Federal Grant Award Summary

Swarthmore College received a $248,362 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Information and Intelligent Systems under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070), effective June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2029. This Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) award supports the development of privacy-preserving techniques for sharing network data. The project delivers mathematically rigorous, differentially private mechanisms designed across three primary thrusts: (1) single network provider data sharing for edge computing services while protecting individual users; (2) sequential mobility trace release using machine learning models with formally calibrated noise; and (3) collaborative multi-provider settings for joint statistical computation without exposing raw traffic data or identifiers.

The project produces end-to-end algorithms, formal privacy guarantee analyses, and empirical evaluations on real network datasets. Deliverables include privacy-preserving mechanisms applicable to fine-grained workload traces, device mobility patterns across wireless networks, and aggregated statistics such as heavy hitter Internet Protocol prefixes and intersection counts. The work integrates privacy-preserving data analysis into undergraduate education and focuses on technology transfer to the networking community, addressing the critical need for secure data sharing that enables network optimization without compromising individual or organizational privacy.