Special Features:
BILL GATES HIGHLIGHTS ACADEMIC
COLLABORATION KEY TO FUTURE
At the third annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit, Microsoft Chairman and
Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, highlighted the technology innovation
coming out of academia, and underscored the importance of Microsoft's
continuing collaboration with universities and colleges. Speaking to 325
faculty researchers from leading institutions worldwide, Gates also stressed
the importance of finding innovative ways to foster a safer, more private and
reliable computing experience, announcing the formation of the new Trustworthy
Computing Academic Advisory Board.
"Collaboration between industry and academia is crucial to deliver on our
shared vision for the future of technology and education," Gates said.
"Microsoft remains committed to deepening its relationship with academia,
because only by working together can we create the next generation of
computing technology."
Gates highlighted innovative technologies coming out of academic research
built on Microsoft .NET, such as a scalable calendar user interface called
DateLens; collaborative research -- by Lancaster University and Microsoft --
on Windows source code that has been integrated into Windows CE .NET and
Windows .NET Server; and new programs and resources for professors and
students, including the release of binary code for the Microsoft Conference
Experience Project (called ConferenceXP), a research project designed to
improve the single- and multisite classroom experience for faculty and
students.
Microsoft Research University Relations created the annual faculty summit to
provide another forum for the exchange of information and ideas. Academics
will present their latest research projects and findings during breakout
sessions, and view presentations and demonstrations from Microsoft that
highlight the company's current research and products in development.
Academics Embrace Microsoft Technologies, Collaborate on Innovation
During Gates' keynote address, he and Benjamin B. Bederson, director of the
Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, demonstrated the
DateLens research project, a scalable calendar interface for mobile devices
that uses the .NET Compact Framework and is implemented entirely in C#. The
goal of DateLens is to create one interface that uses the same source code to
execute on multiple devices -- such as Pocket PC, Tablet PC and the desktop --
that have different processor types, different display resolutions and
radically different interaction models.
The .NET Compact Framework, still in beta release, allowed Bederson and his
team to port six months work on DateLens from a desktop to a Pocket PC in
less than a day. By using a fisheye representation of dates coupled with
compact overviews and search functionality, DateLens will help users perform
planning and analysis tasks, enabling them to easily navigate the calendar
structure.
"After using Java for five years, I approached C# with some skepticism but
have found myself pleasantly surprised," Bederson said. "C# includes many
significant advances, and the .NET Compact Framework is even more impressive,
allowing us to quickly port our work from the desktop to the Pocket PC and be
fully running in about a week."
Lancaster University also actively uses Microsoft Windows source code to
support experimental aspects of its research. The collaborative research by
the department of computer science at Lancaster University, the United
Kingdom's leading center for networking and distributed multimedia research,
and Microsoft on Windows source code has resulted in the successful
implementation of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) into Windows CE .NET and
Windows .NET Server. Originating from Lancaster's senior academics' desire to
develop an alternative research platform to Linux-and UNIX-based operating
systems, the project quickly grew into a valuable addition for the coming
upgrade of Windows CE .NET, currently code-named "Jameson." The work done by
Lancaster and Microsoft on IPv6 will be honored at the Research Faculty
Summit. The Microsoft Windows Embedded Academic Excellence Award will be
presented to professor Andrew Scott on behalf of the Lancaster research team.
"The prospect of porting the IPv6 stack was challenging to us, but we've been
impressed, not just by the effort Microsoft put forth in ensuring that we had
access to the right code and development tools, but also by how both teams
have openly discussed problems and new ideas," Scott said. "The successful
implementation of IPv6 clearly demonstrates the potential for rewarding
innovative technology transfer from academic research into business
applications."
Microsoft makes source code accessible to a variety of customers, partners,
researchers, governments and academicians through the Shared Source
Initiative. Through this initiative, Microsoft is increasing its outreach to
the academic and research community via expanded source access, the ability to
modify and distribute code for research purposes, and even, with Windows CE,
the ability to incorporate shared source code into courseware without a fee.
To date there are more than 100 universities with Microsoft source access and
there have been more than 125,000 downloads of Windows CE .NET and Windows CE
3.0 shared source code, with over 20% of these downloads by professors,
researchers and students.
Microsoft Announces Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board
In his keynote address, Gates announced the Trustworthy Computing Academic
Advisory Board, which will work to develop innovative ways to break down many
of the common barriers facing the technology industry today. Extending
Microsoft's existing relationships with top academic researchers, the board
was created to formalize a process for Microsoft to receive critical feedback
on product and policy issues around privacy, security and reliability from
leading academic security research scientists worldwide, each with a
significant track record in his or her field of expertise.
The Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board is a natural extension of
Microsoft's existing relationships and will focus on technical and policy
issues as they relate to Trustworthy Computing and to Microsoft and other
technologies. Microsoft has a number of information assurance initiatives that
will benefit from objective inquiry by the group's technical, scientific and
policy experts.
Technologies to Improve the Classroom Experience
In addition, Gates showed a Microsoft research project called the Conference
Experience Project (ConferenceXP), a suite of research technologies designed
to create highly interactive distance classrooms, vastly improving the
classroom experience for faculty and students. ConferenceXP takes advantage of
recent advances in technology, particularly the Internet2 Abilene network, to
create a simple, flexible and extensible high-performance conferencing
infrastructure for high-end collaborative environments and to provide a
research platform for the development of collaborative applications.
Institutions including Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth
College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rice University, the
University of California at Berkeley, the University of Texas and the
University of Washington have been working with Microsoft to design, build and
test these technologies in classroom settings for many months.
With the release today of the binary code, academic institutions can now
access the ConferenceXP Research Prototype, provide feedback and submit RFPs
to enhance ConferenceXP functionality from the ConferenceXP Community site at
www.conferencexp.net.
The Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2002 continues with presentations,
demonstrations of Microsoft and university collaborative projects, and
breakout sessions on key academic computing issues such as mobility, .NET,
security and shared source. Microsoft Research will host the second annual
.NET Technologies in the Computing Curriculum Workshop 2002 for faculty
attendees. The workshop will focus on how to expose emerging Internet
technologies to students across the computing curriculum, and is relevant for
people who are currently using, or are interested in using, any of the .NET
technologies in curriculum. More than 140 faculty members representing 80
schools plan to attend this year's workshop.
About Microsoft Research University Relations
Microsoft Research University Relations, a division of Microsoft Research, is
dedicated to building world-class relationships with colleges and universities
that enhance the teaching and learning experience, inspiring technological
innovation and establishing Microsoft as a leading technology partner for
higher education. Microsoft invests $75 million annually in support of
research and education worldwide.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is a worldwide leader in software, services and
Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers
a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great
software--any time, any place and on any device.
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