The process of growing up

Author: Zhang Zheng

2001 January 3, is saying goodbye to the Silicon Valley, I left work for more than five years, the Central Research Institute of HP to formally report back in the days of Microsoft.

Carefully worked up, my daughter was barely four months. In November, we are a family of four in Beijing reunion. I also remember the little guys that day, wrapped in Grandma's white feather clothing, like a little penguins walk swaying, eyes East look to the West, yiyiyaya nothing will be said, and what to say.

From sunny air refreshing change to Beijing in Silicon Valley, the need for adjustment and running-or very much.

One month, two guys were ill. After about a year, is severely suffered quite a lot as soon as. Xiaohong, six and a half years have passed. Last weekend and minority garden notes 1 of river cast long naiwei couples and other several friends in play, two little guy all the way to Twitter, is full of small from Beijing.

In my daily life, there is a ratio of Kaikai, heart to heart note 2 this for smaller children.

"She" is also conceived a windfall after October, toddlers, have also suffered quite a lot as soon as it is in today to "Twitter" is full of ring for the world. This "she" is Microsoft Research Asia more than three years ago, the system established by the research group. The so-called "normal" in October, because this group of brewing and incubator, is when I settled in Institute of another research group in their operations outside of time, then in Shen Yang, to support the newly established. This group to grow into today, successive leaders helped shelter, credit for the huge. These bosses, including flood xiaowen President and have returned to Silicon Valley Institute Dr. Note 3 KurtAkeley, in the past, present and future, are my life's most important mentor.

The so-called "toddler", the head of the so-called "hard work", I think you do not have to talk about.

The research team's development history, and a zero-based like Startup, the place where the wrestlers fall, get up and then go. As long as the environment is good, no problems with the compass, you will not only be able to avoid a Startdown, you can come up with a lot of ring. Similar experience in a lot of research. As for our achievements, we can observe a from academia, non-ring to published in State-of-the-art Workshop and then further into the State-of-the-art meeting and profound accumulation of other Research Institute in hand, and in some way to become a leading team of track; or you can watch our findings from infiltrated some edge product line, to the final commitment is crucial to the company's large background system design and implementation of the framework.

This "she" is not a "child", but many "children", is a team.

Said to be "children", sounds like some pretended to be naive. But in fact, become a qualified researchers, adult development force and suffer mental, but these are enough — there must be a child's curiosity can go far. We have today, I work for one day, happy because I have such a group as brothers and friends, young elite team mentality. And in that is behind Microsoft Research insists on only the best people. Microsoft research has already ten years old, then walk further distances, this approach is cannot and will not change.

Speaking of talent, China is a "talent marine" say.

But in fact, I think the correct term is "Ocean" is a "talent". A true original, always in the long tail curve leading part, and the main item, the proportion of the total can be very small. The principle of the so-called "drawer" is a theoretical knowledge: If there are N drawers, N + 1 balls, there would not be a drawer is empty. If the drawer is a research field, "drop" in the drawer, the ball is the area of the top technical talent. So how many "ball", statistically determines that the drawer of the size of the "ball": one or ten, a hundred, and the final results will be far worse, this is because the success of another factor is the "ball" and the "ball" collision, between the talent and stimulating and inspiring. So China as a nation, have their natural talent mining. The drawer is good or bad, in other words, the research environment of the good or not, and determine whether these "ball" in the closet, or move on to other "cabinets" in the drawer. Institute of successive boss takes maximum efforts in creating such a good "cabinets".

Invention and creation, be it to knowledge and technology, essentially is a happy and the adventures never end.

So a good wardrobe, more like a boat, both rigid and flexible. To address the challenges, opportunities to discover, too much. Last needsNot a boat but a fleet. This fleet will always include our competitors, a ship dominance in any given field are future disaster. This determines the Microsoft Research Asia the ship must be open. I remember Shen, President of the said remark if from 50 years of scale to measure our success, not how many articles, nor is it to see how many technical transformation, but from us going out of thousands of students in the Community contribution. I would like to add that it also includes our China and Asia, other universities, research institutes of colleagues through cooperation and competition to achieve a win-win situation, because although the study has no national boundaries, here is the Asia Research Institute and its personnel.

In I and media not exposure, often asked what we engaged in the research, what kind of talent.

