Introduced in 2020 by researchers from the School of Computer Science, Penrose enables people to create beautiful diagrams just by typing notation in plain text, making it easy for nonexperts to create high-quality visuals that provide deeper insight into challenging technical concepts. The platform is made with open-source software, which means the code is freely available for modification and redistribution.
In June 2024, the team received funding from the National Science Foundation Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program, designed to help expand the supportive infrastructure around existing open-source projects. The grant supports exploration of a project’s audience and ecosystem, allowing teams to find ways to catalyze community-driven development and growth of their offerings and impact. But as part of the program, the Penrose team had to undergo an intensive three-week training program that required an industry mentor to collaborate on the process.
Instead of searching for an outside mentor unfamiliar with Penrose, current team member and Associate Professor of Computer Science Joshua Sunshine reached out to the Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) for support. The OSPO’s primary role on campus is to build open-source capacity within CMU and beyond, finding ways to support students, staff, and faculty at different stages of developing, licensing, documenting, and promoting open-source projects. The OSPO team had worked with Penrose before, and was happy to step into an advisory role to help the project reach new levels.
“When people are working on these ambitious projects and need assistance, we encourage them to turn to us, either for direct support or to connect them with other resources,” OSPO Community Manager Tom Hughes said. “In the case of Penrose, we had exactly the skill set the team needed to elevate the impact of their training.”
Goal
- To fill the role of industry mentor and guide the Penrose team through their grant-required training, helping them navigate the larger open-source ecosystem and establish industry connections.
How We Helped
- Hughes stepped into the role of industry mentor for Penrose, committing to attending several eight-hour training sessions over the course of three weeks. He helped the team filter the I-CORP business training curricula into Penrose’s specific open-source ecosystem needs and goals.
- Throughout the training, Hughes helped set up more than 60 one-on-one interviews with professionals across organizations and associations. Many of these were library professionals, both at CMU and beyond. Other connections included national library software associations and professional service organizations and open-source industry experts. Through these connections, the team learned about potential partnerships and pathways for growing adoption of Penrose in the classroom and in academic libraries.
- Hughes also leveraged his background in business strategy to adjust business planning templates provided by the program to suit Penrose’s specific needs. This adjustment enabled them to ask better questions about the process, and better advocate for themselves when it came to their specific use case and community goals in I-CORP feedback sessions and presentations.
Results
- Thanks to the OSPO’s support, the Penrose team met an essential requirement of their NSF grant. The OSPO’s familiarity with the open-source ecosystem and other researchers working in the space allowed them to help build essential connections and develop a plan to grow their program moving forward.