MDREN is initiating a pilot program over the next academic year to assist researchers and faculty from several USM campuses in accessing high-performance computing resources at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), Towson University (TU), and Bowie State University (BSU) will receive HPC access at either UMCP or UMBC and work with their HPC Teams to advance their research and teaching. “Many smaller universities and HBCUs have historically had difficulty consistently providing and supporting advanced computing infrastructure for their faculty and researchers”. This shared resource pilot will determine if the shared infrastructure model is viable and the level of researcher support required”, said Jerry Waldron, Interim Executive Director, MDREN.  In discussions with Internet 2 and the National Science Foundation staff, MDREN has learned that HPC support is a significant problem for researchers nationwide. The pilot may also reveal the need for student access to these resources as campuses offer more AI-related courses and students become more involved with data science. The pilot will run through June 30, 2026.