(viii) Future Vision

Microsoft Research is dedicated to creating a virtuous cycle of technology development that begins in the classroom and ends in the innovative products released by Microsoft and other IT companies. Through its External Research & Programs (ER&P) group, Microsoft Research promotes close collaboration with academia, government agencies, and industry to advance the frontiers of computing and nurture the next generation of computing professionals.

The group — created in 1998 and formerly known as University Relations — nurtures this process through the following initiatives:

Information Technology and Computer Science Instruction. ER&P is helping address the fundamental challenges facing computer science and information technology in academia. The annual Faculty Summit and the New Faculty Fellowship program help promote instructional excellence and offset decreased funding for academic research. ER&P also provides funding for pilot programs that promote gender equity, addressing the declining enrollment of women in computer science and information technology majors.

Computational sciences. Through ER&P efforts, Microsoft researchers are collaborating with academia to apply modern database technology, Web services, high-performance computing, and Microsoft .NET to bioinformatics in areas such as early cancer detection, improved models of evolution, and HIV-AIDS vaccine development. Microsoft researchers are applying many of the same computational tools to collaborative e-science efforts in areas such as geography and astronomy.

Digital inclusion. ER&P is helping extend the power of information and communication technology to people who, until now, have not had access. Research under way at Microsoft and through ER&P funded grants aims to overcome the economic, technology, and other hurdles necessary to extend computing to as many as 4 billion people, mostly in low-income, rural areas.

Pervasive computing. ER&P is helping uncover the computing systems of the future through ongoing support for a variety of academic and other research projects, including the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland. Other efforts include a platform for robotics-enhanced computer science instruction and a research platform for sensor networks that use service-oriented architectures.

Regional programs. ER&P outreach to universities is tailored to the needs of different geographic regions. In North America, for example, the focus is on initiatives that advance the state of the art in computer science and computational sciences, and on the teaching of these disciplines. The engagement model emphasizes public requests for proposals and active collaboration with faculty to ensure maximum success for supported projects. The Microsoft Research lab in Redmond is responsible for this region.

Technology solutions. ER&P supports long-term initiatives to enhance teaching and learning through the creative use of technologies, such as the Tablet PC, ConferenceXP, and broadband and wireless networking. The group funds grants to promote research in these areas and works with faculty to develop curricula — much of it freely available — designed to make computing more compelling and relevant. These tools include a curriculum repository that features more than 1,000 curriculum resources and receives 20,000 views and 14,000 downloads per month. In addition, nearly 700 Ph.D. students complete sponsored internships at Microsoft Research facilities around the world each year. The group also supports teaching and academic research by making Microsoft source code available to academic partners. In return, academia provides Microsoft with a source for independent, original research and a critical training ground for the young men and women who will create tomorrow’s technology. 

Bringing Order to Competing Communications Tools

The Challenge

Real-time communication technologies — from cell phones to pagers, e-mail to voice mail, Pocket PCs to laptops — allow people to remain in contact and trade almost any kind of message from virtually any place at any time. But most of these communications technologies operate independently. They must be manually programmed, maintained by an assistant, or turned off in order to avoid combating ring tones or embarrassing interruptions during meetings or intimate gatherings.

The Solution

Microsoft researchers are exploring ways to help communications tools work together better. As part of the Bestcom research project, researchers are developing software agents that can manage and coordinate multiple communication tools and devices. These automated assistants might, for example, route an important e-mail message to a person’s cell phone when his online calendar shows he’s scheduled to attend a meeting away from his office. The project is also looking for ways to help people easily program their communications preferences, and for businesses to integrate context-sensitive call handling with existing corporate PBX systems and voice over IP (VOIP) protocols.

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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