In fact, these two questions are not answered. I'm in Asia Research Institute is responsible for the direction of the systems and networks, in addition to the system group, including network and wireless groups. Provides an overview of the system group, a more appropriate analogy was the cover of a building, we are responsible for the design of the blueprint, and then start from brick to build out a stock room. Household days in contact with the environment, is a hardcover and furniture. Those that belong to other research groups. Household is invisible to our work. But if we do, not only unreasonable layout on everyday life inconvenient, but also to a small earthquake in may, will be inverted. Similarly, on the Web group, that is, to build roads. Therefore, we are in an invisible front, the daily needs of the research and development, is vital infrastructure. Every day from everyone with desktop operating systems to "cloud computing" provides search, network messages, and games, from the growing convergence between the two end-to-peer (P2P) technology, there are system and network researchers. If our work is done well, our contribution is everywhere, and it is nowhere to be seen.

In traditional Chinese education re-manage light structure, personnel engaged in the research system is not very great.

Even at the international level, according to my understanding, such as operating system (we study the problem of a subset), beat sound guru-level character of work requirements in Chinese is small. System to do much good, both clear and strong ability, but also a certain aesthetic taste — here's a sentence jargon, a good system is "simple but not simple." This kind of aesthetic taste and orientation, and contemporary art in the last century, after leaf minimalism in music, architecture and Visual art, and traditional Chinese calligraphy and the 1990s new literati painting, with very delicate relationship, although you cannot directly reference.

Open the year-end summary at the end of last year, I give colleagues told an Internet how unaccompanied blind patients of face to face blindness family reunion, came to the surface to help themselves and each other's stories.

Later I wrote the story down note 4. I yield sparse quality loose pieces of Chinese writing, the text on the day of work is very small. Were written down, because I feel that our daily work, in addition to supporting families, in addition to research their own pleasure, there are more long and profound call. If the scenes from Makena, directly to our work to the user's hand, naturally good. But more often, our location in the background, and should be in the background. A life then normal, are dogged; many lives together, pregnant with boundless creativity. We don't necessarily want to create a miracle, but be sure to provide the basis for a miracle. The Internet was still young, Asian Institute of younger. With a mature and young mentality, we and you together with the tenth anniversary of the crossing.

Authors:

Chang Zheng, 2002 joined Microsoft Research Asia multimedia group, is currently the Vice President of Microsoft Research Asia, responsible for system and network research areas.

1984 studied at Fudan University, Department of electronic engineering; in 1987 as the first University of Fudan University class of one of the 13 students entering postgraduate courses; 1990 to Dallas campus student; a master degree in 1992, in the spring of 1993 to Illinois thinking at school, and champagne in the autumn of 1996, PhD. Since then, he has been working in central laboratory Hewlett Packard, its research areas related to high-performance supercomputer system structure and large scale distributed systems. Chang Zheng is the network magazine <<新语丝>>和<<国风>>的创办人之一,以“竹人”为笔名主持编辑<<海外留学生年度诗选>>首二卷,并曾在<<国风>> auspices. ≪<艺廊>>及<<半瓶诗铺>> rubric.

Note 1: a vegetable garden, small minority enjoys a high-profile Chinese reading forum.

In this forum posting privileges on a "vegetable" only 300 people, there is no lack of chencun, leaf zhaoyan, Lihong, fangfang, Wu Liang, Sun dew, Han Dong, Meng Qing Huang Yu-Ning, Germany, ancient Qing dynasty, Zhu new well-known writer, critic, poet, translator and artist. Moderators chencun clearly affirms that "the application of this park, the only declined into the garden path, please park in the old vegetable farmers recommended, approved after vegetables licence".

Note 2, Zhang Zheng's a pair of infants

Female

Note 3, Kurt Akeley: has served as Vice President of Microsoft Research Asia, Mountain View at Microsoft's chief researcher of the Institute.

KurtAkeley Ph.d. in computer graphics area enjoy high prestige, computing machinery in 1995 he was awarded the "computer graphics" lifetime achievement award. He is the author of OpenGl language, and also the famous SGI (SiliconGraphics) the company's founders.

Note 4, Chang Zheng of this article, the Internet and blind people stories "Originally published in Microsoft Research Asia blog.

By the end of 2007 at a Research Institute within the field of system and network meeting, Mr. Zheng first and share this story, would like to take this encourage researchers in every busy technology research and development, looked up, see far some, wide.