Microsoft Research Podcast show

Microsoft Research Podcast

Summary: An ongoing series of conversations bringing you right up to the cutting edge of Microsoft Research.

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  • Artist: Gretchen Huizinga, host
  • Copyright: Copyright 2018 Microsoft Research Podcast

Podcasts:

 049 - Celebrating 20 Years of MSR in Asia with Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

In 1998, Microsoft Research opened a small lab in Beijing to expand its research efforts and draw on the immense high-tech talent pool in China. No one expected that only twenty years later, MSR Asia would become the dynamic organization it is today, with innovative research contributing to nearly every part of Microsoft’s business. Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon has watched it grow from the beginning and this year, celebrates the lab’s 20th anniversary as Managing Director, Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific R&D Group. On today’s podcast, Dr. Hon gives us a brief history of MSR Asia, from its humble beginnings to its significant role in the AI boom today, talks about MSR Asia’s unique talent pipeline, shares his vision for the complementary roles of machine intelligence and human wisdom, and explains why, he believes, the more progress we make in AI, the better we understand ourselves.

 048 - Storing Digital Data in Synthetic DNA with Dr. Karin Strauss | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

As traditional semiconductor technologies for computer storage scale down, everyone is looking for alternative solutions to the growing gap between the amount of data we’re capable of producing and the amount of data we’re capable of storing. While some have focused on hardware accelerators for machine learning, and others are investigating new memory technologies, Dr. Karin Strauss, a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, has been exploring the role of biotechnology in IT via an end-to-end system that stores digital data in DNA. On today’s podcast, Dr. Strauss talks about life at the intersection of computer science and biology which, for many, is more like the intersection of science fiction and science, and explains how the unique properties of DNA could eventually enable us to store really big data in really small places for a really long time.

 046 - Designing the Future With the Help of the Past with Bill Buxton | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

  The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius famously exhorted his pupils to study the past if they would divine the future. In 2018, we get the same advice from a decidedly more modern, but equally philosophical Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher in the HCI group at Microsoft Research. In addition to his pioneering work in computer science and design, Bill Buxton has spent the past several decades amassing a collection of more than a thousand artifacts that chronicle the history of human computer interaction for the very purpose of informing the future of human computer interaction. Today, in a wide-ranging interview, Bill Buxton explains why Marcel Proust and TS Eliot can be instructive for computer scientists, why the long nose of innovation is essential to success in technology design, why problem-setting is more important than problem-solving, and why we must remember, as we design our technologies, that every technological decision we make is an ethical decision as well.

 045 - Leading Labs with Dr. Jennifer Chayes | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

2018 marks the 10th anniversary of Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts, so it’s the perfect time to talk with someone who was there from the lab’s beginning: Technical Fellow, Managing Director and Co-founder, Dr. Jennifer Chayes. But not only does Dr. Chayes run the New England lab of MSR, she also directs two other highly renowned, interdisciplinary research labs in New York City and Montreal, Quebec. Add to that a full slate of personal research projects and service on numerous boards, committees and foundations, and you’ve got one of the busiest and most influential women in high tech. On today’s podcast, Dr. Chayes shares her passion for the value of undirected inquiry, talks about her unlikely journey from rebel to researcher, and explains how she believes her research philosophy – more botanist than boss – prepares the fertile ground necessary for important, innovative and impactful research.

 044 - The Future is Fusion with Asta Roseway | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Asta Roseway has a formal title. It’s Principal Research Designer in the HCI group at Microsoft Research. But she’s also been described as a conductor, an alchemist, a millennial in a Gen-Xer’s body and, in her own words, a fusionist. What’s a fusionist, you might ask? Well, you’re about to find out. On today’s podcast, Asta gives an inside look at one of the most unconventional labs at Microsoft Research. Located at the intersection of science, technology and art, it’s a lab that insists that technology, like art, should push boundaries, tell stories and feed our souls. Get ready for the unexpected because when Asta asks “what if?” you’re likely to find yourself immersed in a world of responsive clothing, smart tattoos, talking plants and even environmentally sensitive… makeup!

 043 - All About Automated Machine Learning with Dr. Nicolo Fusi | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

You may have heard the phrase, necessity is the mother of invention, but for Dr. Nicolo Fusi, a researcher at the Microsoft Research lab in Cambridge, MA, the mother of his invention wasn’t so much necessity as it was boredom: the special machine learning boredom of manually fine-tuning models and hyper-parameters that can eat up tons of human and computational resources, but bring no guarantee of a good result. His solution? Automate machine learning with a meta-model that figures out what other models are doing, and then predicts how they’ll work on a given dataset. On today’s podcast, Dr. Fusi gives us an inside look at Automated Machine Learning – Microsoft’s version of the industry’s AutoML technology – and shares the story of how an idea he had while working on a gene editing problem with CRISPR/Cas9 turned into a bit of a machine learning side quest and, ultimately, a surprisingly useful instantiation of Automated Machine Learning - now a feature of Azure Machine Learning - that reduces dependence on intuition and takes some of the tedium out of data science at the same time.

 042 - Internships Ahoy! with Kirsten Bray, Wei Dai and Sara Beery | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

At the heart of any vibrant research community, you’ll find a diverse range of scientists. You’re also likely to find a robust internship program, like the one at Microsoft Research. This summer, MSR welcomed another stellar group of interns who had the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and network with colleagues and mentors who will impact their lives for years to come. On today’s podcast, you’ll hear the stories of three of these interns, each of whom came to Microsoft Research from a different field, with a different story and a different perspective, but all of whom share MSR’s passion for finding innovative solutions to the world’s toughest challenges.

