World Computing

The corporate world wants more graduates from EWU - Professor Mohammed Sharif

2010-05-19T09:54:00.002+06:00

By Mahbub Manik and photo by Sabil Haque

Logo of East West University (EWU)

East West University-EWU has emerged as one of the greatest private universities in the country and has already proven excellent in providing higher education. East West University promotes eastern culture and values, and meaningfully blends eastern and western thought and innovation. This university was officially launched in 1996 under the Private University Act (Act 34) of 1992. Eventually, the first session started in September 1996 with six eminent faculty members and twenty enthusiastic students. Today, the university has 245 highly qualified and trained faculty members and around 5,300 students enrolled through a fiercely competitive process of selection. The university conferred bachelor’s and master’s degrees to 3,774 students in the last eight convocations in various academic disciplines.

Recently this writer interviews Professor Mohammed Sharif, the vice chancellor of East West University.

The full text of the interview is below.

Mahbub Manik: East West University recently celebrated 14th foundation day. How are EWU graduates performing in their career?

Professor Mohammed Sharif: Organizations want more and more graduates from EWU. Recently Prime Bank Ltd declares that they will, with our recommendation, recruit EWU graduates without any written test. We can say that the more organizations get EWU graduates, the more they want.

MM: Really? Is there any one in Prime Bank Board from EWU directors?
Professor Sharif: No. EWU has the reputation as the best university in Bangladesh.

MM: Best University? What are the bases of this claiming?
Professor Sharif: We understand it from our students, guardians, employers of our students, and various surveys. We even feel it from the pressure during admission time. The guardians of students who cannot get admission in the EWU, request us to give an opportunity.

MM: What is the secret of EWU’s success?

Professor Sharif: We follow some principles. It starts from the process of selecting students.
According to University Grants Commission (UGC), the minimum requirement to get admission in universities is GPA 2.5 in HSC. But we require a minimum of GPA 3.00 to apply to EWU. Then they have to go through an intensely competitive written admission test and viva. For example, this semester there are only 550 students out of the 2,200 applicants who could qualify. We do not admit students on the basis of requests and references. Then we impart the right type of education. Students have to cope with the pressure to exist and complete their programs. As a result, our final product that is our graduates becomes the best. As I told you before, companies that have hired some of our graduates want more graduates from EWU.

MM: What is the education method in EWU?

The profile of the VC:
Professor Sharif obtained his BA (Hons) and MA in Economics from the University of Dhaka and MA in Political Economy and Ph.D. from Boston University. He taught at the University of Chittagong before going for higher studies in the USA. After completing his Ph.D., he joined the University of Rhode Island and taught there as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor for 22 years.
Prof. Sharif has published two books and many scholarly articles in international journals including Cambridge Journal of Economics.

While working in the USA, he has been very active in multi-cultural, multi-racial, and interfaith activities for which he has been awarded many citations.

Professor Sharif: The formal system of teaching in Bangladesh is teacher delivers lecture on a prepared topic, students take notes of those and memorize and reproduce them in the exam. There are teacher who use same lecture notes year after year. This system cannot help student to grow and develop our society and nation. For example, I know some teachers who use the textbook that is written in 1960. EWU doesn’t allow this to happen. We ask our teachers to engage in research regularly and publish their findings in various national and international conferences and journals. Thus, they learn the most up-to-date developments in their subjects and take this knowledge to their students in the classrooms. More importantly, they create and add to the latest knowledge through their publications and transmit it to their students. According to Research Bangla that has evaluated all the private universities, East West University topped the list with 885 articles published in 2009. Only 283 articles were published by the university which came in second.

Therefore, through performing research our teachers create new knowledge and stay updated.
In addition, we ask our teachers to go down to the level of the students to understand and know them better. We ask them to know students problems and help them solve those. We ask our teachers to build curiosity in the students mind, so that they can create new knowledge by themselves. We believe the best job of a teacher is to discover students’ interest and hidden talents. Every student has some talent. Teachers’ responsibility is to inspire them to unleash their hidden talent and potential.

The research and scholarship of our teachers have generated the best result a university can boost off. One of our faculty members has been awarded a gold medal as ‘The Best Scientist’ by the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Another one has earned the UGC award for his scholarship. Still another one has been awarded the membership in the Third World Academy of Sciences and Royal Chemical Society.

MM: That’s great sir. Can you now inform us what is the impact of these initiatives on the students?

Professor Sharif: Believe me, the impact is tremendous. Our students now write research papers and many of those are published in international conferences and journals. We sponsor our students to participate in international conferences. Some of our students have participated in international conference in the USA, South Korea, Malaysia, etc. On the basis of their performance at the conference, some of them got the offer of admission in Ph.D. programs with scholarships.

MM: Really inspiring. One of the major allegations against private universities is that the rich can only study there. Do you agree with this?
Professor Sharif: No, I do not agree at all, at least in the case of EWU. Most of our students are from middle class. They come to the campus by buses and CNG taxi. Many of our students do part timework to earn tuition fees.
On the other hand, we provide scholarship to poor but meritorious students. Last year we gave way Tk 3 cr and 24 lacs as merit scholarships and other financial assistance. Besides, we start to award full free studentship to seven students from seven divisions of the country who earn GPA 5 in HSC. With that we are also bearing all expenses of these students that includes accommodation, food, and cost of educational materials. We also provide financial support to the sons and daughters of freedom fighters with financial needs.

MM: Beautiful. Another allegation against private universities is that they only promote BBA and MBA. Because, these courses generate easy money for the universities. Especially they do not offer courses that require laboratory and investment. Is it sir?
Professor Sharif: In EWU, we do not do that. We have been investing in all departments. We recently have built a state-of-the-art computing lab that cost us one crore taka. We have a rich laboratory for pharmacy department. We have a language lab, a network lab, and electronic lab. We are very liberal to build infrastructures and facilities.

MM:Sir I am enthusiastically interested to know one thing. I heard from many people that private universities are the money making machine. Founders take all the money to their home. What about EWU? Are EWU founders and directors channeling money to their bank account?
Professor Sharif: I frequently hear it too. Probably this may happen in many universities. But EWU directors and founders do not take money as remuneration or profit at the end of the year. They are not doing business.

MM: Thank you very much sir for giving your time and answering me.
Professor Sharif: Thank you too. And I promise best education for upcoming students of East West University.

This interview is originally published at >> Weekly Economic Times

Indian consumers would be able to access new age services such as video-on-demand, live TV etc via upcoming 3G Spectrums. - NAVEEN MISHRA, IDC India

2010-05-18T12:54:00.003+06:00

Indian government is on the track to grant 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) licenses to uplift the sector.

The 3G/BWA auction process moves towards a closure.

Naveen Mishra, Lead Analyst, Telecoms Research Practice, IDC India talks on the possible impact on the wider India Telecom industry.

Q1. Can IDC throw light on the status of the India 3G spectrum bidding and the monies involved?

NAVEEN MISHRA, IDC India: The formal bidding process, which started off on April 9 is an iterative process and is expected to be completed over the next few days. The base price for all-India licence has been pegged at INR 3,500 Crore (US$ 760 million) for 3G spectrum and INR 1,750 Crore (US$ 380 million) for BWA spectrum.

The successful launch of 3G / BWA networks and services would help to decongest mobile services networks especially in metros / urban areas and improve quality of service (QoS) for the Indian mobile services user. BWA spectrum is expected to help launch WiMax services in rural areas. This would help reach broadband connectivity to the rural masses. Government initiatives such as connecting Citizen Service Centres (CSCs) and e-Governance programs to provide telemedicine / e-health and other services is further expected to help in the development of the ecosystem.

Q2. Please describe the two parallel auctions that are going on here, 3G spectrum vs. broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum?

NM, IDC India: The 3G spectrum auction involves identification of successful bidders for allocation of 3 or 4 blocks of 2 x 5 MHz in the 2.1 GHz band across 22 service areas or circles. The BWA auction, to be launched two days after the close of the 3G spectrum auction, involves identification of successful bidders for 2 blocks of 20 MHz in the 2.3 GHz band across 22 service areas or circles.

Q3. Can you comment on the rationale for Qualcomm, a vendor, bidding to become a broadband wireless access provider?

NM, IDC India: Qualcomm has a history of participating in spectrum auctions. In the India auction they have bid for BWA spectrum with the stated purpose of expediting deployment of TD-LTE, which is compatible with 3G WCDMA/HSPA and EV-DO.

Q4. Will it be worth the investment for the successful Telcos in the end?

NM, IDC India: India is a spectrum-starved market, especially in urban areas. Operators are looking to access spectrum to not only offer new generation data services base to consumers to boost their earnings, but also to improve the quality of service (QoS) offered under the current 2G regime.

Q5. What are the winning bidders going to do differently for 3G in India compared to the countries that have had it for some time?

NM, IDC India: India is a predominantly pre-paid mobile services market. Therefore, the business models of service providers who eventually win the spectrum bids and offer 3G services have to be tailored to this reality. India being a 'young nation' with an estimated fifty percent of the population under the age of 35 years, is expected to see greater demand for content centred around sports and entertainment. Indian consumers would be able to access new age services such as video-on-demand, live TV etc.

................................

About IDC

IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 46 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visitingwww.idc.com.

About IDC India

IDC ( India ) Ltd., set up in 1987 is an ISO 9001:2008 company. IDC ( India ) Ltd., a subsidiary of CyberMedia, is regarded as the country’s most comprehensive, dependable and respected source for market intelligence and consulting in the fields of IT, telecommunications and consumer technology. With its head office at Gurgaon (near New Delhi ), the company has branches in Bangalore , Chennai, and Mumbai. Additional information about IDC India's research, advisory and Go-To-Market service offerings can be found at www.idcindia.com

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Courtesy:

Sanjiv Kataria, www.sanjivkataria.com

RanksTel-The local Telco Brand Leader

2010-04-25T20:17:00.003+06:00

By Mahbub Manik

RanksTel, the telecom brand is born in Bangladesh, grows up locally and visions to be an international one.
Govt. has been welcoming multinationals since nineties. Global telecoms giants like Telenor, Orascom, TM, Warid etc invested in the country and doing business successfully.

