Penn State Smeal CSCR & SCIS Department Present at AI Innovation Day
The Penn State Smeal Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR) demonstrated its commitment to cutting-edge technology solutions at the Dan and Robyn Ives AI Innovation Day & Case Competition, held March 19, 2026, at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. The event, generously sponsored by Daniel and Robyn Ives, BoodleBox, and leading industry partners, convened business leaders, faculty, and students to examine the strategic implications of generative AI in business operations and education.
During the AI Showcase, CSCR Executive Director Donna Palumbo, alongside SCIS faculty members Dr. Sergey Naumov, assistant professor of supply chain management and Keran Zhao, assistant professor, presented a sophisticated framework for enterprise-grade AI assistants that deliver institutional knowledge with enhanced privacy, accuracy, and governance controls.
The framework integrates three critical technologies: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to ensure responses draw from verified institutional sources rather than generalized data; local deployment architecture to maintain data sovereignty and security compliance; and domain-adaptive fine-tuning to align communication protocols with organizational standards.
This framework has been implemented as a virtual AI guide for CSCR and the AI Special Interest Collective, enabling efficient access to research capabilities, faculty expertise, event information, and partnership opportunities. The solution provides a scalable model for organizations seeking to leverage conversational AI while maintaining rigorous data governance and institutional accuracy.
