(iv) Scientists

Walk through the halls of Microsoft’s research labs and facilities and you’ll bump into many of the world’s finest computer scientists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, physicists, and engineers. They represent one of the most influential brain trusts ever known to man. Their contributions are making an indelible mark on the research community worldwide. They chair major conferences and lead research committees worldwide. Peers regularly select more of their research papers than those of any other organization for publication at major conferences, such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCHI, ACM SIGIR, and ACM SIGGRAPH.

Among Microsoft Research’s great minds are the creators of the laser printer, the Ethernet local area network, and the Mach operating system. There are winners of the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology and the ACM A.M. Turing Award — two of the most prestigious awards presented to computer scientists. There are fellows of the Royal Society and winners of other prestigious prizes, including Computer Graphics Achievement Awards from SIGGRAPH, the SIGCHI Academy Award, the SIGGRAPH Achievement Award, and even Motion Picture Association of America Academy Awards. One has been knighted by the Queen of England.

As diverse as their accomplishments and areas of research may be, virtually all will tell you they share a burning desire to see their ideas and innovations improve the lives of people around the world. Ask them why they joined Microsoft Research, and a majority will point to the ubiquity of Microsoft products and the company’s dedication to research funding, allowing them to reach more people in more places with their innovations than any other company or research organization.

The all-star team of researchers that Microsoft has assembled includes:

Jim Gray, a Microsoft technical fellow and head of the Scalable Servers Research Group. Over the past three decades, Gray has helped make it possible for computers to store and analyze ever larger amounts of information. As a result of this Turing Award winner’s research, databases have evolved from 10 MB–sized storage facilities, which were the sole property of large corporations and government institutions, into terabyte-sized computers available to millions of people. His work paved the way for many of the daily transactions we now take for granted, such as withdrawing money from automated teller machines, making airline reservations, and purchasing products over the Internet.

David Heckerman, manager of Machine Learning and Applied Statistics. Heckerman has dedicated much of his life to contemplating two questions: “What is the nature of human awareness?” and “Are humans simply fancy computers that can understand and direct their own existence?” His work is helping people eliminate junk mail from their e-mail inboxes and easily obtain a sophisticated level of computer technical support without placing a phone call. It is also enabling businesses to better target customers by predicting the habits of computer users who browse or shop online. Although his research has far-reaching implications for how computers will be used in the future, the underlying goal for all of Heckerman’s research is to build “intelligence” into the computer to make it a far more useful tool than it is today, so that “when you use your machine, it will form guesses about what you’re trying to do and help you,” Heckerman said. “It will be like having an assistant.”

Susan Dumais, a senior researcher in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group. Dumais predicts that in 10 years we will look back on today’s search interfaces and recognize them as a simple and limited way to interact with information. She works at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and information retrieval. Her quest is to make it easy for people to find, use, and make sense of information.

Eric Horvitz, a group manager for the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group. Horvitz earned a medical degree in neural biology before realizing that the path to understanding biology was though math and science. His work in artificial intelligence has led to methods that combine machine learning, user preferences, and ways to identify a user’s intention. His personal ambition is to take humanity to the next level, where humans and machines seamlessly interact and partner.

Nuria Oliver, a researcher from Spain with a doctorate in media arts and sciences. Oliver explores machine learning, human behavior modeling, and human-computer interaction and intelligent interfaces. Named a Technology Review Top 100 Young Innovator and one of Spain’s most promising young people, she has a passion for wearable, smart health-monitoring devices. Her HealthGear device can unobtrusively track any number of physiological signals.

Tony Hoare, a senior researcher in the Programming Principles and Tools Group. Hoare developed what is known as Hoare’s Logic, which allowed programmers in the 1960s to convert programs into provable, logical formulas. At the time, the accepted method of testing a program was to review its final results. He also designed Communicating Sequential Processes, a parallel programming language that allowed individual computers to communicate via messages, much as they now do over the Internet. It also eliminated the need for a shared memory among the parallel computers and inspired the development of the transputer, the first complete computer on a single silicon chip. In 2000, the British citizen was knighted, making him only the second computer scientist to receive this honor. The same year, he received the Kyoto Prize.