But jingoistic people always hope that some local brands must stay strong in the market. Rankstel is here to do that dream job. More than 450 local graduates’ directly and more than ten thousands people indirectly work with RanksTel.

RanksTel brand

RanksTel brand has already created a strong position in the market and emerges as the largest Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service provider in the country.

RanksTel is the brand name of Ranks Telecom Limited, with a tagline 'connects us'.

The brand endorses the slogan "Keep country's money in country" (Desher taka deshe rakhun). RanksTel uses popular CDMA technology.

RANGS to RanksTel

Ranks Telecom Limited is a member of country's one of the largest business organizations RANGS Group. RanksTel is one of the largest private sector investments in the country with an accumulated investment of BDT 200 cores. Ranks Telecom Limited launched its Wireless Phone Services under the brand name of RanksTel on April 14, 2005 and had first introduced the post -paid service on April 14, 2005 and later introduced pre-paid service on 01 October 2005. Value added service RanksTel established the 24/7 Call Center, introduced value-added services such as SMS, Call Conferencing, Call Waiting, Fax, Internet, Voice Mail service and many other products and service. From the very beginning RanksTel placed emphasis on providing good after-sales services.

Services

It presently offers pre paid and post paid services. There are some packages like Agami, Kotha, Gati, Corporate Wireless Phone, SME Business Proceed etc.

Masrur Nawaz Waiz, Head of Operation, RanksTel informs,"RanksTel enjoyed 125% growth in this year that proves the potentiality of this sector. Mobile phone is a mobility solution and there are some services like PABX, WPABX, VPN, Data, Bandwidth, E-1,Corporate SMS, Call Center Outsourcing etc cannot be provided by mobile phone".

The main issue is telecom service; PSTN is a detail telecom service solution, added Masrur.

RanksTel -the market leader

The total number of PSTN phone subscribers has reached 1294.281 thousand at the end of July 2008 in our country. The PSTN phone subscriber base of all operators goes respectively (in thousand): BTCL 872.409, Ranks Telecom Ltd. 148.468, Telebarta Ltd. 56.424 , Jalalabad Telecom Ltd. 3.948, Onetel Communication Ltd. 38.017, National Telecom Ltd. 35.905, Peoples Telecom Ltd. 44.931 , Westec Ltd. 17.000 Dhaka Telephone Co. Ltd. 54.029 , Sheba Phone Ltd. (ISL) 9.571, S. A. Telecom System Ltd. 13.553, Banglaphone Ltd. 0.026. T and T rebranded as BTCL is the oldest public telecom service provider in our country. RanksTel is a private PSTN telco service provider and number one in private telco industry.

Future Rankstel

Rankstel looks to connect individuals and businesses through providing excellence services. It wants to be the prime land phone provider in Bangladesh. The company is aimed to bring the phenomenon of the telecommunication technology at the doorstep of the people at a very competitive price, which is long desired by all the sectors and thus would contribute in the total national development of the country. "We want to reach 3 lack customer base at the end of 2008 and 5 lack customer base at the end of 2009" goals Masrur Nawaz waiz.

"We want to adopt all new technologies. We want to work intensively on PCO and Internet service in future. We will cover whole country quickly as possible and we will go for new ways to reach our vision", says Masrur.

- The piece was published at Weekly Economic Times in 2008

Browser Battle

2010-04-20T04:10:00.000+06:00

By Mahbub Manik

Logo Of Google Chrome

On Friday last I got into Internet through Internet Explorer (A Microsoft's product) and searched 'Obama' using Google search (A product of Google Inc) and it showed the links of 1 - 10 of about 150,000,000 links for obama in 0.16 seconds. As a browser Internet Explorer of Microsoft and as a search engine Google is the first and easy choice for Netizens.

To retrieve any information from the sea of Internet, Google is unparallel till today, though there are many beautiful search tools are in the market. Google Inc has many products in market but all did not get that much of popularity like Google Search. But the breaking news is that Google for the first time released a web browser and declared its dream to emerge as a market leader.

Simply we can say that web browser is a door to enter inside Internet. It is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network. Some of the Web browsers currently available for personal computers include Mozilla Firefox, Avant Browser Safari, Google Chrome, Konqueror, Opera, Flock, Internet Explorer, Epiphany, K-Meleon and AOL ExplorerContents.

Beta version of 475k sized of Google Chrome is now available at no cost for Windows Vista and Windows XP. Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac and the Linux operating system. And will be work in Linux and other open source operating system in full speed soon.

Highlights of Chrome:

According to Google, Chrome is an ambitious attempt but not a me-too product or a rebranding of someone else's browser, but a significantly new contestant.
-It has a tab-centric interface, with a default home page that shows snapshots of your favorite sites and new memory management techniques designed to prevent tabs from bogging down your browsing;

It uses sandboxing to prevent malware from doing damage to your PC
It includes built-in anti-phishing
It uses an all-new JavaScript implementation designed to provide snappy performance for Web-based applications.

In a Monday blog posting, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the more dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.
"The Web gets better with more options and innovation," Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, Google's engineering director, wrote in the posting. "Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the Web even better

75 percent of the web surfers use Internet Explorer of Microsoft. The pressure between Microsoft and Google now appears probable to escalate with Google's attack into Web browsing. Microsoft has been trying to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo Inc. for $47.5 billion.

End of the day it's a war to control Internet!

The article was published on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at Weekly Economic Times

iSchool Revolution

2010-04-18T06:12:00.000+06:00

iSchool, an evangelic initiative by an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) student Raqeebul I Ketan, paving the way to change teaching method in Bangladesh.

By Mahbub Manik

‘Acid turns litmus paper red and base turns it blue’, most of the Bangladeshi school students memorize this basic of chemistry just by heart without experiencing it in lab and understanding the reasons behind it. The scenario is almost same for; it may be a theory of mathematics, laws of pendulum or respiratory system in human body. This is how science education walking, of course, walking behind the time.

Education is the key to changing and unlocking the windows of local and global opportunities; to establishing sustainable equality and harmony in society, instigating people to better living style, provoking them to think to research, innovation and discovery, moulding the mind for modest attitude to human kind. “Education is the backbone of a nation”, the oldest adage said, so a nation’s strength and future totally depend on its education system. With the fastest advancement of science and technologies, teaching methods are also evolving around the globe, and state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge technologies are enriching education system. A better education system consists of better curriculum, testing, instructional tools, teacher training etc.

Our problems

Bangladesh where iSchool happens. The country situated in South Asia.

Bangladesh is a developing country of only 147,570 square km area and has been struggling hard to provide basic needs like food, housing, clothes, medicine etc to its around 160 million people. So it’s easily guessable that the education system here is mainly century old, static, one-way, monotonous and non-productive. Education system becomes dependent on coaching centres and private tuition. Most of the students go for blind memorising their courses without proper understanding, just to get good grade, because of the lack of good teachers, lab facilities and good textbooks. There are some good schools, but most of the students are deprived of good teachers and good schools. Millions of students drop out of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities each year. One of the main reasons is that they can’t do better in classes. Even after completing their tertiary education, most of them don’t get suitable job and can’t compete in local market with those who got better opportunity during their student life, let alone global market. Because of the blind memorisation students become not only unproductive but also counter-productive. They can’t be skilled, innovative, risk-taking and entrepreneurial. We are proud, that with this backdrop there are some extraordinarily talented Bangladeshi students who can make a position in world’s top universities like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc every year. But this is an exception and exception can’t be an example.

So wee need change in teaching system
There were many committees to reform education system. Debates have been going on about the instruction media, religious studies, duration of schooling, but little was talked on modernising the teaching method for all students.

Raqeebul I Ketan, the idea owner

Hence, the country should congratulate and engage with Raqeebul I Ketan, a Bangladeshi youth studying in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has been thinking how to make our teaching system more interesting, understandable and easier since his school life here in Dhaka. He initiated an idea branded as ‘iSchool’. MIT is the heaven for this kind of initiatives. He presented his idea to MIT PSC (Public Service Center) in 2008 and could convince the authorities to award him Peter J Eloranta Fellowship and David J Shapiro Fellowship subsequently.

Ketan shares his school life experiences. He says,” When I was a student of A level, I hated chemistry. This mysterious subject has often eluded me. My impromptu remedy to this learning dilemma was blind memorisation. Soon I came to the realisation that I was not really learning chemistry, I was merely gathering facts, facts that would make no difference to my understanding of science. “
He continues, “After my A level I got into MIT. I got advance standing (meaning that I did not have to take the preliminary courses) for physics and math but for chemistry. My impression about the futility of blind memorisation grew stronger than ever.” He ends, ”Now I not only imagine but also work towards the goal of establishing iSchool.”

iSchool solution

iSchool's action flowchart.

iSchool envisions to develop a video lecture series for SSC (O level) and HSC (A level) both in Bangla and English with interactive components e.g. animations, slide shows etc that would be cost-effective and must not rely only on the usage of computer and viewable using a TV and VCD player. The content would be distributed to schools at free of cost. The content will be portable in CD, VCD and available in website. Teachers can show videos after completing the relevant chapter to students, once in a week, at least. School has to buy or rent a PC or a TV. The content will be complementary of the textbook. Volunteers of iSchool are using MS PowerPoint, Bangla font software Abhra and video capturing software to build the contents.

Progress in iSchool

The team building work is in action ...

iSchool launched its programme for the first time in a remote village in Panchagarh district with some 150 students as a test phase of the suitability and sustainability of the initiative in January last. The outcomes proved to be highly encouraging. The core mission of the project; to devise a low-cost sustainable solution, was achieved. Volunteers from IBA, Dhaka University compiled the animations, meaning that the administrative and design costs were null. The cost of blank DVDs added to the rental cost of DVD players and TVs, was minimal. Most importantly, the animations proved to be highly effective with students showing improvements up to 35% in their test score. Professor Peter Dourmashkin of the department of Physics at MIT helped design the test questions and later performed a post-programme evaluation. The students in each merit category performed substantially better after watching the videos. The improvements were more marked in tackling the qualitative questions and were most significant among the lower merit group students
The content building work for SSC’s (O level equivalent) physics is in full progress. Volunteers from IBA, BUET, BRAC, EWU and many other universities joined the project. Team building meeting are held regularly. The workload is huge.

