As the state's land grant university and sea grant college, the University of Maryland, College Park, is the most comprehensive institution of higher education, research and service in Maryland. With about 2,400 full-time faculty, 4,000 full-time staff, 8,400 graduate students and 24,000 undergraduate students, the University of Maryland, College Park, is the primary statewide center for graduate education and research.

The University of Maryland receives more than $350 million per year in total sponsored research and development expenditures.. In addition, the university's location - less than 10 miles from the nation's capital and about 23 miles from Baltimore - places it right in the middle of one of the country's largest areas for research and development, along with the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Located in such a technology hotbed, the university opened the Office of Technology Commercialization in December 1986 to transfer the high quality technologies emerging from its campus to industry. In addition to servicing the University of Maryland, College Park, OTC also manages technology transfer, under agreement, for other University System of Maryland campuses, such as Salisbury University, which receives more than $5 million in contract and grant awards annually.