Victor Bahl, a principal researcher and manager of the Networking Group. Bahl was at the forefront in the early 1990s in multimedia and wireless. Since joining Microsoft Research, he has been heavily involved in the academic research community, and he’s credited with developing and deploying the first wireless hotspot, in Redmond. People living in remote areas and small businesses operating in rural neighborhoods complain that they’ve missed out on the Internet revolution because service providers won’t run high-speed links to their locations. Microsoft Research is working to develop technology that will make it easier and cheaper to provide those users with faster Internet connections. He has spearheaded an alliance with seven universities to develop Mesh Connectivity Layer, a loadable Windows driver that lets computers communicate via a wireless mesh network using Wi-Fi or WiMAX.

Yi-Min Wang, group manager for the Cybersecurity and Systems Management Research Group. Yi-Min has produced first-of-their-kind successes in the security research space. He is now leading work on Strider HoneyMonkey, a Microsoft Research project to detect and analyze Web sites hosting malicious code. The intent is to help stop attacks that use Web servers to exploit unpatched browser vulnerabilities and install malware on the PCs of unsuspecting users. Such attacks have become one of the most vexing issues confronting Internet security experts.

Alex Acero, an area manager for Speech Technology, Natural Language, and Communication and Collaboration. Acero became a computer scientist and linguist after attending a demo fair where he was captivated by a computer system that helped deaf children learn to form words properly. Acero has been working ever since on viable speech technologies and devices, successfully transferring them to products and helping hundreds of thousands of users.

Jennifer Chayes, co-founder and co-manager of the Microsoft Theory Group. Chayes is an expert in the new field of research that is emerging at the intersection of mathematics, physics, and theoretical computer science. An affiliate professor of mathematics and physics at the University of Washington, she has co-authored more than 80 scientific papers and is a named inventor on numerous pending patent applications. Chayes also serves as research area manager and heads the new Algorithms, Computation, and E-Commerce subgroup of the Microsoft Theory Group.

Kentaro Toyama, assistant managing director of Microsoft Research India. Toyama is a leader in vision-based tracking and digital graphics research. His research ranges from practical projects with targeted applications (simplifying video editing) to broader, long-range work (helping computers sense what’s happening beyond their plastic housings). Much of his work helps advance projects within Microsoft Research’s Emerging Markets and geographical information systems groups.

Kurt Akeley, a senior research and assistant managing director of Microsoft Research Asia. Akeley is among the world’s leading computer graphics researchers. He co-founded Silicon Graphics Inc., where he guided development of several high-end graphics systems, including GTX, VGX, and RealityEngine. He also developed the frame buffers and processor subsystems for the early IRIS series products, and many of the CAD tools used to design these and other products. He also led the development of the industry standard OpenGL. A named inventor on numerous pending patent applications, he is a fellow of the ACM and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 1995, he received the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award for his contributions to the architecture, design, and realization of high-performance 3-D graphics hardware systems.

Building Confidence in Computing

The Challenge

The days when computer hacking was a hobby for skilled technicians are largely over. Most hackers are out to steal valuable personal information of others or damage IT systems.

Microsoft takes a holistic approach to helping people stay safe online and is making investments in three key areas: developing technology, providing prescriptive guidance, and working with industry partners. All three are vital, but the first is particularly important to ensure customers have the security tools they need to keep up with ever-evolving attacks.

The Solution

The growing lineup of Strider security tools developed by Microsoft Research is helping the company offer innovative ways to thwart the evolving attacks of hackers and maintain the trust of its customers in computing.

Strider GhostBuster helps detect and remove rootkits, malicious software that can spread throughout a system unbeknownst to the user by removing itself from the Windows Task Manager list. Strider HoneyMonkey, which detects programs that install malware, helps the Microsoft Security Response Center react to threats faster and enables investigators to detect and analyze Web sites that host malicious code.

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Contents

• Advancing the Frontiers of Computing
• Microsoft Research: Making the Impossible Possible
• Creating a Foundation for Technology Breakthroughs
• Assembling an All-Star Team of Research Talent
• Imagining What Comes Next
• Putting Innovation to Work in Microsoft Products
• Advancing the State of the Art
• Planting the Seeds of Future Innovation
• Building a Global Think Tank