November 4, 2008 November 7, 2008

2008年“二十一世纪的计算”学术研讨会

Lieu: 北京大学、新加坡新达城会展中心

a man smiling for the camera

Raj Reddy

卡内基-梅隆大学计算机科学系教授

1994年图灵奖获得者

  • Dr. Raj Reddy is the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford from 1966-69 and a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon faculty since 1969. He served as the founding Director of the Robotics Institute from 1979 to 1991 and the Dean of School of Computer Science from 1991 to 1999.

    Dr. Reddy’s research interests include the study of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. His current research interests include Million Book Digital Library Project; Fiber To The Village Project; and Learning by Doing.

    He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence from 1987 to 89. Dr. Reddy was awarded the Legion of Honor by President Mitterand of France in 1984. He was awarded the ACM Turing Award in 1994, the Okawa Prize in 2004, the Honda Prize in 2005, and the Vannevar Bush Award in 2006. He served as co-chair of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 1999 to 2001.

  • Presentation Title: Technology in Service of Humanity

    Abstract:
    This talk presents several examples of how technology, in particular Information Technology, can help people at the bottom of the pyramid. For many of them, access to Word, Excel, and PPT or Programming are not that important. However, technology enabled solutions for education, healthcare, access to people and information, entertainment, surviving disasters, and finding jobs would be of great interest to them. In this talk we present several examples of how even illiterate people can use and benefit from technology and the necessary conditions to realize such benefits.


Butler Lampson wearing glasses and smiling at the camera

Butler Lampson

微软公司技术院士

1992年图灵奖获得者

  • Butler Lampson is a Technical Fellow at Microsoft Corporation and an Adjunct Professor at MIT. He has worked on computer architecture, local area networks, raster printers, page description languages, operating systems, remote procedure call, programming languages and their semantics, programming in the large, fault-tolerant computing, transaction processing, computer security, WYSIWYG editors, and tablet computers. He was one of the designers of the SDS 940 time-sharing system, the Alto personal distributed computing system, the Xerox 9700 laser printer, two-phase commit protocols, the Autonet LAN, the SPKI system for network security, the Microsoft Tablet PC software, the Microsoft Palladium high-assurance stack, and several programming languages. He received the ACM Software Systems Award in 1984 for his work on the Alto, the IEEE Computer Pioneer award in 1996 and von Neumann Medal in 2001, the Turing Award in 1992, and the NAE’s Draper Prize in 2004.

  • Presentation Title: The Uses of Computers: What is Past is Merely Prologue

    Abstract:
    People have been inventing new ideas in computer systems for nearly four decades, usually driven by Moore’s Law. Many of them have been spectacularly successful: networks and the web, relational databases, and graphical user interfaces are just a few examples. The fate of other promising ideas is still in doubt: parallel computing, formal methods, and software reuse. But great opportunities also lie before us: highly dependable and highly adaptable systems, and embodied machines that integrate with the physical world, such as cars that drive themselves or sensor networks that monitor the health of our environment and the safety of our streets. Broadly viewed, computers can be used for simulation, for communication, and for embodiment. The last is the newest and the most exciting.


Tony Hoare wearing glasses and looking at the camera

Tony Hoare

微软剑桥研究院首席研究员

1980年图灵奖获得者

  • Tony Hoare’s  first (and only) degree at Oxford University in 1956 specialised in philosophy and classical languages and literature (Latin and Greek).  He then learned the Russian Language in the Royal Navy, spent a year studying statistics at Oxford, and a year studying machine translation at Moscow State University.  There he discovered the famous sorting algorithm Quicksort.

    This experience turned his interest to Computing.  He took employment in 1960 as a programmer at Elliott Brothers, and led the implementation of an early compiler for the classical programming language ALGOL 60.  He rose to the rank of Chief Engineer and then Chief Scientist; but in 1968 he moved to Academic life as a Professor of Computer Science at the Queen’s University Belfast.  He decided to devote his research career to the theory of programming, and verification of the correctness of computer programs.

    In 1977, he moved back to Oxford University at its Programming Research Group.  There he set up a wide range of graduate and undergraduate degrees in Computing Science.  On reaching retirement in 1999, he joined Microsoft research in Cambridge UK, to pursue more intensively his research into the correctness of programs, and to witness the general application of some of the results of earlier academic research in the topic.

    His scientific and engineering achievements have been recognised by the Turing Award and the Kyoto Prize; and by his election as Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering in Britain, the Italian Accademia dei Lincei, and the US National Academy of Engineering.

  • Presentation Title: A Vision for the Science of Programming

    Abstract:
    I have a vision of the day when software is the most reliable component of any product or system which it controls. On that day, software developers will be respected as the most reliable of professional engineers. On that day, the science of programming will be recognised as the pure branch of computer science, underlying the practice of software engineering in all areas of application.

