In this paper, the authors present an efficient procedure for optimal placement of poles in rational approximations by Müntz-Laguerre functions. The technique is formulated as the minimization of a quadratic criterion and the linear equations involved are efficiently expressed using the orthonormal basis functions. The presented technique has direct application in rational approximation and model order reduction of large-degree or infinite-dimensional systems. An efficient choice of parameters in orthogonal Müntz-Laguerre approximation Model order reduction of large-degree or infinite-dimensional systems The choice of Müntz-Laguerre parameters is based on a least squares optimization Abstract: In this paper, the authors present an efficient procedure for optimal placement of poles in rational approximations by Müntz-Laguerre functions. The technique is formulated as the minimization of a quadratic criterion and the linear equations involved are efficiently expressed using the orthonormal basis functions. The presented technique has direct application in rational approximation and model order reduction of large-degree or infinite-dimensional systems.