COLLEGE PARK, Md. —The Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS) will host a free workshop about how faculty and local businesses can participate in the MIPS program on Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Frostburg State University, in room 224 of the Compton Science Center. MIPS Manager Ronnie Gist will give a presentation followed by a question and answer period. A light lunch is included.
MIPS provides funding—matched by participating companies—for university-based research projects that help companies develop new products. MIPS funding goes directly to faculty for research that benefits the company’s ability to commercialize a product.
MIPS has supported research projects with more than 400 different Maryland companies since 1987. Products such as Martek Biosciences’ life’s DHAÔ, which supports brain, eye and heart health from infancy to adulthood and is licensed to 90 percent of the U.S.’s infant formula manufacturers, and Hughes Network Systems’ HughesNet™, the leading Internet-over-satellite product in the world, have benefitted from MIPS-supported research. MedImmune Inc.’s Synagis®, a multi-billion-dollar drug that prevents a serious respiratory disease in infants, and Black & Decker’s Bullet® Speed Tip Masonry Drill Bit, which drills six times more holes than conventional drill bits, were also supported by MIPS projects. These products have collectively generated more than $14.4 billion in revenue and led to the creation of thousands of jobs in Maryland. Both Frostburg-based Adventure Sports Inc. and Oakland-based Pioneer Conveyor have participated in MIPS projects.
Benefits of MIPS funding for faculty include:
· Research leads directly to new product development
· Potential for published papers and improved university facilities
· Students gain valuable experience working on commercial technologies
· Rapid proposal evaluations—MIPS notifies award winners within 60 days of the proposal deadline
Benefits of MIPS funding for Maryland companies include:
· Cost-effective research through university collaboration
· Access to expert university faculty, students, state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories and equipment
· Efficient transfer of technology from university to companies
· Opportunity to work with students—potential future hires
MIPS funds an average of 50 projects per year. Applications are due in October and May.
Research supported by MIPS may be in engineering, computer science, physical, environmental and life sciences. MIPS also supports projects designed to help a company plan and develop industrial training programs for its employees.
For more information about the MIPS workshop, contact Linda Steele, program specialist at Frostburg State University, by phone at (301) 687-4137, or by e-mail at lsteele@frostburg.edu.
ABOUT the Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS) (www.mips.umd.edu)
The Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program, an initiative of the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), brings university innovation to the commercial sector by supporting university-based research projects to help Maryland companies develop technology-based products.