Revolutionary movement

This how the content will be delivered to students.

The iSchool initiative can be revolutionary, if the content building work can be finished successfully and material can be reached to all schools across the country. Students then really can understand and visualise the formulas, graph, equation, definition etc instead of memorising by heart without proper concept of the topic. Teachers will be more efficient; students will not go to coaching centres. The number of dropout of schools will be decreased. That can shift our teaching system from one way to interactive, counter-productive to productive, chaos to creative, monotonous to enjoyable, and burden to freedom.

[ The article is also published at Weekly Economic Times ]

EWU CSE Adopts The Most Up-to-date Syllabus — Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan

2010-04-18T06:04:00.000+06:00

By Mahbub Manik

East West University (EWU) has started its challenging journey in 1996 of providing world standard, quality education at an affordable cost in Bangladesh with the motto of "Promoting eastern culture and values, and meaningfully blends eastern and western thought and innovation."
Computer Science and Engineering Department of EWU, emerges as one of the best choices for the aspiring students to study computer science and engineering in Bangladesh. The department was launched in 1996 with an ambition of developing competent work force for the emerging ICT world.

Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan is currently the Chairperson of the department. He is known as one of the top most experienced and diversified pioneering educationists in the field of computer science and engineering education in Bangladesh.He describes the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of EWU.

[ The Profile of Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan

Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan is currently the Chairperson of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
He has obtained B. Sc. Engg. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, M. Sc. Engg. degree in Computer Engineering, and PhD degree in Computer Science and Engineering.
He is one of the pioneering professors of Computer Science and Engineering in Bangladesh. He started his teaching carrier in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT), Rajshahi, Bangladesh [currently Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET)] in 1986. In 1991 he shifted to Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh and, as the founder Head of the Department, established Computer Science and Engineering Department there, which was the second of its kind in the country after that of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka. He was also the founder Head of Electronics and Communications Engineering Department and also the founder Dean of Science, Engineering and Technology School at Khulna University. In 1999 he joined East West University. He served as Chairperson of Computer Science and Engineering Department and also was the founder Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering and the founder Chairperson of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at East West University.
He is a renowned researcher in the broad fields of logic synthesis and evolutionary algorithms.]

The conversation is below:

Mahbub Manik: When did the department start?

Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan :

The department was opened in September 1996 with a vision to produce technologically and computing skilled work force to meet national and global demands. Soon the department got huge responses from the aspiring students across the country. Within 2000, the department turned into one of the best places for CSE education in the country. The department has been enriching within the times through facing challenges and hurdles.

Professor Mohammed Sharif,
Current VC, EWU

MM: What is the standard of the courses that EWU CSE offers?

Prof. Khan:
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at East West University offers four-year Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.) degree program in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE).
Our syllabus is the latest and most up-to-date, industry focused and international standard. We embedded the latest development and knowledge in the field of computer science and engineering in our syllabus.
The curriculum of the degree is prepared with the intension to groom up the students to effectively contribute in all aspects of ICT. Therefore, the curriculum of the B. Sc. in CSE program focuses on (i) Theoretical Computer Science, which builds the theoretical and mathematical foundation of solving problems using computers, (ii) Software Engineering and Information Systems Design, which enables developing software for solving various problems and creating information systems for the corporate and public sectors, (iii) Computer Communication and Networking, which develops capability of creating computer networks and using telecommunication infrastructures and the Internet for effective communication of information, (iv) Computer Hardware Systems, which prepares for designing, installing, and maintaining computer hardware systems, (v) Intelligent Systems, which provides opportunity for developing smart and intelligent software systems for solving very complex and complicated problems, and (vi) Signal and Information Processing, which develops competency in effective processing, storage, and communication of various audio, video, graphics, and text information.

Class Work Is In Progress. Mathematics Teacher Anindita Paul Conducts Her Class.

The above competencies require a solid foundation of basic sciences such as mathematics, statistics, physics, and chemistry. Therefore, the curriculum contains sufficient courses on these areas. Today's ICT personnel must be aware of society, economics, business, law and ethical issues, and must have good communication skills to effectively use ICT for betterment of the humankind. Keeping this thought in consideration, a number of courses in English, Business, Economics, and other Social Sciences and Humanities have been incorporated in the curriculum. The curriculum also makes provision for gathering hands on experience in research and development through final year Thesis/Project course or getting exposure to the real life ICT industry through Internship course. Moreover, the curriculum has the provision for a student to develop focused expertise in his/her field of interest by choosing optional courses.

MM : Great syllabus indeed. What are the other reasons to choose CSE at EWU except the syllabus?

Prof. Khan:
We have dedicated cutting-edge and high-tech laboratory on Software, VLSI, Network, Digital System, Circuits, Telecommunication, and Electronics with fiber optic backbone of 6.5 Mbps internet connectivity.
Students can stay in the labs and practice. We take care of individual student.

Lab Work Is In Progress.

Special care is offered for the weak students. Teachers are bound to help students during office hours.

There are teaching assistants to help student.

There are merit scholarships based on academic achievements, financial needs and on campus employment as teaching assistant.

MM : What are the qualifications of the teachers?

Prof. Khan:
There are nineteen faculty members in this department currently and among them eight are PhD holders. These professors are the best teachers in Bangladesh. Some of them are core computing science PhDs. Few universities in Bangladesh have this amount of PhDs.

MM : How are the CSE graduates doing?

Prof. Khan:
Graduates are serving in top ranked govt. and corporate organizations. Many of them are doing PhDs in USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, Korea, Japan and Australia. Some are working as faculty members in public and private universities. Some emerged as the entrepreneurs.

MM : How are the EWU CSE students connecting with the industry ?

Prof. Khan:
We are working with the local ICT industries. We have partnership with Microsoft Bangladesh Ltd in MSDNAA Networks. Our students are working in software firms and ICT firms.
MM: What are the working fields for CSE graduates in the country?
Prof. Khan: There are substantial opportunities for CSE graduates. First, for building 'Digital Bangladesh', country needs thousands of computing professionals, especially software professionals. On the other hand, in telecom sector, there is huge demand and opportunity to create value added contents and applications.
Besides, there are many software and IT firms.

Prof. Dr. Mozammel Huq Azad Khan In Lab Session Of 'Digital Logic Design'.

MM: So future of computer science is bright.

Prof. Khan:
In no doubt, the future is bright both in nationally and globally. Global economy is getting strength day by day. There will be more and more job opportunities in the developed countries. The technologies are evolving with the time and there is a relationship with computing and any technologies.
A recent report says that Dhaka is one of the top destinations for outsourcing and freelancing. Web based services are opening new horizons for the IT skilled people.

MM: So ICT sector is a potential mine to solve our unemployment problem.

Prof. Khan:

Yes. I believe government can do more concrete works to boost this sector. Graduates should get bank loan without collateral or hassle. We have to sow the seed of entrepreneurship in the mind of the students. Then they can take the sector to sky high.

MM: Nice to talk with you. Hope your talks can inspire hopeful students. Bangladesh needs huge computing graduates. Thank you.

Prof. Khan:
Future of computer science is bright. I invite students to grab the opportunities that EWU CSE offers. Thank you too.

>> The interview was originally published at Weekly Economic Times

Before you buy: 12 things to know about the iPad

2010-04-02T23:55:00.003+06:00

By John D. Sutter, CNN, April 2, 2010 10:01 a.m. EDT

You've seen the television commercials and the product reviews. But maybe, like many gadget lovers, you're still debating whether you really need this new touch-screen computer from Apple.

To help you make sense of the hype, here are answers to 12 common questions about the iPad, Apple's much-anticipated "slate" computer, which goes on sale Saturday.

Buying an iPad? What will you do with it?

Is there anything else you'd like to know? If so, please post in the comments section below and we'll do our best to answer your questions.

1. How is the iPad different from a laptop?

The word "laptop" is getting somewhat brushed aside for a truckload of new, confusing categories.

The Apple iPad falls into the slate (some people say tablet) category of portable personal computers, because, unlike a laptop, it doesn't have a hardware keyboard.

Another key difference: To type and to navigate through files and photos on the iPad, you touch its screen in the same way you operate an iPhone or iPod Touch. That's possible on some laptop models, but not many.

2. How is the iPad different from e-readers like the Kindle?

Reading digital books on "e-readers" like the Amazon Kindle is becoming increasingly popular. The iPad acts like an e-reader and like a personal computer, but there are some notable differences between the two.

For one, the iPad has a color display. The Kindle, by contrast, is only black-and-white. Some people think the iPad, partly for this reason, will be popular with students who read textbooks with colorful diagrams. Others say the Kindle's screen, which isn't backlit, will be easier on the eyes over long periods.

Video: Demoing an iPad

Make a computer decide

If you're still unsure about whether or not you should get an Apple iPad, you may want to check out this quiz from the Web site Hunch.

It takes you through a series of questions about your gadget preferences and then decides for you.

There's an aesthetic difference, too: The iPad will display books horizontally, with two pages showing, or vertically, zooming in on a single page of text. The Kindle only works in vertical mode.

Perhaps more importantly, the devices access books from different online bookstores. iPad users buy books from Apple's new digital bookstore, called the iBookstore, which supports an open e-book format called ePub. Kindle users must buy their books from Amazon.com.

3. How much does the iPad cost?

Prices range from $499 to $829. The more expensive versions have more storage space, which means you can put more music and videos on the device.

iPads that connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi only are less expensive than those that can connect through Wi-Fi and through AT&T's mobile Internet network.

