Firms can be associated with the Center in one (or more) of three ways, by serving as a

(1)   Sponsoring Member

(3)   Client/Beneficiary Member

Additional types of associations, as derivatives of these, are also possible. The nature of these basic associations may be briefly described as follows.

Sponsoring Member — a firm that provides funding and whose name is prominently associated with the Center.(Here a “firm” can be interpreted more broadly as an “organization,” including institutions outside the private sector.) For example, a sponsoring firm will be featured in the Center’s promotional literature and web site information. Sponsoring firms will also have direct (and first priority) access to the services of the Center. Sponsoring firms can participate at several levels, a special category  of a sponsoring member is Research Support Firm. Such a firm provides expertise, as by contributing one or more members of an Advisory Board and/or a Strategic Review Panel which monitors the character and progress of prototype studies. A Research Support Firm may also provide optimization software, for solving optimization problems that the company is noted for handling.

Client/Beneficiary Member — a firm that seeks help with modeling or solving problems. The Center provides help for Beneficiary Firms by assembling a team, consisting of students and Center staff members (Faculty Technical Advisors, Consultants), which interacts closely with the company to identify the nature of the problems to be addressed. The team then makes a recommendations about effective ways to proceed. This can include a prototype study by the team to investigate a model or software assessed as valuable for the companies application, or referral to a qualified group such a Research Support Firm.