Microsoft Research Asia, Microsoft’s fundamental research arm in Asia Pacific, held "Dreams Ignite the Future — A Dialogue between Craig Mundie and Chinese Students" to inspire students about the future and encourage them to pursue careers in information technology. It also recognized the achievements of Microsoft Research Asia’s Microsoft Student Technology Clubs (MSTC).
Beijing, China — May 6th, 2009 — Reinforcing its commitment to fostering China’s future talents, Microsoft Research (MSR) Asia, Microsoft’s fundamental research arm in Asia Pacific, held the “Dreams Ignite the Future – A Dialogue between Craig Mundie and Chinese Students” on April 22nd, in Beijing. The event, which attracted more than 1,200 students from area universities, featured a keynote address delivered by Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft and a question and answer session. During his keynote, Craig Mundie outlined Microsoft’s vision for technology and the impact that young talents can have on the advancing the state of the art in computer science. The keynote address, which can be read in full here, included demos which highlighted Microsoft latest innovations such as Laura the virtual receptionist. The event served to inspire students about the future and encourage them to pursue careers in information technology.
“Dreams Ignite the Future – A Dialogue between Craig Mundie and Chinese Students” also recognized the achievements of MSR Asia’s Microsoft Student Technology Clubs (MSTC). Three student clubs received awards for innovative ideas developed during a competition including “Dream Home” from Chongqing University, a technology that leverages Microsoft’s Live Maps to alert citizens of hazards following an earthquake; “3D Virtual Work Station for Dou Gong” from Nankai University, a technology that uses 3D imaging to represent a bracketing system that served to support ancient Chinese buildings; and “Intelligent Tactile Sticks with Phonetic GPS Navigation System” from Xiandian University, a technology that uses GPS data to help the blind navigate through a city.
MSTC is a student community program which promotes advanced technology among students through education, practice, and innovation. There are currently 30 MSTCs in China, with about ten thousand members. Both undergraduate and graduate students at participating universities can join the MSTC at their universities. While many of the members are engineering students, there are members of various majors such as Business, Library, and Fine Arts etc.