4. Do you have to sign-up for an AT&T contract when you buy the iPad?

You don't have to buy an AT&T mobile Internet contract to purchase the iPad.

If you buy a Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad and have a Wi-Fi connection at home, or you want to use the iPad primarily at coffee shops or public places that have wireless Internet connections, then you probably won't have to deal with AT&T at all.

Pricier versions of the iPad are able to connect to AT&T's mobile 3G network, allowing them to browse the Web from many more locations.

Surprisingly, you don't need a contract with AT&T to use this service, either.

Users can pay by the month and cancel at any time without penalty, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the iPad unveiling. The unlimited data plan with AT&T costs $29.99 per month.

The Wi-Fi-enabled iPads go on sale on Saturday. The AT&T-enabled iPads will ship in late April, according to the online Apple store.

5. If there's no keyboard, how do you type on the iPad?

Instead of being a piece of plastic with physical keys, the iPad's keyboard is a graphic that pops up on the device's touch-sensitive screen -- an interface that will be familiar to iPhone and iPod Touch users.

iPad users type by touching pictures of keys on the screen. The iPad keyboard is about the same size as the one on your desk, but you can't feel the keys.

When he unveiled the device in January, Jobs said the iPad is "a dream to type on." But some bloggers, including this writer, have complained that the iPad's touch-screen keyboard is difficult to use.

6. What does the iPad do best?

The iPad is designed for consuming various types of media -- reading books, browsing the Web and watching videos, in particular.

It's also marketed as a portable gaming device, and there are hundreds of games for sale in the iPad App Store.

The device doesn't have a DVD player, but you can download videos from Apple, or stream them from the Web.

The iPad is best suited for people who would, say, want to read their e-mail, but wouldn't have to compose lengthy responses.

It's better for a blog reader than a blog writer.

7. Can you create documents, spreadsheets and presentations with the iPad?

Apple created a new suite of "apps" specifically for the iPad. These iWork programs, which cost $9.99 each, let users create documents, edit spreadsheets and create business presentations from the iPad.

It's unclear how easy these programs will be to use. Some reviewers say it's easy enough to compose business documents on the iPad. Others say serious users will need another computer to be productive.

The iPad has a Wi-Fi connection, which, in theory, could be used for printing documents wirelessly through your printer. There is some debate online about what apps will perform this function.

8. Can you view any Web site on the iPad?

A certain format of online video, called Flash, does not play on the Apple iPad.

While there are some workarounds for this, many Web sites are redesigning themselves, using a type of code called HTML5, so they will work on the iPad.

That code allows video display on the device, but you may notice some sites, including this one, will have holes because the iPad doesn't support Flash video.

9. Will the iPad replace my current computer? Or do you need both?

Some technology writers and critics say the iPad is an all-in-one machine. Others argue that it's more of a portable accessory, and that most computer users need a desktop or laptop computer in addition to an iPad.

What works for you really depends on what you use your computers for. If you spend a lot of time typing or creating things with your computer, it may be easier to use a laptop. If you just want to surf the Web, read books, play games, watch movies or send an occasional short e-mail, the iPad might work.

Apple and others sell keyboards that can be attached to the device in case you need to write a longer e-mail and don't want to fiddle with the touch-screen keyboard.

10. Is the iPad lighter and smaller than other laptops or e-readers?

The iPad will be about a half-inch thick and weigh about 1½ pounds.

Its screen is 9.7 inches across, when measured diagonally.

That's smaller and lighter than some laptops. A 10-inch netbook from Dell is similar in size but weighs about a pound more.

Amazon's Kindle DX is slimmer than the iPad, at only a third of an inch thick, and it weighs slightly less: 1.2 pounds, according to Amazon.

Its screen is the same size as the iPad's, but it doesn't display color.

11. Can you subscribe to newspapers and magazines on the iPad?

Some magazines and newspapers have said they hope the iPad will help save their struggling industries. A number of them have reformatted their publications for the iPad's screen and are offering new digital subscription plans.

The Wall Street Journal, for example, will charge $17.99 per month for an iPad subscription to its newspaper.

12. Are there iPad alternatives?

Apple is not the only computer maker offering a slate device. Some are on the market now and others will come out soon.

HP briefly showed off its slate computer before an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Dell has announced plans to make a personal computer in the slate category.

Viliv and Asus have tablets on the market, too.

The New Efficiency

2009-09-29T19:19:00.002+07:00

By Steve Ballmer

In all the talk about the economy, one term that comes up more and more frequently is something called "the new normal." I like this phrase because it speaks to the fact that economic reality has undergone a fundamental shift over the course of the past 12 months.

So what is the nature of this shift? After years of economic expansion fueled by unrealistic rates of consumption and unsustainable levels of private debt, the global economy has reset at a lower baseline level of activity. Today, people borrow less, save more, and spend with much greater caution.

This is the new normal and it will be with us for some time to come. The issue now is how to respond.

I believe the new normal requires a new kind of efficiency built on technology innovations that enable businesses and organizations to simultaneously drive cost savings, improve productivity, and speed innovation.

Because you are a subscriber to Executive Emails from Microsoft, I want to share my thoughts with you about how information technology can enable organizations to operate more efficiently, more effectively, and more strategically as they respond to the new normal by moving toward the new efficiency.

The New Efficiency: With Less, Do More

In the new normal, one thing is clear: cutting costs is extremely important. But cost cutting by itself is not a long-term winning strategy. To build a sustainable competitive advantage, companies must ultimately do two things- increase productivity and find ways to deliver new value to customers.

The issue, then, is how can organizations take costs out of their operations, increase productivity, and expand their capacity for innovation all at the same time?

For years, we've talked about how information technology enables companies to do more with less. But during this economic reset, IT provides business leaders with the answer to a slightly different question: Can my company with less, do more?

Other trends give this question even greater urgency. Workforces are more distributed and employees are more mobile. Government regulations are increasing and compliance requirements are mounting. Data security is more important to preserve and more difficult to maintain.

At the same time, companies struggle with legacy technology systems built on incompatible and disconnected applications that limit access to information and impede collaboration. The complexity of these systems forces IT departments to focus too much of their time and too many of their resources on providing basic services and protecting security.

Today, a new generation of business solutions is transforming IT into a strategic asset that makes it possible to cut costs without crippling customer service or constraining workforce creativity and effectiveness. A new generation of business solutions is eliminating the barriers between systems and applications, and automating routines tasks so IT professionals can focus on high-value work that is aligned to strategic priorities. These technologies can help organizations reduce risk, improve security, and drive down support costs.

This is IT how achieves the new efficiency with less.

At the same time, these technologies streamline access to information no matter where it is stored and enable people to work together securely no matter where they are located. This new generation of business solutions also provides improved mobile computing capabilities so people who work in a branch office, at home, or on the road can be as productive as employees who work at corporate headquarters.

Most important, a new wave of IT technologies offers advanced tools that enable employees to transform insights into innovations that address unmet market opportunities and meet unfulfilled customer needs.

This powerful combination of greater productivity and improved capacity for innovation is how IT enables businesses to do more.

Software Solutions for the New Efficiency

This year, Microsoft is introducing a wave of new software created specifically to enable businesses to tackle their most pressing challenges and strengthen their ability to deliver innovation to the marketplace.

It starts with Windows 7, the newest version of our flagship PC operating system. Windows 7 simplifies tasks and lets people get more done in less time with fewer clicks. Ready to deploy now, it enhances corporate data protection and security, and increases control to improve compliance and reduce risk. Part of our Windows Optimized Desktop solution that includes Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, Windows 7 streamlines management of PC environments, making it easier to reduce costs, improve performance, and enable end users to work anywhere.

These and other enhancements are the result of close collaboration with millions of customers and thousands of IT professionals who participated in testing programs and provided suggestions about the capabilities and improvements they wanted to see. Thanks in large part to their help, Windows 7 is the best PC operating system we have ever built.

We've also just released a new version of our server operating system. Windows Server 2008 R2 is designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of server infrastructures. It provides a productive server platform that offers cost-effective virtualization and business continuity, great power saving capabilities, and a superior experience for end users.

Later this year, we will also launch Exchange Server 2010. The cornerstone of Microsoft's unified communications technologies, Exchange Server 2010 provides a great email and inbox experience that extends from the PC to the phone to the browser and it helps companies archive and protect information efficiently. It also enables companies to reduce costs by delivering a built- in voice mail solution and providing low-cost storage options.

Achieving the Benefits of the New Efficiency Today

Organizations around the globe are already deploying these solutions and reaping the benefits.

At Intel, for example, Windows 7 is providing improved performance, greater application responsiveness, and a better platform for mobile workers. Ford is taking advantage of Exchange 2010 and Windows 7 to streamline communications, improve decision making, and boost productivity. Continental Airlines expects to save more than $1.5 million annually in hardware, software, and operational costs through the server virtualization capabilities of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V technology.

At Convergent Computing, an information technology consulting firm based in California, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 will eliminate the $40,000 in annual spending that was needed to maintain a virtual private network for the company's 55 employees. In addition, employees can now access the company's corporate network instantly and download files 30 to 40 percent faster than before.

Another example is Baker Tilly, a London financial services firm with more than 2,000 employees and a network of partners in 110 countries. One of the first businesses to deploy Windows 7 on a company-wide basis, Baker Tilly expects to save about $160 per PC by reducing deployment, management, and energy costs. And because Windows 7 improves productivity, it offers the potential to increase billable time for mobile workers at a rate of nearly $600 per PC. This could return the equivalent of one-half of one percent of the company's current gross annual revenue to the bottom line.

Businesses aren't alone in their struggle to respond to the new normal. Governments must figure out how to deliver more services on budgets that are sharply constrained by falling revenue. As part of its response, the city of Miami deployed Windows 7 and expects that it will save nearly $400,000 a year in reduced security, management, and energy costs.

Ideal Conditions for an Era of Innovation and Growth

Despite the challenges posed by the global economic reset, I'm optimistic about the long-term opportunities that lie ahead.

