UK Academic Team Blog : Academics

Silverlight Insight event for UK Academics

ukacademia — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:16:05 GMT

As Paolo blogged we (the Microsoft Academic Team in the UK) are arranging an event targeted to Academics in Universities and Design Schools in the UK.

Silverlight Insight is a one-day event designed to give attendees a solid understanding of the Silverlight 2 platform and of the Microsoft Expression Studio toolset. It is relevant to both developers and designers alike, and comprises tutor-led sessions and hands-on exercises.

Participants will also receive a copy of the Silverlight 2 curriculum which can be customised and adapted to individual teaching needs, as well as a copy of Silverlight 2 Bible by Brad Dayley.

The three days are:

Monday, March 23rd 2009
Central Saint Martins, College of Art & Design, University of the Arts
London
Thursday, March 26th 2009
Bristol City College
Bristol
Tuesday, March 31st 2009
University of Birmingham
Birmingham

If you want to join one of the three dates, please get in touch with Paolo directly via email: pbarone [at] microsoft.com

PS: We are trying to arrange an additional date in Scotland, probably in May… while this is not confirmed yet, if you are interested in this, please let us know as well!!

Imagine Cup Registrations

ukacademia — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:44:17 GMT

Hello Everyone,

Interest for the Imagine Cup has been strong and we can confirm the various categories are now open for competition. From experience we know that the next couple of months will be key in getting great UK representation in the Imagine Cup.

Here are just a few of the reasons for encouraging your students to compete:

- PR: The Imagine Cup attracts the attention of both regional and national newspapers, together with technology and education press and news websites such as the BBC. Having students from your university compete in the Imagine Cup is great for raising the profile of your university in two important ways. Firstly it demonstrates the quality of your graduates to IT employers and makes them more attractive as employees (e.g. Dominic Green, UK winner of the 2008 competition) and secondly, it attracts new students to your university.

- Skills Development: Fundamentally the Imagine Cup is about helping students get real world experience with Microsoft technology. The skills learned during the various competitions compliment their studies and are invaluable when students apply for jobs with IT companies.

- Students Inspiration: With every technology interest area catered for, the competition is a great way to channel students’ passion for technology out of class.

We want as many UK institutions and students to get involved with the Imagine Cup as possible, and to help you participate we provide:

- Giveaways for students: Every week we give away web cams and Starbucks vouchers. We also hold a monthly draw for a Dell laptop, providing everything a student needs to see them through their studies and the Imagine Cup competition.

- Donation of an Xbox 360 gaming lab kit for your university: The university with the most registrations will receive 4 Xbox 360s, 8 wired controllers and an assortment of the latest Xbox 360 titles. You are free to use them for XNA development or as a social/recreation area for students.

If you would like to receive regular updates on the registration numbers from your university then please let me know and I will happily send them to you. You can contact me by telephone (0118 909 3409) or if you prefer by email (mailto:ukacinfo@microsoft.com).

And just to give you an idea of how we are doing so far, here are the top fifteen universities with the highest number of registrations:

University	Registrations
Brighton	89
Birmingham City	38
Cumbria	38
Bradford	37
Reading	35
Robert Gordon	35
Derby	31
Nottingham	24
De Montfort	23
Keele	23
Cambridge	20
Hull	20
Imperial College	20
Brunel	18
RHUL	20

If you would like to know more, them please email or telephone me. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

Good luck,

Allison

Student Technology Day - Future User Experience Technologies

ukacademia — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:02:22 GMT

Hello All,

Filmed at the Royal Festival on 1st October, please find below the session by Paolo Barone on Microsoft Surface:

If for any reason you cannot view this clip, please do let me know.

Best wishes,

Allison

Student Technology Day - Microsoft Research Talk on CS Inside Halo 3 True Ranking System

ukacademia — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:53:11 GMT

For those of you who joined us at the Royal Festival Hall on 1st October and, especially for those who were otherwise engaged, please find below the session by Thore Graepel, Joaquin Quiñonero Candela and Ralf Herbrich on Microsoft Research Talk on CS Inside Halo 3 True Ranking System:

If you are unable to view the above clip, please do let me know.

Best wishes,

Allison

Student Technology Day videos

ukacademia — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:23:45 GMT

Hello All,

For those of you who made it along to the Royal Festival Hall and, especially for those of you who had other commitments, please find below Steve Ballmer’s Keynote Speech:

If you have any difficulty in viewing the clip, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

With best wishes,

Allison

Microsoft Certification for Windows Embedded CE 6.0

ukacademia — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:28:20 GMT

Hello All,

I know that many of you are considering incorporating the Microsoft Certification Program into your curricula so that graduating students supplement their degrees with an industry recognised certification.

