Argonne National Laboratory, Building 900, Industrial Technology Development Center, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439

A -- COOPERATIVE RESEARCH SOUGHT FOR COMPUTATIONAL SOFTWARE POC Paul Betten, Case Manager, (708) 252-4962. Argonne National Laboratory is seeking an industrial partner to help commercialize new software that represents a breakthrough in the solution of nonlinear equations. The software, called OPTIMIZE!, provides a fast, efficient, and stable solution that is not limited by multiple minima. Applications include any nonlinear optimization problem, including those that cause other software programs to become numerically unstable, be limited by local minima, miss minima in ``flat regions,'' or fail for other reasons. OPTIMIZE! software performs nonlinear global optimizations using a curdling algorithm for n-dimensions. The algorithm is derivative-free, utilizes a grid-refinement approach, performs constrained and unconstrained optimizations, can handle optimization problems of arbitrary complexity, and provides a 2- or 3-dimensional graphical display. It also is easy to use, successfully finds all roots, converges rapidly, and is not caught in false minima. The algorithm overcomes a number of deficiencies in existing approaches by finding extremal regions rather than just single extremal points. Because of the algorithm's unique inherently parallel formulation, it is numerically stable and free from derivative or gradient numerical instabilities. Further, it can find all of the roots or minima in one pass and does not require a ``good guess'' or knowledge of the number of minima. The software currently runs on Sun and Silicon Graphics workstations with typical run times of 2 to 15 seconds for 2- and 3-dimensional functions. Problem size is limited only by available RAM. IBM-compatible PC and Macintosh versions are under development. No ANL funds are available for the partner's share of the R & D efforts. Please direct inquiries to the OPTIMIZE! Case Manager at Argonne, National Laboratory, ITD-900, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439; fax 708-252-5230. (214)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0008 19960802\A-0008.SOL)