COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The following information was released by the University of Maryland - College Park:
The Maryland Industrial Partnerships program (MIPS) - an initiative of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) at the University of Maryland - has received a major award for its nearly quarter-century efforts to help state businesses research and launch new ventures.
The Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) is honoring MIPS with its Economic Impact Award. MEDA is making the one-time award as part of its 50th Anniversary. The prize was announced on June 6 at MEDA's annual conference in Cambridge, Md.
MIPS is a technology and biotech grant program that supports Maryland companies, teaming them with researchers at University System of Maryland institutions.
The marriage of academic researchers and businesses is intended to result in the development of marketable products or services. Both companies and MIPS contribute money, which is used to support the work of the faculty and graduate students participating in the research.
The Economic Impact Award celebrates a project or program "bringing lasting investment and momentous impact to a region and to the state at large," according to MEDA's guidelines. Honorees "create and nurture economic growth, prosperity, and renewal on a sweeping scale, improving Marylanders' lives far beyond regional borders."
"MIPS has certainly proven its value as an enlightened partnership of academic expertise and business creativity," says University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh. "Pairing our top experts in a field with private industry at a critical moment in the innovation life cycle just makes good sense, as MIPS record demonstrates. We're very honored to receive this recognition from Maryland's development professionals."
Current MIPS projects are tackling cancer, pollution, renewable energy, faster Internet via satellite, unmanned aerial vehicles, anthrax, malaria and staph infections.
"We are extremely pleased to recognize these initiatives and individuals as the winners of the 2011 MEDA Awards, says Laurie M. Boyer, president of MEDA. "They support and enhance Maryland's economic environment, and MEDA is proud to honor them."
More than 450 companies in Maryland have benefitted from MIPS since its inception in 1987, adds Martha Connolly, the program's director. Commercial products benefiting from MIPS projects have generated more than $21.6 billion in revenue, added thousands of jobs to the region, and contributed to successful products such as Martek Biosciences' nutritional oils, Hughes Communications' HughesNet", MedImmune's Synagis[R], and Black and Decker's Bullet[R] Speed Tip Masonry Drill Bit.
"MIPS works," Connolly says. "Consider these companies, all of which leveraged MIPS funding to develop products: in addition to the above-mentioned MedImmune, Martek, Digene, Black and Decker and HughesNet, you also have Quantum Sail, WellDoc, CSA Medical, Northrop Grumman, PAICE and Lockheed Martin. Many of these companies were small at the time. MIPS funding helped them grow. This is a long-standing, best-practice program with big impact. Maryland is fortunate to have had it here for so long."
Evaluation criteria for the MEDA award included: contribution to economic development best practices; innovation and creativity; significance of impact on employment; impact/expansion of the tax base; diversification of the area's economy; community revitalization; enhancement community life; environmental stewardship; a strategic approach, including purpose, intended outcomes, and targeted audiences; innovation, originality, and cost effectiveness; and the achievement of stated objectives and method of measuring results.
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