 041 - Playing to the Crowd and Other Social Media Mandates with Dr. Nancy Baym | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Dr. Nancy Baym is a communication scholar, a Principal Researcher in MSR’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, lab, and something of a cyberculture maven. She’s spent nearly three decades studying how people use communication technologies in their everyday relationships and written several books on the subject. The big take away? Communication technologies may have changed drastically over the years, but human communication itself? Not so much. Today, Dr. Baym shares her insights on a host of topics ranging from the arduous maintenance requirements of social media, to the dialectic tension between connection and privacy, to the funhouse mirror nature of emerging technologies. She also talks about her new book, Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences and the Intimate Work of Connection, which explores how the internet transformed – for better and worse – the relationship between artists and their fans.

 040 - Putting the Cloud Under the Sea with Ben Cutler | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Datacenters have a hard time keeping their cool. Literally. And with more and more datacenters coming online all over the world, calls for innovative solutions to “cool the cloud” are getting loud. So, Ben Cutler and the Special Projects team at Microsoft Research decided to try to beat the heat by using one of the best natural venues for cooling off on the planet: the ocean. That led to Project Natick, Microsoft’s prototype plan to deploy a new class of eco-friendly datacenters, under water, at scale, anywhere in the world, from decision to power-on, in 90 days. Because, presumably for Special Projects, go big or go home. In today’s podcast we find out a bit about what else the Special Projects team is up to, and then we hear all about Project Natick and how Ben and his team conceived of, and delivered on, a novel idea to deal with the increasing challenges of keeping datacenters cool, safe, green, and, now, dry as well!

 039 - Malmo, Minecraft and Machine Learning with Dr. Katja Hofmann | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

The wildly popular video game, Minecraft, might appear to be an unlikely candidate for machine learning research, but to Dr. Katja Hofmann, the research lead of Project Malmo in the Machine Intelligence and Perception Group at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England, it’s the perfect environment for teaching AI agents, via reinforcement learning, to act intelligently – and cooperatively – in the open world. Today, Dr. Hofmann talks about her vision of a future where machines learn to collaborate with people and empower them to help solve complex, real-world problems. She also shares the story of how her early years in East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, shaped her both personally and professionally, and ultimately facilitated a creative, exploratory mindset about computing that informs her work to this day.

 038 - Cryptography for the Post-Quantum World with Dr. Brian LaMacchia | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

You know those people who work behind the scenes to make sure nothing bad happens to you, and if they’re really good, you never know who they are because nothing bad happens to you? Well, meet one of those people. Dr. Brian LaMacchia is a Distinguished Engineer and he heads up the Security and Cryptography Group at Microsoft Research. It’s his job to make sure – using up-to-the-minute math – that you’re safe and secure online, both now, and in the post-quantum world to come. Today, Dr. LaMacchia gives us an inside look at the world of cryptography and the number theory behind it, explains what happens when good algorithms go bad, and tells us why, even though cryptographically relevant quantum computers are still decades away, we need to start developing quantum-resistant algorithms right now.

 037 - A Brief History of Networking (and a Bit About the Future Too) with Dr. Victor Bahl | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

If your idea of a great job includes pursuing untethered research, shepherding brilliant researchers and helping shape the long-term strategy of one of the largest tech companies in the world… oh, and also publishing prolifically, authoring patents, winning awards and speaking around the world… you are in good company. That’s what Dr. Victor Bahl, Distinguished Scientist and Director of Mobility and Networking at Microsoft Research, does for a living. And he loves it! Today, in our first live podcast, recorded at MSR’s 2018 Faculty Summit, Dr. Bahl shares some fascinating stories from his long and illustrious career, gives us an inside look at what’s new in networking, and, explains why, in an industry where it pays to be the smartest person in the room, it’s important to be a world-class listener.

 036 - A Conversation with Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Kevin Scott has embraced many roles over the course of his illustrious career in technology: software developer, engineering executive, researcher, angel investor, philanthropist, and now, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft. But perhaps no role suits him so well – or has so fundamentally shaped all the others – as his self-described role of “all-around geek.” Today, in a wide-ranging interview, Kevin shares his insights on both the history and the future of computing, talks about how his impulse to celebrate the extraordinary people “behind the tech” led to an eponymous non-profit organization and a podcast, and… reveals the superpower he got when he was in grad school.

 035 - Research You Can (Really) Use with Dr. Lenin Ravindranath Sivalingam | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Dr. Lenin Ravindranath Sivalingam is a researcher by trade, but by nature, he’s an entrepreneur, and a hacker with a heart of gold. It’s this combination of skill and passion that informs his work at Microsoft Research, driving him to discover and build tools that will make life both easier for developers and better for end-users. Today, Dr. Ravindranath Sivalingam tells us why he is so passionate about what he does, explains how internships can literally change your life, and shares the story of how a hackathon idea turned into a prize-winning project… and then became the backbone of a powerhouse tool for gamers and their fans. To learn more about Dr. Ravindranath Sivalingam, and how Microsoft researchers are working to make life more easier and more robust for everyone, visit Microsoft.com/research

 034 (rerun) - The future is quantum with Dr. Krysta Svore | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

First aired on January 17, 2018. If someone mentions quantum computing, and you find yourself outwardly nodding your head, but secretly shaking it, you’re in good company: some of the world’s smartest people admit they don’t really understand it either. Fortunately, some of the world’s other smartest people, like Dr. Krysta Svore, Principal Research Manager of the Microsoft Quantum – or QuArC – group at Microsoft Research in Redmond, actually DO understand quantum computing, and are working hard to make it a reality.Today, Dr. Svore shares her passion for quantum algorithms and their potential to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, explains why Microsoft’s topological quantum bit – or qubit – is a game changer for quantum computing, and assures us that, although qubits live in dilution refrigerators at temperatures near absolute zero, quantum researchers can still sit in the comfort of their offices and work with the computer programmer’s equivalent of Schroedinger’s Cat.

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