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Microsoft, UW announce plans for new lab downtown

The University of Wisconsin announced a partnership agreement Wednesday with Microsoft that will bring a research laboratory to downtown Madison.

Microsoft will start a lab on West Main Street that will work with Microsoft code to research problems with database systems, according to Gurindar Sohi, chair of UW’s computer sciences department.

Sohi said the lab will be under the direction of UW computer sciences professor emeritus David Dewitt, who is a “pioneer in his field.”

According to Bill Barker, UW associate dean of the College of Letters and Science, Microsoft will fully fund the facility and staff it with five Ph.D. scientists in addition to DeWitt. He added Microsoft will also pay to fund five paid graduate student assistantships at the lab.

The UW computer sciences department will create a pool of candidates for the assistantships, and Microsoft will select the five they would like from that pool, Barker said.

“Those people will be selected to do research they’ll be able to publish,” Barker said. “This is a great opportunity for students because they will be working on problems for a first-class company.”

He added the lab will also provide internship opportunities for students as well as faculty consulting.

Barker said the lab could expand as well, given the history of labs Microsoft has started near other universities.

Sohi said the addition of the lab will be a great tool for recruiting both top-level students and staff to UW.

“We are very excited about it,” Sohi said. “It’s a big coup for the university and our department. This is going to bring a lot of visibility to the department.”

George Twigg, spokesperson for Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said the arrival of Microsoft will be great for the city, especially after Cieslewicz told a group of students last week he is concerned about keeping UW students in the city after graduation.

“It will create new opportunities in the city, especially the downtown area, which will be nice,” Twigg said. “This has the potential to be an anchor for a lot of high-tech activity in the future. It’s not a lot of jobs, but it sounds like it has the potential to grow.”

Barker said all sides of the deal were flexible in working out something that would work out for everybody.

“They wanted to set up a research facility that was as close as we could find to the computer sciences department,” Barker said. “We don’t want people getting isolated where they no longer feel like a part of the department.”