Microsoft To Open International Research Lab in Bangalore, India

Microsoft Research, Microsoft Corp.'s 13-year-old basic research arm, announced today that it has selected Bangalore, India, as the location for its third research facility outside the United States.

Microsoft Research Lab India Private Ltd., scheduled to open in January 2005, plans to employ about two dozen scientists, interns and support staff in the first year.

"India's growing international reputation for excellence in computer science research and engineering make it a natural choice for the newest Microsoft Research facility," said Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research.

The Bangalore lab joins Microsoft's Redmond, Wash.; San Francisco; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; and Beijing labs in bringing together great minds to build a world-class global research organization with more than 700 scientists on staff. P. Anandan, an internationally renowned researcher in computer vision and video analysis and a seven-year veteran of Microsoft Research in Redmond, will lead Microsoft Research India.

"This new research lab underscores Microsoft's commitment to partnership with India, and builds on our strong collaboration over the past 10 years," said Ravi Venkatesan, chairman of Microsoft India.

Microsoft Research India's mission will be to conduct long-term basic and applied research and to collaborate with Indian research institutions and universities as part of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to engaging with academic and scientific communities worldwide to accelerate scientific progress and innovation in computer science and software engineering.

"Microsoft recognizes the tremendous potential of India's people and the Indian IT industry, and we believe our shared efforts can help realize India's potential and bring the benefits of technology to literally billions of people, both here in India and worldwide."

Kentaro Toyama, a researcher with Microsoft Research since November 1997, has been appointed assistant managing director of Microsoft Research India. Toyama will lead the Technology for Emerging Markets Group, whose mission is to drive innovation in computing that better serves economically emerging markets and to identify applications of technology that could impact socioeconomic development of underserved communities.

Previously, Toyama did research in computer vision, multimedia and geographic information systems.