With this in mind I thought you might like to know about the the free Preparation Kit for the Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Exam 70-571 together with the 50% off voucher which you can redeem against the examination until 5th January 2009.

If you’d like to learn more, please click here.

And good luck!

Best,

Allison

Microsoft Research Asia - 10th Anniversary Innovation Forum

ukacademia — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:29:56 GMT

On August 12, Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft^®, joined visionary technologists from Microsoft Research (MSR) Asia, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, and the University of Hong Kong, to celebrate a decade of ground-breaking collaboration during the Microsoft Research Asia's 10th Anniversary Innovation Forum.

Gates, who delivered the keynote speech, said that Microsoft’s relationship to academia in the Asia Pacific region remains vital and that cultivating the next generation of researchers should continue to be a focal point of MSR Asia’s work. “For the last 10 years, great collaborative work between Microsoft Research Asia and the region’s world-leading academic researchers has resulted in a wide range of exciting technology innovations,” Gates said. “As Asia becomes more and more of a global centre for innovation, I have no doubt that Microsoft Research Asia and its academic partners will have an even bigger impact on the world of technology.”

At the MSR Asia Innovation Forum, Bill Gates said that the success of Microsoft depends on its ability to attract and retain the best talent from around the world—something he believes MSR Asia is doing well.

To learn more about this collaboration and to hear Bill’s speech, click Innovation.

Best wishes,

Allison

News from the Faculty Summit

ukacademia — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:03:08 GMT

Lee Dirks, the Director for Education and Scholarly Research, announced five new ‘lifecycle’ tools for academics and researchers. The tools are as follows:

Research Information Centre
Creative Commons (an add-in to Microsoft Office)
Article Authoring (an add-in to Microsoft Word)
E-Journal Hosting Service
Research Output Repository Platform

To hear more about these tools from Lee, please visit Channel 8.

If you have any questions, do contact me and I’ll see if I can get them answered for you.

Best,

Allison

Pixel Poetry

ukacademia — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:14:17 GMT

Hi,

It was our very great pleasure to sponsor and support the Microsoft Photography Competition at the Department of Engineering 2008, at the University of Cambridge.

Blue Spikes, by Sonja Findeisen-Tandel

If proof were needed, these photographs exemplify the strong connection between art and science and that engineering particularly, has an inner beauty. The winning photograph, Blue Spikes, by Sonja Findeisen-Tandel, together with other stunning entries can be viewed at Microsoft Photography Competition at the Department of Engineering.

Which puts me in mind on Imagine Cup 2009 and the category for best photo story. It isn’t too soon to get your students involved and thinking about the competition. You never know, the lucky winner could be from your university and joining us in Cairo for the world finals. The next set of photographs could be of the pyramids and feluccas on Nile.

For an overview of the photo story competition please visit Photo Story.

All the best,

Allison

Gamesfest 2008

ukacademia — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:21:55 GMT

Hello Everyone,

I thought you might like to hear about Gamefest 2008 which takes place on 6^th August at Chelsea Football Club and particularly, I thought you’d like to know about the early bird savings on registration if you book before midnight on 25^th July 2008.

Gamefest 2008 is a full-day game technology conference with a keen industry focus, including a Gamefest Expo of exhibiting Games Tools and Middleware Companies together with Authorized Test Vendors and is aimed at key personnel from small game studios to the largest game publishers.

There are forty talks across seven tracks ranging from Graphics to Producer & Business Development. In the Casual Games and XNA Game Studio track, for example, you will hear about Game Studio networking, performance, XNA Framework Content Pipeline and much, much more. You’ll also learn about plans to enable developers to drive the next wave of growth across the games industry.

So do come along and join us for a day of serious play.

Allison

New Silverlight Videos

ukacademia — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:05:00 GMT

Hi,

For those of you with an interest in Silverlight I thought you might like to take a look at a series of 'how to' videos available from the Silverlight team. You'll find everything from the basics through to best practices and even a series of tips and techniques.

For example, Todd Miranda shows how to dynamically add markers to a video at runtime and Peter Bahaa shows how to handle the back and forward buttons, all in Silverlight 1.0.

To browse the library of videos click here.

All the best,

Allison

Invitation to Convergence 2008 Copenhagen - Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance MDAA:00071306

ukacademia — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:26:00 GMT

Hi,

I thought you'd like to receive your invitation to an interesting event in Denmark.

Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance invites you to attend:

Microsoft Academic Preconference and Convergence 2008 Copenhagen, Denmark from 17 to 20 November, 2008.

