Baney Pulls the Strings Behind the Screens

Like a news editor planning for the front page stories, Matthew Baney starts each day by scanning his key information resources—email, Jira tickets, or Slack messages—ready at a moment’s notice to respond to any overnight developments or urgent faculty requests.

“I like to be prepared to help out or provide guidance,” says Baney, the assistant director of computational systems at the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).

This proactive mindset has defined Baney’s nearly 12-year journey from a student worker at the UMIACS Help Desk to his current leadership role, where he runs bi-weekly standup meetings to identify stalled service tickets, address computational backup system needs, and set his team’s next steps with clear priorities.

Baney’s responsibilities extend well beyond his own team’s coordination, and includes managing major technical initiatives like the university-wide shift to unified system authentication—a project requiring both strategic planning and hands-on implementation.

“I’d never want my job to evolve into just asking for updates,” he says. “I like doing the technical work myself.”

Baney also collaborates closely with UMIACS faculty on high-performance computing (HPC) systems, offering expert guidance on equipment specs, timelines, and vendor options. 

One project involved the deployment of a new HPC system for an Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) award. Within a single business day, Baney and his team prepped the designated space, installed the system, and granted user access.

Another task he’s assigned to is helping to keep the institute’s data center in the A.V. Williams Building running smoothly. Balancing power, cooling, networking, and cabling for maximum efficiency can be challenging, Baney says, but he embraces it.

“We sometimes need to get creative to accommodate everyone,” he says.

Baney’s fascination with computers began early—first tinkering with his family’s desktop in elementary school, then diving into programming and hardware courses in high school. At UMD, he majored in computer science and joined the UMIACS student tech staff as a sophomore, an experience that set the stage for his career. After graduating in 2016, he transitioned seamlessly to a full-time role just two weeks later.

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