I'm optimistic because there are encouraging signs that growth may resume in many parts of the world during the course of the next year.

More than that, I'm optimistic because I believe we are entering a period of technology-driven transformation that will see a surge in productivity and a flowering of innovation.

The new efficiency will not only help companies respond to today's economic reality, it will lay the foundation for systems and solutions that connect people to information, applications, and to other people in new ways. The result will be a wave of innovative products and services that will jumpstart economic growth as companies deliver breakthroughs that solve old problems and serve as the catalyst for new businesses and even new industries.

This too will be the new normal-economic growth driven not by debt and consumption, but by rising productivity and new ideas that provide real value to people throughout their lives. Information technology will play an important role. I look forward to seeing the progress that results.

-The writer is the CEO, Microsoft

On Openness: What freedom attracts.

2009-08-26T01:59:00.005+07:00

By Jason Pontin
Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief and Publisher.
Credit: Mark Ostow

Openness is a virtue. When we like a person, we say, "She has an open face." About a friendly gesture, we remark, "That was openhanded." About ourselves when young, we might sigh, "I was open to new experiences." Openness is attractive.

Most technologists find openness attractive too. A technical term originally derived from thermodynamics (where it referred to any system that interacted continuously with its environment), openness came to be applied to systems theory, and thence to software, where it initially had a very specific meaning: open computer programs and languages are those that have some combination of portability (that is, they can run within a variety of environments) and interoperability (which

means they can exchange data with other software). They must also adhere to open standards, a term that is generally understood to refer to two related ideas: that the software should be free for use, and its source, or underlying, code should in some manner be defined by its community of developers and users. The operating system Linux is the best-known open software.

The Windows operating system, by contrast, is closed, or "proprietary," in the jargon of information technology: it is not portable and possesses limited interoperability. Although elements of Windows adhere to open standards, the program must be licensed, usually for a fee, and its source code has been compiled and hidden from users and developers outside Microsoft. Developers write to application programming interfaces, or APIs, which until last year were mostly closed, and which still Microsoft jealously guards.

Ever since the emergence of the Web, whose multitudinous pages are themselves created with open standards, information technology has tended to become more and more open. Increasingly, software companies stress their openness. Often, this is mere marketing. Sun Microsystems' Java platform, widely used to create software for devices as different as embedded systems and supercomputers, has been portable and interoperable since it was launched, in 1995, but the heart of its source code was released only in 2007. Some perfectionist companies forswear openness because closed software can be more beautiful, particularly if it is married to hardware, like the Apple Macintosh operating system. But most technologists want their software to be open, because openness attracts innovation.

In this issue, Technology Review's chief correspondent, David Talbot, describes the effort to make online video open (see "OurTube"). He writes, "A growing number of technologists and video artists want to see Web video adopt the same openness that fueled the growth of the Web at large. ... A similar transformation of video would not just allow trouble-free playback of any video you might encounter. It would also mean that any innovation, such as a new way to search, would apply to all videos, allowing new technologies to spread more rapidly. And it would make it far easier to mix videos together and create Web links to specific moments in disparate videos, just as if they were words and sentences plucked from disparate online text sources."

The innovations such openness would encourage are impossible to predict. Talbot quotes Chris Blizzard, director of technical evangelism at Mozilla, which develops the open Web browser Firefox: "Nobody is going to tell you they want something before it emerges--rather, the experience of the Web is: 'Holy Cow, I can do this other thing now!' Open standards create low friction. Low friction creates innovation. Innovation makes people want to pick it up and use it."

Are there limits to the alchemy of openness? As these quotations suggest, the word has come to be used broadly of all creation that is collaborative and unbound from any one company and that favors free use over paying for something. Proponents of openness tend to assume that history is with them: they are sure that industries beyond information technology will successively become open. Some evangelists of openness believe that written media (the only industry I know as well as information technology and biotechnology) must become open too. To hear them explain it, open written media would be created by anyone, not just professional journalists; it would not be owned by any one publisher but would be endlessly replicated around the Web; and it would be free.

I wonder, though, how applicable radical openness is to written media. (To read my critique of WeMedia, see my "Manifesto" in the May/June issue) In one sense, written media is already open. Unlike some computer code, words are both portable and interoperable. Anyone who knows a language may use its words freely, and they can be understood by any other speaker. Words are their own source code. Yet some writing flourishes best when authors are paid and are supported by publishers that make money directly or indirectly from their audiences. Written media is closed in the sense that it aspires to a kind of formal perfection and is created by people who feel highly proprietorial about their creations. But write and tell me what you think at jason.pontin@technologyreview.com.

Courtesy: http://www.technologyreview.com

Yahoo jazzes up home page with major makeover

2009-07-21T19:43:00.001+07:00

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer - Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:37AM EDT

Yahoo Inc. is sprucing up its Web site's home page with a long-promised makeover that is supposed to make it easier to see what's happening at the Internet's other hot spots.

The revamped home page, scheduled to debut Tuesday in the United States, is part of an overhaul aimed at recapturing some of the buzz that Yahoo has lost to increasingly popular online hangouts like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Even as Yahoo's star has faded, its Web site has remained among the Internet's busiest. More than 570 million people worldwide came to Yahoo in May, according to the most recent data available from online research firm comScore Inc.

The retooled page will be introduced in the United Kingdom, India and France later this week. It will roll out to the rest of the world during the next year, with the option to retain the old design starting to phase out this fall.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is hailing the new look as the biggest change to its front page since Yahoo's Web site launched 15 years ago. It's the first time that Yahoo has overhauled its home page since 2006.

"Every pixel on the page is relevant now," boasted Tapan Bhat, a Yahoo senior vice president who oversaw the revisions. "We have taken out a lot of our own stuff that was creating a dead zone for our users."

After spending the past 10 months tinkering with the redesign, Yahoo has a lot riding on the new look. The company sorely needs a lift, with its profits mired in a slump that has led to three different chief executives since June 2007.

Carol Bartz, the latest CEO hired six months ago, has predicted the revised home page will help revive the company by re-establishing its Web site as an Internet gateway for more people. If she is right, Yahoo could get a better handle on its users' interests and ultimately sell more of the ads that generate most of its revenue.

Yahoo hadn't intended to take the wraps off the redesigned page until the fall, but apparently felt like it had all the pieces in place now.

While Yahoo was trying to figure out what it wanted to include in the new home page, other online social hubs have become even more deeply ingrained in people's lives.

Facebook, for instance, now has more than 250 million regular users worldwide, up from about 100 million last September when Yahoo first began to publicly discuss its vision for the home page. Meanwhile, Twitter has evolved from a quirky obscurity into a pervasive communications tool for passing along blurbs of personal information, as well as links to news stories and photos.

Yahoo is betting its home page will be more useful if it's easier for people to connect with information and services available elsewhere.

Users can plant a variety of applications from other Web site onto a "My Favorites" section of the redesigned front page. The 65 applications initially available on Yahoo's new page include competing e-mail services from Google Inc. and AOL as well as plug-ins for Facebook and MySpace.

Once the outside applications are set up, Yahoo visitors can scroll over their favorite sites to get a glimpse at what's happening elsewhere without leaving Yahoo.

The front page's news section will automatically feature stories from newspapers located in a user's area and enable people to broadcast what they are doing or thinking, just as millions already do every day on Facebook and Twitter.

Yahoo isn't currently offering a Twitter application, but will eventually, Bhat said.

The home page preferences programmed on a computer can also be transferred to appear on mobile phones and other handheld devices.

iSchool happens ...

2009-07-12T12:57:00.007+07:00

By Raqeebul I. Ketan,

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Class of 2011, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology.

I have some exciting updates for you regarding the progress of iSchool (interactive school). Probably the most important is that now we are at a stage of the iSchool project where each of you from any corner of the globe can take part in the iSchool project! So, please take a few minutes to go through the rest of this message. Also, if you would like to know more about the iSchool program and what its mission is please visit the link http://web.mit.edu/hov/www/proj_ischool.html

The results from last January and the second phase of iSchool:

Last January we launched the iSchool program for the first time in a remote village in Panchagarh district, Bangladesh with some 150 students. It was primarily a test of the suitability and sustainability of

this initiative. The outcomes proved to be highly encouraging. The core mission of the project; to devise a low cost sustainable solution, was achieved. Volunteers from IBA, Dhaka University compiled the animations, meaning that the administrative and design costs were null. The cost of blank DVDs added to the rental cost of DVD players and TVs was minimal. Most importantly, though, the animations proved to be highly effective with students showing improvements upto 35% in their test score. Professor Peter Dourmashkin of the department of Physics at MIT helped design the test questions and later performed a post program evaluation. We concluded that students in each merit category performed substantially better after watching the videos. The improvements were more marked in tackling the qualitative questions and were most significant among the lower merit group students. Hence, we are now ever more energetic and determined to carry our mission of iSchool-for a better learning experience!

Recent achievements and our mission this time:

Once again MIT has been generous enough to fund the future of iSchool and help ensure its sustainability. I am glad to inform you that I have been awarded the Peter J. Eloranta fellowship (http://mit.edu/eloranta/winners.html)and the David J Shapiro award (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/awards-aero-astro-tt0603.html) for my work with iSchool and to help me carry out the task of compiling an interactive lecture series (to be used as textbook supplement) for the SSC students in Bangladesh.

This time we are working with a much larger pool of volunteers that span students from IBA to BUET to BRAC University. Our goal is to compile the first version of interactive lectures for the SSC (grade 10) Physics syllabus. To this end we are using very basic computer programs, so that our volunteers do not require high end technical expertise (take a look at the sample video I have posted in our iSchool group, and note that we will have narration with the video). Added to this crude yet effective collection of animations will be videos of the most common lab experiments to help familiarize students with common lab procedure. If you are good with flash or comfortable using power point with an interest in physics, you can help!

