My Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) story starts with Qi. Not the mystical energy flow, but the person: Qi Zhang. She was my manager on the Word product team in Redmond when I was just a bright eyed college hire in July 2004, and later became a true friend and mentor. Growing up in Sichuan, Qi was well versed in Chinese thought, and introduced me to Chinese concepts and cultural knowledge that sparked my interest. Years went by as the Office product-cycle chugged along, finally reaching its joyous release date. I was filled with a nervous excitement as I consulted with Qi on the next stage of my career. She was aware of my passion for research and interest in China and gave me the best advice of my life: go to MSRA! Qi pointed me to Jonathan Tien, manager of the group now called Innovation Engineering.
Matt Scott,
When I first met Jonathan in his Redmond office I felt instantly relaxed. In his unique story telling style, he delivered to me a detail packed interview that provided an honest yet compelling assessment of not only the job but also the environment. I felt the opportunity available, a position as a Research Software Development Engineer in Beijing, would not only satisfy my desire to get into research, but also satiate my desire to do something new and challenging. In fact it was all about the challenge; to break out of my comfort zone and explore not only a culture largely foreign to me, but myself as well.
I started work in MSRA in late 2006 and found myself as bright eyed as a college hire again, but this time as foreigner in a foreign land. I had never traveled abroad before (other than some ski trips to Whistler in Canada), couldn’t speak Chinese, and didn’t have any of my close friends or family around me. This was all part of the plan and something I expected, because for the first time in my life I had broken free from the boundaries of my cocoon and taken my first tentative steps into the wider world. But what I hadn’t expected was how being completely on my own would help me to flourish and in so many different ways.
It wasn’t just being in China that made me grow much faster than I would in the US, it was also being in the hottest research lab in the world, MSRA. Not only was it the amazing work assignments I was given, it was just as much the morale of the people in the lab. The passion and energy to do something to make a difference through software is everywhere here; it’s abundant and present in everyone I meet. Ever since starting work here I have been massively impressed with the talent this lab attracts and the synergy of skill that has made it prolific not only in academic contributions but also technology transfers to other Microsoft products. Working in this lab has improved me because being around such amazingly talented and passionate people is contagious.
Besides learning from their incredible skills, my colleagues helped me more than just technically. It was the universal kindness and openness that made me feel less like a foreigner, and more like a family member. Take for instance my first Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in China. Right before the holiday began, my colleague Hao Wei asked me what my plans were. Even though I barely knew him at the time, when I told him I did not have any arrangements, he instantly offered to let me stay with him and his family for the holiday. It was a truly heartfelt moment and later turned out to be one my most memorable and cultural experiences. That Spring Festival I made traditional dumplings, watched the CCTV Spring Festival show with his family, launched fireworks with neighbors, and visited a temple fair.
As I continued in MSRA, I discovered that the positive attitudes, kindness, and skill at the lab provided a culture shock in itself. Even better was that I found it surprisingly easy to meet just about anyone here. We are a very social bunch, mostly working within wide open areas, bumping into one another during our daily fruit breaks at 3pm, catching games in the recreation rooms with ping pong, fussball, and pool. But the best times to connect with people are during our always fun and engaging team-wide and lab-wide offsite trips. My favorite was when the entire lab flew down to Lijiang. The theme of this excursion was movie-making. So before we left we were all assigned to teams with random people from the lab, which served as a great mechanism to meet those whom one might not normally run into. For example, as a research developer I typically meet researchers and engineers. But at the offsite I had the great opportunity to meet, and even act beside, intriguing people like Ling Huang, our fantastic lab business manager. Our movie was a love story, and as part of our roles, we both dressed up as an old couple and acted out some scenes, that although serious, gave us some memorable moments of laughter during the outtakes. The entire multi-disciplinary film team had a great time writing and producing the movie, and we all became friends as a result of it. At the same time, the entire lab got to enjoy the movie on the big screen, which broke the ice later because we all became even more approachable.
It’s not all fun and games at the lab. The work ethic and lab mission is enormously strong to the point that it is inspiring. The opportunities I have been given to excel have truly made me learn more about myself and have given me the chance to give something back to the lab that opened its arms to me. For instance, when I first started at MSRA, Jonathan Tien, the group manager, gave me an excellent chance to work on an image processing and mobile device project, even though my experience on those technologies was limited. He showed great trust in me and gave me the space to learn and grow in these areas. I took the opportunity to fall deeper into the research and technology, work hard, and eventually build a demo that was selected to be shown at Microsoft’s annual TechFest conference, which opened up the possibility to transfer the technology into production.
Another notable set of opportunities I was given to expand my horizons was from my lead, Gang Chen. I communicated to him that I would like to explore development leadership skills. He takes career growth very seriously and believed in me enough to give me the opportunity to lead several projects. First I had to start small, leading interns and new hires, and then, gradually building on some success, I eventually had the opportunity to work with our then Innovation Engineering GM, Dean Slawson, as well as visiting scientist Chandra, on a series of innovative search related research projects along with Jing Zhao from IEG. During this time I had the opportunity not only to lead and code, but also contribute directly to the research. The hard work paid off as we were able to demo at TechFest once again, generate some valuable patents, and have one of our search projects presented directly to Bill Gates, during which he gave his praise and communicated his desire to see this work find its way into Microsoft products.
My journey to the east has thus far been the most fruitful experience of my life, both personally, and professionally; I have evolved tremendously and I am in no hurry to leave. The success is owed to the people around me –the kind local people I meet on a daily basis on the streets of Beijing; my incomparably passionate, brilliant, and friendly colleagues; the friends I’ve made along the way; and the superb leadership and trust given by my managers. These people have made me feel part of the MSRA family and have allowed me to happily call China my home.
