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// The Foundry to Welcome 40 Summer Interns

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

Forty college students will arrive at Microsoft New England this week for a second summer Foundry program. After a successful pilot program last year, Microsoft will welcome nearly double the number of students, all eager to improve upon their software development skills and have an unbelievable time while doing so.

Foundry 2013 Students

Foundry 2013 Interns

The NERD center will become home to these developers and designers as they begin 12 weeks of intensive application writing for the Windows phone and Surface tablet. Hailing from 13 schools (including Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Wellesley, Northeastern, Waterloo, UMass, Wheaton, and Wentworth), the students will write applications from start to finish and ship them to the Windows and Window Phone Marketplaces to be downloaded.

The students will work in teams of five under the guidance of Microsoft coaches and industry experts. They will continually practice the process of software development, learning to judge the time it takes to create each feature. The students will also fly to the Redmond campus in July to engage in Microsoft’s Intern Week. In Redmond students will exchange long hours of developing and designing for a surprise signature event (a concert last year), talks and activities with Microsoft leaders, and an insight into what it means to be a Microsoft employee. Sara Spalding, Sr. Director at NERD, shared her impression of last year’s Intern Week: “I was blown away; it was the most exciting event I have been to in my almost 20 years at the company.”

Catch the latest blog updates on Foundry 2013, including a recap of this year’s Intern Week, and check the Windows Marketplace at the end of the summer to discover the newly developed apps and install them on your phone and tablet.

 

// GiveCamp 2013 at Microsoft NERD Raises Funds for 23 New England Charities

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

On April 26-28, the NERD Center was home to New England GiveCamp, a weekend non-profit hack-a-thon. With 130 volunteers from across the New England technical community – including 40 who set up tents to camp out all night – the event donated technical and design expertise to 23 charities across New England. The volunteers worked on projects such as new and revamped websites, branding, collateral, and more.

GiveCamp 2013 breaks for a quick photo

GiveCamp 2013 breaks for a quick photo

One such non-profit was Catching Joy, an organization that promotes volunteerism among children as young as in 1st and 2nd grades. Past GiveCamp events have created their website, brochures, and business cards. This year, Catching Joy partnered with GiveCamp on a special service project for One Fund Boston and the MIT Officer Sean Collier Fund.  Along with the $1,000 collected from a raffle, Catching Joy led a card-making activity to thank the heroes from the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Celebrating its 4th year, GiveCamp 2013 was made possible through the efforts of co-organizers Jim O’Neil, Technical Evangelist at Microsoft, and Kelley Muir, product manager at ektron and founder of Float Left Labs. More photos of the event can be seen here, along with an awesome time-lapse video.

Next year’s GiveCamp will be held on April 4-6 at the NERD Center.

Volunteers hard at work

Volunteers hard at work

Some volunteers camped out!

Some volunteers camped out!

// Two at Microsoft Recognized as Women to Watch

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

Exciting news from Microsoft New England: two of our colleagues have been recently highlighted as women to watch in Boston’s tech industry!

Jennifer Chayes

Jennifer Chayes

Jennifer Chayes, Distinguished Scientist and Managing Director at Microsoft Research, was nominated by the Ad Club of Boston to its list of “100 Women You Admire.” This list (e-book here), which in the end saw over 250 individual nominations submitted and 30,000 additional admires honored, featured some of the most amazing women in the Greater Boston area. Noting Jennifer’s “continuous work to drive women into STEM fields,” the Ad Club emphasized that “not only does she speak with girls about careers in technology, but she also represents her beliefs in her efforts to bring more women into Microsoft Research.” Jennifer’s work at Microsoft has centered upon co-founding both Microsoft Research New England (in 2008) and Microsoft Research New York (in 2012) as well as Microsoft Research’s Theory Group.

Sara Spalding

Sara Spalding

Quickly following this news was the announcement that Sara Spalding, Senior Site Director at Microsoft New England has been named by Mass High Tech as one of 20 “Women to Watch.” This annual list, currently celebrating its 10th year, highlights women who are thought leaders in their fields, shaping the future of the technology and life science industries. Selected from more than 125 nominations, these women to watch were admired “for their leadership behind the scenes in the office and in their community,” saidChris McIntosh, Publisher at Mass High Tech/Boston Business Journal. Sara, who joined Microsoft in 1991, has actively worked to ensure that Microsoft NERD is a great place not only for its employees, but also for the local tech community. Sara will be honored at an event held on Thursday, May 9 at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. More information is located here. As part of her efforts to develop the local tech community, Sara has also recently published an article in the Boston Globe highlighting Microsoft’s role in Kendall Square.

Microsoft is proud to count such incredible women among our ranks. Their achievements underscore the importance of getting more girls excited about STEM careers.

 

// STEM Inclusion Roundtable Emphasizes Importance of Expanding STEM Education to Diverse Communities

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

This past week saw the City of Cambridge, The America21 Project, and Microsoft take action on advancing STEM education in a diverse community.  More than 170 policy makers, business leaders, and non-profit organizations gathered at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School to develop action plans to advance STEM education locally. Cambridge is one of 4 pilot cities participating in a White House-driven initiative to encourage youth to embrace the study of science, engineering and technology.

Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis speaks to the crowd.

Centered on breakout sessions to identify challenges and possible solutions, the event emphasized creating ownership and developing accountability for action steps. (A summary deck of the project can be found here). In addition, the event featured speakers such asSteven Grossman, Massachusetts State Treasurer, Jan Cuny, Program Manager at the National Science FoundationHenrietta Davis, Mayor of Cambridge, and Dr. Jeffrey Young, Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools.

Dr. Young mentioned the unique nature of Cambridge: a highly diverse community with two of the world’s top universities (Harvard and MIT), two top technology firms (Microsoft and Google), a large number of innovative start-ups, and an impressive array of non-profits – all of which can surely benefit the students in Cambridge.

Noting that “the city of Cambridge has a long tradition at being at the forefront of the innovation economy,” Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis echoed these remarks. “In partnership with Microsoft Research and The America21 Project, we look forward to giving our young people greater access to the resources and opportunities available at these academic and industry centers. President Obama has made STEM education a national priority, and we in Cambridge are coming together as a community to make that priority a reality.”

For its part, Microsoft has also committed to bring AP Computer Science to the Cambridge Rindge and Latin school through theTEALS (Technology Education And Literacy in Schools) initiative, providing lab support and helping to build teacher capacity.  Soon we will begin to recruit industry experts who want to help teach these classes.  To attend an info session on TEALS volunteer opportunities, please email Aimee Sprung (aimees@microsoft.com).

A special thank you is due to the people spearheading this important effort: Mayor of Cambridge Henrietta Davis and Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools Dr. Jeffrey Young, who have provided the vision and brought together diverse stakeholders to advance STEM education in Cambridge. In addition, a special thanks is due to Rane Johnson-Stempson, Education and Scholarly Communication Principal Research Director of Microsoft Research, for her championing of this very important initiative to further STEM education.

Dr. Jeffrey Young, Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools, speaks.

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