We want your help:

You can help make a difference in the way secondary school students learn science. Please let us know if you would be interested in being a part of the iSchool team. You can help us either by attending our meetings or even from your home using the internet. We hope that soon we are going to launch an iSchool website, that will contain our animations and videos with both Bengali and English narration. We intend to have a provision for uploading files by anyone from any corner of the globe. This way you can help us with your expertise by designing something, anything that you believe will come handy for the students. Our iSchool team will make any necessary adjustment and will put it up as add ons along with the core videos. It is the collection of the core videos that we intend to distribute in the high schools. School authorities can use their existing facilities to show the videos to the students (say once a week as a supplement to their core curriculum). Until we have the website constructed we request you to send your work via e-mail (or you can upload them in any web host site and provide us the link). If you are interested in investing the bare minimum from your free time, please let us know and we will send you the required resources (the chapters from our standardized SSC physics book)

Once again for your convenience:

What: Genral body meeting a discussion session on iSchool; MIT funded project to improve the education system in Bangladesh.

Why: Serve your country and people!

MIT PSC letter of recognition.

All expenses paid

When: 13 July (Please reply at ketanbd@mit.edu with iSchool as the subject)

Where: BRAC University, Civil building Room# 603 (exact details will be provided later in another mail )

How: Powerpoint skills. (To work on the animations)

Volunteer to teach.

Finally, I would humbly request you to leave any word of opinion/comment at the iSchool group. Alternately you can e-mail us at ketanbd@mit.edu and mohibulslm@yahoo.com. We have taken it as our responsibility to do the best we can about our education system. We know that we are not alone :)

iSchool For a Better Learning Experience

2009-06-30T18:13:00.003+07:00

By Raqeebul Islam Ketan

WHEN I was a student of A levels, I hated chemistry. This mysterious subject has often eluded me. My impromptu remedy to this learning dilemma was blind memorization. Soon I came to the realization that I was not really learning Chemistry, I was merely gathering facts; facts that would make no difference to my understanding of science.

After my A levels I got into MIT. I got advance standing (meaning that I did not have to take the preliminary courses) for physics and math but not for chemistry. My impression about the futility of blind memorization grew stronger than ever.

Now I not only imagine but also work toward the goal of establishing iSchool. I came up with the iSchool idea at MIT. Thanks to MIT PSC (Public Service Center) for awarding me with a fellowship for my proposal, currently I am working on a small-scale implementation of the first ever iSchool in Panchagarh.

iSchool or interactive school tries to come up with a sustainable and cost effective solution to the problem of blind memorization. As we all know, students in Bangladesh have a tendency of memorizing equations without proper understanding. This counterproductive practice stems mainly from the lack of adequate facilities (no labs, computers etc.) and the acute shortage of qualified teachers in high schools. The mission of iSchool is to supplement the already existing education curricula (of the National Board of Education in Bangladesh) by creating a virtual lecture series. The interactive part of the lecture series will comprise of translated audio clips, animation, video clips of various experiments, processes, lab videos interactive software etc. All of these interactive components will be integrated into the lectures and will be in direct reference to the standardized textbooks.

To put it in a nutshell, imagine watching a video of a lecture that is traditional in every sense (teacher explains the course material standing in a lab) except that the blackboard is replaced by the interactive mediums. Hence at the end of the explanation of each concept will be an interactive slot. Students will get to view lab experiments (wherever appropriate), animations, slides and diagrams intended to clarify the concepts further. There will also be at least one concept question followed by the interactive viewing to keep the students involved. We cannot provide actual labs and outstanding teachers in every school but we seek to devise the closest realistic alternative.

The major challenge beside the mammoth workload of compiling the video lectures is the cost of implementation. To make the videos accessible to even the most rural areas in Bangladesh I came up with the idea that iSchool compilation be stored in video discs (VCD). This will require a VCD player and a television as opposed to the much more expensive alternative of using a computer. VCD or even DVD technology is now omnipresent in Bangladesh. Besides, the cost of a blank CD along with burning it can be restrained well within a dollar (seventy taka). The overall cost of running iSchool parallel to traditional schooling is manageable indeed.

If I have to mention the birthplace of iSchool, it would be MITs Public Service Center. PSC has paved the path for numerous MIT students to travel to the furthest corners of the world with one mission; improving people's quality of life. PSC is the central office at MIT with the responsibility of matching the funds with the right kind of

motivated students. Be it healthcare or education, PSC's door will always be the first one to be knocked by any

student interested in social work in such field.

I have always cherished the thought of doing something useful, something beneficial for the community, more specifically in the education sector. One day I gathered all my courage and wrote an e-mail to Sally Susnowitz, the director of MIT PSC, regarding a very rudimentary plan, the first version of iSchool. Sarwar bhai (my fellow Bangladeshi at MIT) helped devise the proposal with his invaluable feedback and advice.

Finally I and Sarwar bhai had the meeting with Sally. She was very realistic yet very motivating. She gave us hope and installed the faith that iSchool doesn't have to continue as 'imaginative school '; it can indeed be 'interactive school'. Later I met with Alison Hynd, PSC Fellowship Program coordinator, who helped me make the required changes in my plan of implementing iSchool. With her help and support I applied for a fellowship - the pinnacle of PSC's hierarchy of fund dispersal. I called in Professor Samuels, my freshman adviser at MIT, to ask for a required faculty recommendation for my application. He shared my enthusiasm in iSchool and suggested that I meet with a few other professors - professors who would later become integral asset for iSchool. In due time, I was interviewed for fellowship and was subsequently offered one.

That was the moment when iSchool crossed the boundary of mere thought; it stepped onto the realm of reality!

As soon as I got the all-important nod from MIT PSC, I contacted Sudip da (my project supervisor) to plan out the details. Sudip da has vast experience in a whole spectrum of activities. We both felt the need to start off the proceedings for iSchool immediately.

Out first requirement was to get access to a lab where we can carry out some of the more fancy experiments (different kinds of motion using motion sensors and trolleys on air track). I contacted Professor Tom Greytak to request access to a TEAL (Technology-Enhanced Active Learning) lab. Exceeding my expectations he showed enthusiasm in my work and took out some time from his busy schedule to talk to me about iSchool. He told me about one of MIT's initiatives, much similar to iSchool, launched in the early fifties. He, later, gave me a compilation of his simple animations used for the 'Waves and Vibrations' chapters in Physics.

I also contacted Professor Peter Dourmashkin, associate director of ESG (Experimental Study Group) to take some suggestions for iSchool. Professor Dourmashkin is an expert in alternative learning strategies and loves initiatives that seek to improve the learning techniques among students. He was very keen about the potential success of our virtual lecture series. He provided me with a series of questions on Newtonian Mechanics (Our focus in January), which I am using to assess the effectiveness of our lecture videos. With all the resources in hand I traveled to Bangladesh on the 20th of December as a PSC fellow with my humble motive. What happens here in Bangladesh is the unfolding of another very interesting series of events indeed!

-Raqeebul Islam Ketan is a Bangladeshi studying in Aeronautics Engineering in MIT,USA. He is contributing to Bangladesh building work. What about you ...???

Best advice: Gates on Gates

2009-06-24T04:10:00.002+07:00

The father-and-son duo talk about what it was like growing up Gates as they reflect on the advice that has influenced their careers and their relationship.

Caption: Americans in Paris: Bill Gates, in France with his family for part of the summer, is joined by his father on the balcony at the legendary Hôtel de Crillon.

Interview by Andy Serwer

PARIS (Fortune) -- It's certainly a unique father-son relationship. The man who created one of the largest fortunes in history, now in his second career as a philanthropist, has his dad working for him as co-chair of the world's largest charitable organization -- the $27.5 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Actually, this is a second act for both men. Bill Gates, 53, stepped down from day-to-day work at Microsoft last June, while his father, Bill Gates Sr., 83, retired from the prominent Seattle law firm Preston Gates & Ellis (now known as K&L Gates), in 1998. These days both men give counsel to each other, but for years, of course, Dad doled out indispensable advice to his son. I recently sat down with this unlikely buddy act in the famed Leonard Bernstein suite at the H�tel de Crillon on Paris's Place de la Concorde to ask them about the best advice they ever got.

Bill, I'd like to ask you about the best advice that you've ever gotten from your dad.

Bill Gates: Well, my dad and my mom were great at encouraging me as a kid to do things that I wasn't good at, to go out for a lot of different sports like swimming, football, soccer, and I didn't know why. At the time I thought it was kind of pointless, but it ended up really exposing me to leadership opportunities and showing me that I wasn't good at a lot of things, instead of sticking to things that I was comfortable with. It was fantastic, and now some of those activities I cherish. They had to stick to it because I pushed back a lot, but it was fantastic advice.

Mr. Gates, do you remember specifically dispensing advice, or was it something that was just a natural part of parenting?

Bill Gates Sr.: I think to some extent his mother and I were explicit about this, but it was mostly just instinctive. We did feel like he ought to go turn out, go and play on the neighborhood softball team and things of that kind. We thought it would be good for him and that he'd enjoy it, and apparently it turned out to be good advice.

B.G.: Even though I wasn't very good at it.

B.G. SR.: You were okay.

You make it sound very easy, but all of us who are parents know that raising a family is not always that way. In your new book you mentioned dinners on Sunday nights and wearing the same kind of pajamas [on Christmas]. Does that stuff really work, Mr. Gates?

B.G. SR.: Well, I guess on the basis of one family's experience, my answer is a loud yes.

What do you think, Bill?

B.G.: I think family traditions that get you to come together and talk about what you're up to -- going on trips together, always sitting at dinner and sharing thoughts -- really made a huge difference. We learned from our parents what they were trying to do, whether it was United Way or a volunteering activity or the world of business. I felt very equipped as I was dealing with adults to talk to them in a comfortable fashion because my parents had shared how they thought about things.

Things weren't always so smooth, though, between the two of you. Like any father and son, you've had some rocky moments, right?

