Home
Guarujá, Brasil, location of the 2010 Latin American Faculty Summit
Microsoft Research hosted the sixth annual Latin American Faculty Summit in Guarujá, Brasil, on May 12–14. The event was organized in collaboration with FAPESP. The theme of the 2010 event was Computing: Making the Difference.
Computing: Making the Difference
Advances in computational methods continue to create new opportunities for innovation in fundamental computer science and science in general. Researchers are investigating new multi-disciplinary approaches to important problems in health and wellbeing, earth and environment, astronomy, energy, and industry.
More than 200 academic leaders from around the world, as well as representatives from multilateral and governmental organizations, gathered to share their approaches and build new opportunities for creative innovation through research and development at the Microsoft Research – FAPESP Latin American Faculty Summit 2010.
About FAPESP
Founded in 1962, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is an independent public foundation with a mission to foster research and scientific and technological development in the State of São Paulo. In April 2007, Microsoft Research and FAPESP created the Microsoft Research–FAPESP Institute for ICT Research. The institute is committed to addressing social and economic development needs in Brasil by establishing a network of world-class researchers able to expand IT capabilities. Microsoft Research is excited to have FAPESP, an organization dedicated to rich academic research, as the sponsor of the 2010 faculty summit in Brasil.
Agenda
Wednesday, May 12
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
|
10:15–11:00
|
OPENING CEREMONY
Event Opening Presenters
|
|
11:00–12:00
|
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Science and Technology in Brazil | slides
Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz – Scientific Director, São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil |
|
12:00–12:30
|
Group Photo |
|
12:30–14:00
|
Lunch |
|
14:00–15:00
|
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Scaling Science to the Cloud | slides
Tony Hey – Corporate Vice President, External Research, Microsoft Research |
|
15:00–16:00
|
KEYNOTE PANEL SESSION
Science, Technology, and Innovation Collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean: Specific Actions
Panel Discussion
Facilitator: Prof. Carlos Alberto Aragão de Carvalho Filho – President, Brazilian National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil | slides
Panelist Speakers:
|
|
16:00–17:00
|
RESEARCH TALK
Fighting HIV with Machine Learning and HPC | slides
David Heckerman – Distinguished Scientist, Senior Director of eScience, Microsoft Research |
|
17:00–17:30
|
Refreshment Break |
|
17:30–18:15
|
RESEARCH TALK
Global Climate Modelling: The Challenge to Develop a World-Class Model in Brazil | slides
Carlos Nobre – Senior Scientist, National Institute of Space Research (INPE), Brazil |
|
18:15–19:00
|
RESEARCH TALK
Microsoft Research: Ensuring Microsoft’s Future | slides
Henrique Malvar – Distinguished Engineer, Managing Director, Microsoft Research Redmond |
|
20:30–23:00
|
Welcome Reception and Dinner |
Thursday, May 13
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
|
8:30–13:00
|
PARALLEL TRACK SESSIONS
|
|
8:30–9:30
|
Computer Science Research Track
Social Media in Enterprises | slides
Jonathan Grudin – Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research |
|
“Computing in e-Science” Research Track #1
Virtualization of Science and Scholarship | slides
Prof. S. George Djorgovski – Professor of Astronomy, CalTech, United States |
|
| 9:30–10:30 |
Computer Science Research Track
The F# Programming Language and Scientific Computing
Andrew Kennedy – Researcher, Microsoft Research Cambridge |
|
“Computing in e-Science” Research Track #1
eScience Applications
E-Farms, a two-way road for small farms to the networked world | slides
Claudia Bauzer Medeiros – Professor, Institute of Computing, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
Collaborating in Disaster Relief Efforts | slides
Marcos Borges – Professor, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Biodiversity Databases and Information Systems: A Case Study of the Brazilian Sinbiota and its Perspectives for the Next Ten Years | slides
Carlos Alfredo Joly – Professor, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil |
|
|
Bridging the Gaps: Satellites to Science and Desktop to the Cloud | slides
Catharine van Ingen – Partner Architect, Microsoft Research |
|
|
10:30–11:00
|
Refreshment Break |
|
11:00–12:00
|
Computer Science Research Track
Research at MSR’s Communication and Collaboration Group
Dinei Florencio – Researcher, Microsoft Research |
|
“Computing in e-Science” Research Track #1
Examples of Mobile Point of Care Diagnostics and New Modalities of Mobile UI | slides
Kristin Tolle – Director, External Research, Microsoft Research
Mobile Health: The Opportunity of Mobile Technologies to Support Public Health in Peru
Walter Curioso, M.D., M.P.H. – Research Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Affiliate Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, University of Washington, United States |
|
|
“Computing in e-Science” Research Track #2
Results from an Atlantic Rainforest Micrometeorology Sensor Network Pilot Study
Rob Fatland – Program Manager, Microsoft Research | slides
Humberto da Rocha – Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil | slides |
|
|
12:00–13:00
|
Computer Science Research Track
Computer Science Applications
Low Cost Computer Vision Systems for Quality Evaluation of Tortillas in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Domingo Mery – Professor, Department of Computer Science, Catholic University of Chile, Chile | slides
Automatic Screening of Diabetic Retinopathies: IT in the fight against preventable blindness | slides
Jacques Wainer – Professor, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
Supporting Informal Interaction in a Hospital through Impromptu Social Networking | slides
Jesus Favela – Professor, Ensenada Center for Higher Education Scientific Research (CICESE), Mexico |
|
Transforming the Web Experience: Breakthrough Progressive Rendering Technologies for Fluid Visualization of Large Data Sets | slides
Beatriz Díaz Acosta – Test Manager, Live Labs Seadragon, Microsoft |
|
|
Bionergy Research: Integrating Agronomic Traits, Gene Networks and Carbon Partition for the Development of an Energy Cane | slides
Prof. Glaucia Mendes Souza – Associate Professor, BIOEN Program Coordinator, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Brazil |
|
|
13:00–14:45
|
Lunch |
|
15:00–16:00
|
RESEARCH TALK (presented via Live Meeting)
Global Carbon-Climate Feedback and Next-Generation Earth System Modelling
Prof. Stephen Emmott – Head of Computational Science, Microsoft Research Cambridge, Professor, University of Oxford, United Kingdom |
|
16:00–17:00
|
PLENARY SESSION
Building the Future of Information and Communication Technologies in Latin America
Jose Carlos Maldonado – Professor, University of São Paulo (ICMC-USP); President, Brazilian Computing Society (SBC), Brazil | slides
Genoveva Vargas-Solar – President Mexican Computing Society (SMCC), Mexico | slides |
|
17:00–17:30
|
Refreshment Break |
|
17:30–18:30
|
PLENARY SESSION
Collaborating with Microsoft Research | slides
Daron Green, General Manager – External Research, Microsoft Research |
|
20:00–22:00
|
Social Event and Dinner Show |
Friday, May 14
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
|
8:30–11:30
|
DEMOFEST (ONSITE RESEARCH DEMOS)
|
|
8:30–9:30
|
FAPESP SESSION
Computer Science Research in the State of São Paulo
This session is intended mostly for graduate students and is about research opportunities in the State of São Paulo.
