ENGINEERING

To learn more, Microsoft encourages viewers to download the WorldWide Telescope rich application at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org.

During Faculty Summit, which brings together more than 350 academic thought leaders, Microsoft will also award $1.4 million in research grants through the Faculty Fellows grant program. The program, which began in 2005, now encompasses nearly 40 academic researchers whose exceptional talent for research and innovation identify them as emerging leaders in their fields.

The 2010 Faculty Summit is an important three-day event that lays the groundwork for Microsoft’s future collaboration with universities, industry and governments as the organizations jointly work to advance research, inspire technological innovation, enhance the educational experience and cultivate the next generation of thought leaders.

“Much like space, scientific discovery knows no boundaries,” said Tony Hey, corporate vice president of External Research at Microsoft Research. “A generation ago, scientists often worked isolated in their laboratories. Today, collaboration can help lead to great discoveries. Through events like Faculty Summit and programs like Faculty Fellows, we’re proud to facilitate that important interaction and help promising researchers around the world through funding.”

Microsoft Launches Largest Spherical Map of Sky Ever Created

As part of the new user experience in the WorldWide Telescope, Microsoft is also announcing a first of its kind: a high-resolution spherical TeraPixel sky map now available to viewers within the telescope. The map is the largest and highest-quality spherical image of the sky currently available and was created from data provided by the Digitized Sky Survey, a collection of thousands of images taken over a period of 50 years by two ground-based survey telescopes. When those images are combined and processed, the TeraPixel image provides a complete, spherical, panoramic rendering of the night skies that, if displayed at full size, would require 50,000 high-definition televisions to view. The new high-quality image will provide scientists with the ability to navigate through space dynamically to make their own discoveries.

Creating the TeraPixel image was a massive data-capture process requiring the latest in scientific tools. Microsoft researchers were able to use the Project Trident workflow workbench and the DryadLINQ interface for Microsoft .NET to combine thousands of images and systematically remove differences in exposure, brightness, noise floor and color saturation.

Using the Project Trident technology, Microsoft Research automated the data analysis and visualization process and was able to manage the workflow for TeraPixel in an efficient way. With Project Trident and DryadLINQ, Microsoft Research reduced the time it took to run one iteration of the TeraPixel image from weeks to hours, making the creation of an image of this size and quality possible for the first time. In addition to their use in creating the TeraPixel image, Project Trident and DryadLINQ can be used to empower scientists in other data-intensive fields, such as oceanography, environmental science and medical research.

Those wanting to learn more about the TeraPixel project and the technology that made it possible can download the WorldWide Telescope rich application at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org.

Microsoft and NASA Provide Close Encounter With Mars

Provided to the public under the Microsoft and NASA Space Act Agreement of 2009, the fully interactive images and exciting new NASA dataset will allow viewers to virtually explore the Red Planet and make their own scientific discoveries. New features include a true-color map of Mars, astonishing 3-D rendering of the surface of the planet, and exclusive interactive video tours with two noted NASA scientists, James Garvin, Ph.D. of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Carol Stoker, Ph.D. of the NASA Ames Research Center.

“With this release, NASA and Microsoft Research are providing an entirely new viewing experience in WorldWide Telescope,” said Chris C. Kemp, chief technology officer for IT at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. “By providing the Mars dataset to the public in Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope platform, we are lowering the barrier of access to this information and enabling a whole new audience to experience the thrill of space.”

Microsoft Research Awards $1.4 Million in Funding to Next Generation of Scientists

During the Faculty Summit, Hey also announced the recipients of the 2010 Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship grants, which were awarded to seven promising young researchers around the world for a total grant distribution of $1.4 million. The Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship program provides $200,000 each to innovative new faculty members who are exploring breakthrough, high-impact research that has the potential to help solve some of today’s most challenging societal problems. Fellows can use the grant at their discretion. The seven Microsoft Research Faculty Fellows are as follows:

More information about the Faculty Fellows program and how to apply can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/awards/msrff.aspx.