP campus, and that installation is currently underway. As a core node, IUP will house sophisticated and advanced technologies critical to the network’s viability and will serve as an “exit ramp” where other entities may eventually connect. IUP is the network’s only core node between State College and Pittsburgh.
“The key for IUP is the potential KINBER opens to our faculty and students via PennREN,” said Balint. “Some nearby states already have networks, and the disadvantage this creates would only grow over time as the volume and time-sensitive nature of data transmitted over the Internet continues its explosive growth. Most every discipline will likely rely on this level of connectivity for both learning and research.”
The completion of PennREN is slated for early 2013.
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