Speakers:
|
|
10:30–11:00
|
Refreshment Break |
|
11:30–13:30
|
CLOSING PLENARY PRESENTATIONS
Chair: Tony Hey – Corporate Vice President, External Research, Microsoft Research
Global Jet Watch: A Globally-Distributed Project to Monitor the Expulsion of Matter from a Black Hole
Katherine Blundell – Professor of Astrophysics, Oxford University, United Kingdom
Environmental eScience, The Fourth Paradigm, and the End of Stationarity
Jeff Dozier – Professor, School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California at Santa Barbara, United States | slides |
|
13:30–15:00
|
Farewell Lunch |
|
15:00
|
The Event Ends |
Tutorials
The following two optional tutorials, held the day before the main events of the Latin American Faculty Summit, were designed to support and facilitate research and innovation.
Tools to Support e-Research – Microsoft Research and the Scholarly Information Ecosystem
Presenter: Oscar Naim, Research Program Manager Microsoft Research
Abstract:
Microsoft External Research strongly supports the process of research and its role in the innovation ecosystem, including developing and supporting efforts in open access, open tools, open technology, and interoperability. Microsoft External Research collaborates with universities, national libraries, publishers, and governmental organizations to help develop tools and services to evolve the scholarly information lifecycle. These projects demonstrate our ongoing work towards producing next-generation documents that increase productivity and empower authors to increase the discoverability and appropriate re-use of their work.
This workshop provides a deep view into several freely available tools from Microsoft External Research and demonstrates how they can help supplement and enhance your e-research. The hands-on component of this session helps you gain a deeper technical understanding of the available toolset, which includes the following resources:
- Research Information Centre (RIC): An online virtual research environment for collaborative work
- Tools for authors
- Structured document authoring (based on the NLM-DTD)
- Ontology integration and markup
- Repository search integration
- ORE resource map authoring
- Chemistry Add-in for Word
- Article repository submission workflow (via REST and SWORD interfaces)
- Zentity: A research-output repository platform
- Other related services
- Bing Translator (web service)
- Document/file format conversion (web service)
Agenda
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
10:30–11:15
|
Research Information Centre (RIC): An Online Virtual Research Environment for Collaborative Work
|
Oscar Naim
|
|
11:15–12:00
|
Tools for Authors
|
Oscar Naim |
|
12:00–12:15
|
Coffee Break
|
|
|
12:15–13:00
|
Zentity: A Research-Output Repository Platform
|
Oscar Naim
|
|
13:00–13:30
|
Other Related Services
|
Oscar Naim
|
Health and Wellbeing Projects in Microsoft External Research
Presenters:
- Simon Mercer, Director, Health and Wellbeing, Microsoft External Research
- Kristin Tolle, Director, Devices, Sensors and Mobility for Healthcare, Microsoft External Research
- Oscar Naim, Research Program Manager, Microsoft External Research
Abstract:
The External Research team works with the academic community to accelerate research projects through the application of cutting-edge computing technology. In this workshop, we provide an overview of the team activities in healthcare and show examples of projects that combine next-generation computing technologies, hardware and software to advance the state of the art in healthcare delivery. Specifically, we present the Microsoft Biology Foundation, an extensible library of basic functions for genomics, demonstrating how it can be used the build scientific applications and integrate with Microsoft applications, and we also describe and give demonstrations of mobile healthcare applications such as portable ultrasound, cell phone-attached microscopes, etc.
Agenda
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
13:30–14:30
|
Lunch
|
|
|
14:30–15:00
|
An Introduction to Health and Wellbeing in Microsoft External Research
|
Simon Mercer |
|
15:00–16:00
|
Devices, Sensors, and Mobility in Healthcare
|
Kris Tolle |
|
16:00–16:30
|
Break and Hands-on Devices Demo
|
Kris Tolle
|
|
16:30–17:30
|
Genomics on the Microsoft Platform – the Microsoft Biology Foundation
|
Simon Mercer/Oscar Naim
|
|
17:30–18:00
|
Microsoft Biology Foundation Q&A
|
Simon Mercer/Oscar Naim
|