B.G.: That's right. I don't think I was easy to bring up. I had a lot of energy and stubbornness about things that I wanted to do. At one juncture, when I was in my last year of high school, I got a job offer and it would take me away from school, and I was amazed that my dad, after meeting with the headmaster and getting all the data, said, "Yeah, that's something you can go and do." Most of the rockiness had been before that, when I was still confused about, was I trying to prove something vs. my parents. There was actually a professional who I went and visited, who my parents had me chat with. [That person] explained to me that there wasn't really any benefit to fighting with my parents. It was all about the issues, the battles were going to be about the real world, and they were really on my side. And that was fantastic. It just changed my mindset. I was only 12 or 13 at the time. I think it made things a lot smoother from that point on.

A lot of times 12- and 13-year-olds are told that their parents are not their enemies, and it goes in one ear and out the other. Yet you were able to actually take this advice and listen to it, and you began to become closer to your parents after that?

B.G.: That's right. As I was starting Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), I'd go over on Sundays and share with my parents what the challenges were and get some thoughts, just vent about what was complicated. I remember when we were taking the company public, I was saying that I thought that would have some real drawbacks, and we talked about how to mitigate those.

So there was a lot of camaraderie that came from the fact that we'd gotten on an even keel, and they were very encouraging even though it was a business that was mysterious in some ways. The scale of the opportunity was beyond what would have been predicted.

You guys have this incredible working relationship, and obviously a close familial one as well. What do you think the secret to that is?

B.G. SR.: One of the [best pieces of advice] I ever had is related to what you just asked about, and that is the business of getting along with and encouraging the right things with your youngsters. Bill's mother and I early on were involved in parent effectiveness training, [an] activity at the church we went to. And the thing that the people there taught us and emphasized, which is so central and so significant, is that you should never demean your child. When you think about the centrality of that, in terms of the relationship with an offspring, you're off to a really good start. I'm a great fan of my son's. I think he's an incredible citizen and a wonderful businessman, and we let that show in the things we do together.

B.G.: I think it's because we have well-defined roles. I'm kind of a driving, "Why haven't we gotten all these things done?" [kind of person], and dad is the voice of wisdom. We'll be having a meeting, talking about the calendar or the cost or those things, and he'll make a comment that will get everybody to stop and think, You know, we missed that way of looking at things. And his being there at the foundation full-time really has shaped the values. When we have the foundation meeting, people get up and applaud because they see that that really makes a difference. And to create a family foundation, when I was busy, and yet to know that the values were going to be right and strong, I give credit for that to my dad.

And your son maybe didn't always take your advice, Mr. Gates. I mean when he told you he was going to drop out of Harvard, what did you say to him?

B.G. SR.: Well, the first time he said he was going to take a period away and then go back, the emphasis was on, well, he will go back. Second time around, after he did go back, then he again felt like he had to go to Albuquerque, where the company was, and work there more. We were much more concerned the second time. The company was becoming very demanding, and Paul Allen was out there in Albuquerque, and Bill needed to help him.

Bill, let me ask you about another one of your mentors. What's the best advice Warren Buffett has ever given you?

B.G.: Well, I've gotten a lot of great advice from Warren. I'd say one of the most interesting is how he keeps things simple. You look at his calendar, it's pretty simple. You talk to him about a case where he thinks a business is attractive, and he knows a few basic numbers and facts about it. And [if] it gets less complicated, he feels like then it's something he'll choose to invest in. He picks the things that he's got a model of, a model that really is predictive and that's going to continue to work over a long-term period. And so his ability to boil things down, to just work on the things that really count, to think through the basics -- it's so amazing that he can do that. It's a special form of genius.

If you're getting too balled up with a lot of complicated things on your schedule, do you actually go back and think, What would Warren do?

B.G.: Yeah, sure. I think Warren is so nice to everybody -- how does he say no in a nice way? Or how does he think about priorities and have that explicitly in mind? And he turns down an unbelievable number of things, and yet everybody feels great about it. His grace in talking to people where he's always saying, you know, "You probably understand this better than I do, but here's how I messed it up when I first got involved in this." You know, that's a special talent, and I do find myself thinking, Hmm, how would Warren say this in a friendly fashion?

There was a case at the annual meeting where somebody asked a question about should you sell the stocks that have gone up and keep the ones that have not? And he sort of said, "No, you look at the value of the business." And then Charlie [Munger] added, "He's telling you your conceptual framework is all wrong." Which is in fact what the answer had been, but there wasn't one element of, "Hey, dummy ..."

What about growing up, Bill? Teachers in high school or at Harvard? Were there any experiences you had there where you got a piece of advice that kind of gave you an ah-ha moment?

B.G.:Well, my parents were nice enough to have me go to a great high school. It was a private high school. And a lot of the teachers there were very encouraging in my math and science and giving me the books that they liked, letting me read ahead. And the whole computer experience, the exposure came because Lakeside was sort of forward-looking. They were truly amazing -- that when the teachers found it too confusing, they let the students take over. Most schools would have just, I don't know, shut the thing down or something. It was a very weird deal where we kind of took charge and even the whole way we started using computers to pick when the classes would meet -- that was a friend and I in charge of doing that.

So they had a comfort, and you know, there were a few teachers that I would give a lot of credit to -- they let us go and dream about where we would take it.

Do you remember their names?

B.G.: Yeah, Fred Wright was the key person who ran the math department, and I think [he] deserves most of the credit. There was a physics teacher, Gary Maestretti, who encouraged me. Even when I was first in 8th Grade, and I was doing very well on these national tests, a guy named Paul Stocklim was incredible at just saying -- Hey, you should have more confidence. You're really good at this stuff. Getting that kind of encouragement -- it was very helpful, and that was a great environment. All those teachers were thoughtful. I think I got more than my fair share of their energy because, you know, I was so excited about the subjects and the frontiers. They kept throwing new stuff at me because of that.

So Mr. Gates, why did you decide to write this book? In this book, there's a fair amount of advice and learning, and obviously, you feel compelled to share some of that. What was it that prompted you to do this?

B.G. SR.:It started with writing a memoir and really as much as anything, my colleague in that work, someone by the name of Mary Ann Mackin whose name is on the cover of the book, encouraged me to think in terms of making it more of a book than just one that I would give to the family or friends as a memoir. I was reluctant about that, to be candid, but she persisted, and finally, well, okay, okay, let's go that way. And I'm delighted that I decided to. It's really been an interesting experience. I mean it's an industry I knew nothing about, and it's really revealing and fun to see how the book business works, and I'm tickled with the book.

Has it surprised you that you've met all manner of associates and friends of your son's and that these people have ended up being peers and people that you work with? Did you ever imagine that would come to pass that way?

B.G. SR.:No, no, that isn't the kind of thing you would expect to occur, and you describe it well. It's a surprise. It's not a prediction I would have made, the way my life was going to work.

Who were some of your son's associates or friends that you feel have really contributed to your learning process?

B.G. SR.: Well, a good many of them. Certainly, his two key associates, Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, would be in that category. Very bright, insightful, thoughtful human beings.

B.G.: And I'd also say probably Patty Stonesifer.

B.G. SR.: Yes.

B.G.: Together with my dad, [Patty] really created the foundation, the whole approach, the values. I think the integrity, humility. Together with Patty they thought through a lot of things so that once I was ready to go full-time, it was a thriving concern that was pretty far into some interesting, complex problems. And so it's been an incredible gift for me that as I move over, it's not a startup, it's a going concern with amazing people, and Dad's values have really shaped the direction it's gone in.

B.G. SR.: The other person who would be on that list, by the way, would be Melinda Gates, who is more than just a daughter-in-law. She's a friend, and she brings wisdom to the table.

Bill, as you move from Microsoft to the foundation world, from computer science to natural sciences and beyond, have you gotten advice and learned new things from this whole new group of people that you now associate with?

B.G.: Yeah, it's a different world, and you want to make sure you're bringing what's good about the business environment and the kind of engineering world that I spent most of my life in, and abandoning some elements that aren't going to work.

What about advice or lessons learned as you were growing Microsoft from say, Andy Grove or people at IBM?

B.G.: We learned [a lot] about quality control, particularly from IBM Japan. Our Japanese customers on the whole were so tough about quality and precision -- that was fantastic, because we did a lot of business there early in our existence. Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), we kind of grew up with together. Andy would sometimes be very friendly, offer good advice. Sometimes he was very tough on us. But it was all very helpful. I mean, he's brilliant. And he helped us think about things in new ways. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is a competitor, but in terms of getting the Macintosh to critical mass, Microsoft was the key partner who had all the early software. You know, that was an interesting learning curve. Working with Steve Jobs is also exciting and not totally predictable, but he was brilliant and inspired us in a lot of ways.

Is there anything you specifically learned from Steve Jobs over the years?

B.G.: Well, Steve's kind of a fanatic about things, and you know, I think fanaticism is underrated. I'm a fanatic about running the engineering groups and the quality of them. Steve is a fanatic about the user experience and the design, and it clearly has made a huge difference for Apple that he says that it all has to come together -- not some committee-type view that has a list of things, but rather a holistic view. That's a deep insight.

Do you guys celebrate Father's Day? What do you guys do to mark that day?

B.G. SR.: We do birthdays and things like that pretty assiduously, but Father's Day, we've occasionally had a dinner or something

B.G.: Yeah, we always talk on the phone on Father's Day.

B.G. SR.: Yes, we do.

B.G.:Our rituals are more around Thanksgiving, birthdays, July 4th, Christmas. But it's a nice opportunity to call dad and tell him he's been [an] amazing father and set an incredible example.

First Published: June 21, 2009: 6:51 AM ET

Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/

Preema's Paintings Phenomena

2009-06-08T05:04:00.002+06:00

Microsoft’s ‘Project Natal’ is in action

2009-06-03T23:38:00.002+06:00

-by Mahbub Manik

A highly interactive motion gaming technology which allows gamers to use their whole body as a control mechanism is being built by Microsoft under it’s grand initiative termed ‘Project Natal’. The technology is a motion controller in a camera, that uses object, movement, and voice recognition to deliver a new kind of gaming experience.