    The basic topic of study in the science of programming is the computer program itself. Like other basic scientists, we ask the most general and the most fundamental questions about it: ‘What does it do?’ ‘How does it work?’ ‘Why does it work?’ and ‘How do we know that the answers to all these questions are correct?’

    Like other basic scientists, we pursue scientific ideals. As the physicist pursues accuracy of measurement; as the chemist pursues purity of materials, so we pursue the correctness of programs, far beyond any immediate or commercially exploitable need.

    Our method of research is the standard method of science. We formulate general theories expressed in the language of mathematics, and specialise them to particular applications. We support the theories by accumulation of experimental evidence, drawn from the full range of application. And we use computers extensively, both to conduct and store the results of experiment, and to perform the mathematical calculations and proofs that check conformity between theory and experiment.

    When sufficient evidence has accumulated, the theories will be embodied in a suite of Design Automation tools, with coherent coverage of all phases in the lifetime of programs, from requirements analysis through specification, design, coding testing, delivery and subsequent maintenance and evolution. As in other branches of engineering, these tools will automate all necessary deductions and calculations, and will thereby conceal from the professional engineer the unpopular fact that the language of Science, even of Computing Science, is mathematics. The achievement of my vision will depend on a high degree of co-operation and objectively decided competition between rival and complementary branches of our subject. It will require an increase in the scale and ambition of our research goals which is characteristic of other mature branches of science. It will require the sympathy and support of Computer Scientists from around the world. Perhaps we need to engage ourselves in a Grand Challenge project, similar to those which have led to recent breakthroughs in the basic science of biology.


a man looking at the camera

Frans Kaashoek

麻省理工学院计算机科学与工程系教授

美国国家工程院院士

  • Frans Kaashoek is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering in MIT’s Department of Electric Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory since January 1993. Before joining MIT, he was a student at the department of Computer Science (afdeling Informatica) at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He received a Ph.D degree (’92) from the Vrije Universiteit for his thesis Group communication in distributed computer systems, under the guidance of Andy Tanenbaum.

    Frans’s research interest is computer systems: operating systems, networking, programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture for distributed, mobile, and parallel systems. The home page for the Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems group describes current projects.

    In 1998 Frans cofounded Sightpath Inc, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2000. He also serves on the board of Mazu Networks Inc.

  • Presentation Title: Operating systems and the multicore evolution

    Abstract:
    Many desktop and server applications rely on operating system services, and will thus rely on good concurrent performance of those services as the number of cores in commodity processors in creases. Unfortunately, current operating systems often have performance that scales poorly with the number of cores, because they implement their kernel abstractions using data structures modified by all cores. On processors with many cores this design may cause the kernel to be a bottleneck due to the costs of inter-core data movement. This talk proposes several new kernel abstractions (e.g., address trees, core times, and shares), which can improve kernel scalability, and a design principle (applications should control sharing), which has.


Richard Rashid smiling for the camera

Rick Rashid

微软公司全球高级副总裁

美国国家工程院院士

  • Currently charged with oversight of Microsoft Research’s worldwide operations, Richard (Rick) F. Rashid previously served as the director of Microsoft Research, focusing on operating systems, networking and multiprocessors. In that role he was responsible for managing work on key technologies leading to the development of Microsoft Corp.’s interactive TV system and authored a number of patents in areas such as data compression, networking and operating systems. In addition to running Microsoft Research, Rashid also was instrumental in creating the team that eventually became Microsoft’s Digital Media Division and directing Microsoft’s first e-commerce group. Rashid was promoted to vice president of Microsoft Research in 1994, and then to senior vice president in 2000.

    Before joining Microsoft in September 1991, Rashid was professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). After becoming a CMU faculty member in September 1979, he directed the design and implementation of several influential network operating systems, and published dozens of papers about computer vision, operating systems, programming languages for distributed processing, network protocols and communications security. During his tenure at CMU, Rashid developed the Mach multiprocessor operating system, which has been influential in the design of many modern operating systems and remains at the core of a number of commercial systems.

    Rashid was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2003, and presented with the IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award in 2008, for his work in operating systems and for innovation in industrial research.

    He also is credited with co-development of one of the earliest networked computer games, «Alto Trek,” during the mid-1970s. An updated version of this game has been developed by Microsoft and has been released under the name «Allegiance.”

    Rashid is a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer Directorate Advisory Committee. He is a past member of the DARPA UNIX Steering Committee and the CSNet Executive Committee and a former chairman of the ACM Software System Awards Committee. Rashid’s research interests have focused on artificial intelligence, operating systems, networking and multiprocessors. He has participated in the design and implementation of the University of Rochester RIG operating system (1975–1979), the Rochester Virtual Terminal Management System (1976–1979), the CMU Distributed Sensor Network Testbed (1980–1983), and CMU’s SPICE distributed personal computing environment, which included the Accent network operating system (1981–1985). He has published papers on computer vision, operating systems, programming languages for distributed processing, network protocols and communication security.

