NuTech Solutions is moving to add more analytic firepower to its arsenal of solutions by acquiring the consulting and software development operations of BiosGroup.

BiosGroup, an acknowledged world leader in the emerging field of complexity science, is a privately held company based in Santa Fe, NM.

“With this acquisition we have an exciting opportunity to bring together the best minds in predictive analytics, simulation and modeling, and optimization to better leverage and deliver leading-edge technologies, products and services to our growing client base,” said Matthew Michalewicz, chief executive officer of NuTech.

As part of the acquisition, BiosGroup founder Dr. Stuart Kauffman, one of the originators of complexity science theory, and chairman Robert MacDonald will join NuTech’s board. Kauffman is chief science officer at BiosGroup.

NuTech said a number of BiosGroup employees would join NuTech but did not specify how many. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. McColl Partners, LLC represented NuTech in the transaction. McColl and its founder, Hugh McColl, are investors in NuTech.

The BiosGroup conducts complexity science research and develops fundamental intellectual property resources. According to the company’s web site, BiosGroup can draw on the talent of more than 50 holders of Ph.D.s, including two Nobel Laureates. Their expertise includes mathematics, economics, chemistry, biology, computer science and physics. The science staff also gets support from the BiosGroup Fellows. These are experts in complexity science and its business applications, and they act as scientific advisors to the company.

Defining complexity science

Emergence.org defines complexity science as “an approach to research, study, and perspective that makes the philosophical assumptions of the emerging worldview. These include holism, perspectival observation, mutual causation, relationship as unit of analysis, and others as opposed to classical science which makes philosophical assumptions based on traditional worldview based on “underlying assumptions of reductionism, objective observation, linear causation, entity as unit of analysis, and others.”

In a briefing to the Congressional Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in 2001, a BiosGroup executive said complexity science could change dramatically how the military carries out operations, formulates strategy and manages logistics.

“A few hundred years ago scientists were able to tell the military where cannon balls would land,” James Herriot, Ph.D. said. “Now complexity science can tell the military where organizations will land – or more precisely the dynamics of large complex organizations composed of millions of individuals interaction parts – like millions of ricocheting, colliding billiard balls. They may be soldiers, tanks, or airplanes in a complex field of operation. These parts may even be fragments of intelligence data which, if pieced together swiftly enough, can help analysts foretell of terrorist attacks or an international financial collapse.”

According to the BiosGroup web site, Herriot said complexity science had moved from the academic into “real, valuable applications, resulting in more productive, cost-effective, adaptable organizations, logistics, and intelligence.”

BiosGroup was founded in 1996 and has raised more than $20 million in venture capital. It has more than 50 clients, including Boeing, Nasdaq, Southwest Airlines, SAP, and the US Department of Defense.

NuTech focuses on predictive analytic and profit optimization software.

NuTech: www.nutechsolutions.com