Two local educational institutions have raised matching funds to promote research and technology through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative.

Hood College and Bowie State University recently raised $1.5 million in private funding to fund new research professorships, with the Maryland Department of Commerce approving matching grants of more than $1 million to support the endowments.

The endowments were made through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at colleges and universities.

Hood College is hiring a director of a new Biomedical Research and Training Center, which will provide STEM training opportunities for Hood College students across a variety of majors and disciplines, as well as serve students from other regional schools and employees of regional companies.

Bowie State University is establishing an endowed chair of cybersecurity and for a new director of the Center of Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies, who will establish an ecosystem for cyber innovators at the university with the potential to influence BSU’s long-term vision and strategic role in building an entrepreneurial workforce.

Read the full announcement