COLLEGE PARK—July 15, 2011—The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program has awarded Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) a $70,000 grant for the development of a virtual collaborative system in health care. The funding is in partnership with the University of Maryland Computer Science Department and Purdue University. Optimal is anticipating additional grants to develop a robust toolset for collaboration networks. This is grant is a pivotal step in Optimal’s strategic plan to expand its real time framework and tools.

Optimal is seeking to obtain the additional grants for initiatives such as agent-based modeling, social media analytics, integration of open source and existing commercial-off-the-shelf software  in the company’s research disciplines of health, education, workforce development and housing/economic development/transportation.

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Maryland Industrial Partnerships

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program accelerates the commercialization of technology in Maryland by jointly funding collaborative R&D projects between companies and University System of Maryland faculty. MIPS provides funding, matched by participating companies, for university-based research projects that help companies develop new products. MIPS projects help companies find solutions to technical challenges, as well as develop products, processes or training materials. MIPS projects are conducted by university faculty and graduate students in conjunction with company researchers. With more than 400 Maryland companies participating in project awards since 1987, worth over $160 million—MIPS projects create results. MIPS-supported products have generated more than $19.5 billion in sales, added jobs to the region, and infused state-of-the-art technology into the global marketplace.

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC

Founded in 2000, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is a nonpartisan public policy research and technical assistance firm that stands out through its quantitative expertise and innovative approaches to provide rigorous, data-driven research and technical assistance to government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Located at the University of Maryland’s M Square Research Park in College Park, Optimal is a leader in driving real-time public policy research. Optimal has 60+ employees including multidisciplinary researchers with backgrounds in business, communication, economics, education, health policy, psychology, public policy, sociology, statistics, and urban planning. Optimal has four research centers: Health, Education, Housing, and Workforce Development and Social Policy.