Who the heck is Craig Mundie? And What does Microsoft Research do?

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Craig Mundie is visiting the University of Toronto tomorrow October 6th, and McGIll university Friday October 7th. This is a big deal! Why? In the words of Inigo Montoya “Let me ‘splain”

Craig Mundie is the Chief Research and Strategy Officer for Microsoft. Microsoft Research is where some of the coolest stuff happens. I know when you think of Microsoft you may think of Windows, Office, maybe .NET, but there is so much more and so much of it is just amazing! How about Kinect? Popular Mechanics recently listed the Kinect SDK for Windows as one of the 10 most Innovative Tech Products of 2011.  Microsoft Research helps projects like the Large Hadron Collider figure out how to store and process what they call big data: the petabytes of data they collect from accelerators, telescopes, and sensors. I bet you never suspected that you would be hearing about Microsoft research at conferences on AIDS, but you will because of work on vaccine trials for AIDS to analyze how the AIDS virus attacks the immune system.

Technology has come so far, so fast! My first computer had 16KB of memory (yeah I am that old but I never programmed with punch cards), it had a cassette player and game cartridges. Video calls were for science fiction like the Jetsons, holograms were for Star Wars. Now we can do video calls on our phones! And Windows Phone just keeps getting better and better, don’t believe me? Trust this guy he obviously knows what he is talking about.

So where will technology go next? Well that’s what Craig is coming to town to talk about. He’s coming to Canada to talk about Converging Worlds: A New Era in Computing. We are starting to see a fundamental transformation in how we interact with computers and what we can expect from them. Powered by insights from big data, more natural user interfaces, and a merging of the physical and digital worlds, this new era of computing will enable exciting new capabilities. Craig Mundie will discuss how we can harness these new technologies to take on some of the world’s most complex challenges.

Technology has evolved, our expectations from technology have evolved, the future is exciting and you are going to create that future! Take advantage of this rare opportunity to get a unique insight on the opportunities open to you!

University of Toronto: Thursday, October 6, 11:30-12:30pm. Bahen Center for IT, Adel S. Sedra Lecture Theatre, room 1160. No registration required

McGill University: Friday, October 7, 3:00-4:00pm. Redpath Hall, 3461 McTavish. No registration required