Share this article
Latest news
With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low
Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app
Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities
Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount
Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier
Microsoft Research pushes the boundaries with Expeditions program
2 min. read
Published onMarch 2, 2016
published onMarch 2, 2016
Share this article
Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more
Microsoft invests heavily in research, and has one of the strongest researching arms of any tech company with Microsoft Research. Indeed, the department has been the birthplace of many innovative technologies like Kinect or HoloLens; beyond that, however, they also work on basic long-term research, and corporate vice president Jeannette M. Wing hastaken to the Microsoft Research blogto write about one of the flagship programs for these researches, the Expedition program.
“An Expedition, as its name suggests, is a journey toward a goal, with serendipitous discovery along the way”.
The aim of the Expedition program, according to Wing, is to give researchers the freedom and resource needed to take risk and pursue long-term researches, and to reward those with the commitment to stick to a “far-reaching vision”. The program has its source from a similar project Wing initiated during her time at the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is also successful and continues to this day.
The program has garnered some great successes over the years, and Wing recounts two notable ones among them: Safe Cyber-Physical Systems ( Safe CPS), and Project Premonition. Safe CPS aims to ensure that drones do not fail and crash in carrying out activities. Project Premonition aims to transport mosquitos from remote regions to labs for virus testing, and they are now working on the notorious Zika virus, with a side product of “the world’s most sophisticated mosquito trap” that identifies mosquitoes by their wings batting rhythm.
Apart from past projects, Wing also talks about two new Expeditions. The first, Intelligent Devices, aims to “determine how algorithmically to split models and computation between what can be done locally on the device and what can be done in the cloud.” The second Expedition, from the Everest team focus on cyber-security by working on a replacement for HTTPS.
The Expeditions Program celebrate the big bets in science, for which Wing also reference the two recent scientific breakthrough that are making waves; literally for the first, the detection of gravitational waves by Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), and also a revolutionary gene editing tool called CRISPR, both credited to funds by the NSF. Wing herself is also creditted with revolutionizing opinions on computational thinking application, and with such great minds at the helm, we can’t help but be excited for the projects that will come out of Microsoft Research in the future.
Radu Tyrsina
Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).
For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.
Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.
User forum
0 messages
Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes
Comment*
Name*
Email*
Commenting as.Not you?
Save information for future comments
Comment
Δ
Radu Tyrsina