Last year we hosted about 60 educators and researchers from 17 countries from around the world. We would like to see you this year!

The Academic Preconference will be held 17-18 November 2008.

· Includes two tracks (Educators and Researchers Track) with several special sessions, workshops and network opportunities for educators and researchers working with Microsoft Dynamics software. You will be able to network, exchange experiences and enhance your knowledge with like-minded educators and researchers.

· Location: Copenhagen Business School (CBS) – Kilevej 14a, 2000 Frederiksberg.

· Registration fee: no registration fee is associated with these two days.

· Please consider the following call for papers and presentations.

Call for Papers – Researchers Track - due by 1st September 2008:

Academic Preconference 2008 - Research Agenda

17 - 18 November 2008
Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Frederiksberg

Submit to: workshop@3gERP.org - Please write "Submission to 3gERP workshop"

See instructions attached.

Call for Presentation – Educators Track - due by 1st September 2008:

Academic Preconference 2008 - Educators Agenda
17 - 18 November 2008

Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Frederiksberg

Submit to: dynaa@microsoft.com – Please write “Academic Preconference - Convergence 2008 Presentation”

See instructions attached.

Convergence will be held 19-20 November 2008.

· Here you will enhance your knowledge through Dynamics conference sessions and interactions with Microsoft customers, partners, Microsoft Dynamics specialist and industry experts and establish a true community that can be leveraged in your work.

· Location: Bella Center A/S, Center Boulevard, 2300 Copenhagen S

· Registration fee - Academic Alliance team will fund a main part of your registration fee at Convergence. Your costs will include €250.00 for your share of registration fee.

· Please request special registration codes from us to have the special academic fee.

Registration:

To register please fill in attached registration form and send to dynaa@microsoft.com.

Registration includes entrance at the registered event, the meals served as part of the agenda as well as a special educator evening gathering.

The number of participants is limited due to space restrictions and will be determined on a first come basis.

Customer Excellence Award - Excellence in Academics:

· The Convergence Customer Excellence Awards recognize, honor and celebrate customers/members that have achieved outstanding success with their Microsoft solutions as well as Microsoft partners’ solutions. Start to consider if that is your educational institution.

· Please submit your own nomination via the online form which will be available 1 July 2008. Find more details here: http://www.microsoft.com/Dynamics/convergence/copenhagen/2008/customer_excellence.aspx

To make sure to receive all details please write to dynaa@microsoft.com to be included on the mailing list.

We look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen!

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS ACADEMIC ALLIANCE

The Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance is a global program that enables educators to incorporate Microsoft Dynamics technology into the classroom. Currently, over 1,000 institutions around the world use Microsoft Dynamics products to provide students with an exceptional hands-on learning experience. If you would like to learn more about the Academic Alliance you are welcome to visit our website: http://www.microsoft.com/education/academic_alliance.mspx.

Conference on 3rd Generation Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (3gERP)

The 3gERP project aims to develop the academic foundations for a ‘standard’ flexible and highly configurable global ERP-system for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), which can be implemented and maintained at a fraction of the costs of current systems. The ambition of the project is to tackle some of the fundamental challenges and trade-offs existing systems have, for instance with regard to customizability vs. total cost including upgrades. If you would like to learn more about 3gERP please visit this website: http://www.3gerp.org

All the best,

Allison, your new Academic Information Manager

Why Rare recruits games graduates

ukacademia — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:46:00 GMT

The academic team has enjoyed working with Rare over the past 18 months and it seems they have enjoyed it too, so much so that Nick Burton has put pen to paper (OK, type to screen) to bring our attention to some great facts.

You might be surprised to learn that 90% of roles at Rare go to graduates. You might have forgotten that Rare offer free lectures to games students. Read the article here in Gamasutra, to find out why.

Claire

PS Don't forget to share this with your students!

Heroes Happen Here

ukacademia — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:56:00 GMT

Introducing tne new HHH (Heroes Happen Here) Comic Series. This is a new daily web comic by Microsoft and Seagate that adapts tech stories from actual IT Professionals and Developers - a web comic that reflects the real lives of IT Hero's such as you. Every business day we will release a new episode driven from suggestions from the IT community. Make sure you sign up for the RSS feed and remember, we want you to help drive the story!

Claire

Computer Security: What's the point?

ukacademia — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:36:58 GMT

Steve Lamb, our resident security evangelist, told me about this free security lecture entitled, Computer Security: What's the point! which is being held at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Edinburgh on the evening of February 13th. Please let your security lecturers and support staff know.

Claire