    Rashid received master of science (1977) and doctoral (1980) degrees in computer science from the University of Rochester. He graduated with honors in mathematics and comparative literature from Stanford University in 1974.

  • Presentation Title: Making an Impact, Microsoft Research

    Abstract:
    One of the defining characteristics of the human spirit is its ability to aspire to a greater tomorrow. Whether it be good health, sustainable resources, improved living standards, or better education, human beings exhibit an inexhaustible capacity to imagine a brighter future—and to work to make such dreams real. At Microsoft Research, we share a commitment to making the world a better place. Our work is all about advancing the frontiers of knowledge, overcoming challenges, and getting to the solution of important problems. Microsoft Research is focused  on developing new technologies that can improve all our lives and in cooperation with academia, governments and industry we are applying our results to make the world a better place


Harry Shum smiling for the camera

沈向洋

微软公司全球资深副总裁

国际电机电子工程师协会院士

国际计算机协会院士

  • Former managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, Dr. Harry Shum, a Corporate Vice President at Microsoft now, has taken the new role of leading the Core Search Development of Microsoft.

    Dr. Shum is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Computer Vision, and is a Program Chair of the International Conference of Computer Vision (ICCV) 2007. Dr. Shum has published more than 100 papers in computer vision, computer graphics, pattern recognition, statistical learning, and robotics. He holds more than 50 U.S. patents.

    Dr. Shum joined Microsoft Research in 1996 where he worked in Redmond, WA as a researcher on computer vision and computer graphics. In 1999, Shum moved to Beijing to help start Microsoft Research China (later renamed Microsoft Research Asia). His tenure there began as a research manager and subsequently moved up to Assistant Managing Director, Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia, Distinguished Engineer, and Corporate Vice President. In 2007, Shum became Microsoft Corporate Vice President, and was lauded for his leadership in technology and management.

    Dr. Shum received a doctorate in robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball, rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and spending quality time with his family.

  • Presentation Title: Taking Search to New Frontiers

    Abstract:
    Today’s search engines not only have become one of the most important services on the Web but are also driving the development of next-generation Internet computing platform. In addition to connecting people to information at the speed of light with the use of automatic algorithms, search technologies are also revolutionizing many other aspects of people’s lives, including shopping, commerce, entertainment, travel, healthcare, and social activities. In this talk, I will first introduce Microsoft’s latest efforts on search, and then I will talk about how Microsoft will take search furthe into new frontiers and empower people to do things that were not possible before.


Hsiao-Wuen Hon posing for the camera

洪小文

微软亚洲研究院院长

国际电机电子工程师学会院士

  • Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon is Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia, located in Beijing, China. In this role, Dr. Hon oversees the lab’s research activities and collaborations with universities in Asia Pacific.

    An IEEE fellow, Dr. Hon is an internationally recognized expert in speech technology. He serves on the editorial board of the international journal of the Communication of the ACM. Dr. Hon has published more than 100 technical papers in international journals and at conferences. He co-authored a book, Spoken Language Processing, which is a graduate-level textbook in speech technology. Dr. Hon holds three dozens of patents in several technical areas.  

    Dr. Hon has been with Microsoft for 13 years. He joined Microsoft Research Asia in 2004 as a Deputy Managing Director, responsible for research in Internet search, speech & natural language, system, wireless and networking. In addition, he managed MSN Search product development in China.

    Prior to joining Microsoft Research Asia, Dr. Hon was architect with the Natural Interaction Service Division at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wa. He was responsible for architectural and other technical aspects of the award-winning Microsoft Speech Server product. Dr. Hon joined Microsoft Research as a senior researcher in 1995. He previously worked at Apple Computer, where he led research and development for Apple’s’ Chinese Dictation Kit.

    Dr. Hon received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University and Ph.D in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

  • Presentation Title: Exploring new horizons of computing with MSR Asia

    Abstract:
    Since its founding in 1998, Microsoft Research Asia has pursued the goal of advancing the state of art in computer science in our selected areas of focus. We are pursuing fundamental research in 5 core research focus areas: natural user interface, multimedia, search and online ads, data intensive computing, and computer science fundamentals. Over the next decade, we foresee that computing will become an even more integrated part of our daily lives, with large impact in commerce, health, and communication. With the onset of the era of software plus service, we believe that it will be even more important to conduct cross disciplinary research around our research areas to fully realize the potential of computing in our daily lives. I will illustrate the importance of interdisciplinary research with a few examples of current research from our lab.