Legendary movie director Steven Spielberg admitted that he was impressed by the technology.The technology can be added onto the existing Xbox 360. Microsoft has yet to set a release date for the technology. Some commentators note that it could be a year before the device finds its way to store shelves.

Caption: A module that can be added onto the existing Xbox 360, Project Natal incorporates sensors that track a player's full body movements while responding to spoken commands, directions and even shifts in emotional tone

Caption:

Along with the hardware, the console has software that tells the Xbox how to find 48 of the body's joints.

Caption: For games involving more than one player, Natal has the ability to distinguish the voices of the competitors from those of other people in the room.

-Resources:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz

http://www.time.com

Getting Arsenic Out of Water

2009-06-02T01:54:00.005+06:00

Caption: Clean and clear: A woman pumps clean water in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Credit: Adam Hart-Davis / Photo Researchers, Inc

By Katherine Bourzac

Many people in the world lack access to clean drinking water. In places including Bangladesh, millions must drink water containing arsenic, which can cause neurological problems, organ failure, and death. Making robust water filters that can remove salt and arsenic without requiring a lot of energy has been a challenge. Researchers at IBM are developing a material used to make computer chips for more-efficient removal of salt and toxic chemicals from drinking water.

Polymer-membrane water filters have been in use since the 1970s "with no big materials innovation in a long time," says Robert Allen, senior manager of chemistry at IBM's Almaden Research Center, in San Jose, CA. There are problems with traditional membrane filters. The chlorine used to kill pathogens in water degrades them. They're susceptible to fouling, or clogging up, when the water forced through them in a desalination process called reverse osmosis contains oil or proteins.

The IBM researchers have made a new membrane material that resists these problems while also screening out arsenic. The material is based on polymers developed by Allen's lab and Central Glass, a Tokyo company. The materials, called hexafluoro alcohols, are used as a patterning material for manufacturing advanced computer chips. The IBM researchers found that these compounds also make good water filters. Other collaborators on the project are Benny Freeman, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia, a country that has large investments in water desalination.

The key to the membrane's performance is its pH sensitivity. At high pH, arsenic in the water becomes charged, and the fluorine groups on the polymer, which also become charged, then will repel the toxic chemical. Other membranes can't operate in the very basic conditions needed to ionize arsenic, says Allen. There are two main forms of arsenic, one more difficult to reject than the other. Traditional filters get out only 80 percent of this form; the IBM filter removes 95 percent. Depending on the water sample, says Allen, it removes 96 to 99 percent of arsenic.

The polymer membrane should also make for more energy-efficient desalination as long as the water is brought to a high pH, which helps water move through it more quickly than through other filters. Young-Hye Na, the main research scientist on the project, says that the fluorine group on the polymer protects it from chlorine. She says that the filters would also need to be cleaned less frequently. After two hours of filtering oily water, conventional membranes plug up completely. The fluorine-containing polymer membrane has been tested over a period of two days without clogging.

The starting materials used to make the membranes are more expensive than conventional polyamides. "But the layer is very thin, just 100 nanometers--and if it works, it's worth it," says Allen. IBM hopes to test the membranes in Bangladesh, where tens of millions of people drink water contaminated with arsenic.

Resource: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22729/

The Silver Lining - Entrepreneurialism and innovation during a recession.

2009-05-02T15:26:00.005+06:00

Caption:
Krishna Subramanian (top left), cofounder of Mobclix; Leah Culver (top right), developer at Six Apart; Dave Goldberg (center), former manager of Yahoo Music and entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital; Steve Jurvetson (bottom left), managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Sol Lipman (bottom right), cofounder of 12seconds.

Image Credit:
Jeff Singer

By Jason Pontin

These are tough days for entrepreneurs seeking new cash, and even for venture capital firms that may be forced to conduct triage on existing portfolios. Still, now may be just the moment to turn a great idea into a lasting enterprise. That was the take, anyway, of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who gathered in Silicon Valley earlier this year to talk about why recessions are the best times to launch companies and topple old orders.

Steve Jurvetson, managing director of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Dave Goldberg, former manager of Yahoo Music and entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital, explained that while a world of failing corporate titans and changing government policy is chaotic, chaos creates opportunity and leaner times bring focus. Jurvetson and Goldberg were joined by three entrepreneurs who described their travails and coping strategies in their recently launched ventures.

They are Krishna Subramanian, cofounder of Mobclix, which helps iPhone developers monitor and profit from their apps; Leah Culver, who founded the now-defunct microblogging site Pownce (she's now developing social technologies at the blogging site Six Apart); and Sol Lipman, cofounder of 12seconds, which he hopes will do for short videos what Twitter did for text.

Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of Technology Review, moderated the discussion at a February gathering in Mountain View, CA, sponsored by the Churchill Club, a Silicon Valley business and technology forum. Edited and condensed excerpts from the event follow.

Jason Pontin: Why start a venture now? To many, it might seem like the worst of times. And yet, as Steve will tell you, there are good examples from history that suggest that now may be a very goodtime to start a company.

Steve Jurvetson: The best time. Certainly from an investor's standpoint, there's perhaps no better time to be investing in startups. The entrepreneurs doing it are pretty passionate about what they do. Companies raised with scarce resources tend to be more resourceful, right?

This tends to form the DNA of the firm early on. Some companies, like Hewlett-Packard, are still frugal to this day, largely tracing back to their roots. ... It's also the case that startups thrive in disruption.

Big companies falling on their swords left and right create opportunities for new entrants. It's almost like a forest fire has cleared out the old-growth trees and now prairies can grow again, and new entrants and new species. If you're [electric-car startup] Tesla, for example, what better time to compete with General Motors and Chrysler?

JP: Sol, why did you decide to start your venture now?

Sol Lipman: We were looking for funding in September. It was a very difficult time; it's still a very difficult time. In October I said, "We're not going to go looking for any more funding," because I was spending 80 percent of my time looking for funding instead of focusing on my product and doing a kick-ass job. As soon as we started focusing, we started succeeding. And I think that is the key to succeeding in this recession. ... Yes, you're going to work about a thousand times harder than you generally do, but you're passionate and you're there for the journey.

So when we do go to raise money, I think that (a) our company is going to be more valuable, and (b) we're going to understand our revenue model. We're going to have traction. We're going to be in a way better position. And we will have--as Steve said, we're going to have a culture of frugality.

JP: Krishna, why launch a company now?

Krishna Subramanian: There's tremendous talent around. There are always people looking to leave some of these larger companies that are really talented, and they have been almost like in a cave, just waiting to explode.

I mean, if you're going to do it, you might as well do it now.

Dave Goldberg: [Until] probably a year, year and a half ago, capital was cheap. It made sense to take that money. But the capital being cheap made everything else expensive. And so talent, real estate, advertising, and anything you needed to do to build your business was really expensive. Everyone had access to cheap capital. And now we just flip that around. What these guys are saying is that everything else now is cheap. You probably can negotiate to get free rent if you really need it.

JP: You're not going to raise capital?

DG: I'm not going to raise venture capital for this business [developing an online music-licensing system], because this business doesn't really need that expensive level of capital for the scope of business that we're trying to build.

A year and a half ago, would I have taken it if it were cheap? Probably. You have to be able to be flexible about these things. But I'm happier this way, because everything else I'm doing got cheaper, so I didn't need the capital.

JP: So every single one of these people--including Leah, who has gone to work for a larger company--isn't raising capital. No one wants your money, Steve.

SL: That's not true!

JP: Well, Sol wants your money.

Leah Culver: If this is a scary time for VCs when it comes to the consumer Internet, right now is the best time ever for developers. Open-source software has got to the point where you can build highly scalable systems. Cloud computing is cheap. Everyone from Amazon to Microsoft is now providing cloud computing, and it's awesome. So for the consumer Internet, it's really been like this great, great thing. Everything is so cheap. And how are the VCs feeling about that?

SJ: We're finding that we're writing a lot of smaller checks for the Internet companies, and that's great. We actually like that.

JP: One of the most striking things about this market is that liquidity events, the exit strategies for which VCs look--initial public offerings and acquisitions--are very uncertain. How do VCs manage their investments when they don't know how they will get their money out?

SJ: There are two layers of difficulty. It's the worst time to be forcing a sale of a startup, which you couldn't do if you tried. You shouldn't be seeking liquidity just for its own sake. And then, within the venture firm there could be a separate problem. ... You've drawn down all the capital that was available and yet you're still waiting for those IPOs. There's a triage exercise some firms are going through.

DG: This is the more fundamental problem in the venture business, and it affects the investment strategy. It's not just at Benchmark. A lot of firms at any other time would already be public--great firms, profitable, growing nicely. But there's no public market for these firms. And so you're left with an M&A [mergers and acquisitions] decision which may not be there. ... This might be the time we lose a lot more of the weaker [venture] firms.

JP: [Looking at the entrepreneurs] Do you think about exit strategies at all?

SL: We think about the exit strategy all the time. You need to have a goal in mind, you need to visualize and think about it every single day. However, the value creation happens on a day-to-day basis. We really actually focus on doing our job day to day.

JP: We've all said airily that recruitment is easier during a recession, because people are available; but it's also difficult, because stock options aren't very appealing when there are no IPOs. Leah, how did [CEO] Chris [Alden] attract you to Six Apart?

LC: You're going to put me on the spot? Six Apart makes lots of money, providing services for media and professional, big bloggers. They are hoping to really turn over this year and become profitable. Can't talk too much about it.

KS: Lucky for us, the iPhone has been really hot, and a lot of people are trying to get into the mobile-application space. We've been lucky enough to find talented people from some of the large firms.

DG: If you want to be an entrepreneur, the best thing to do is figure out, can you sell people on a dream and a passion? Because if you can, that's probably one of the biggest qualifications. You've got to have other skills, but if you can't do that, it's tough to be an entrepreneur in a good or bad period.

JP: When you have too much money, you can fund every crazy idea. Can having too little money be a salutary discipline?

SJ: We were trying to find out what correlates with success or failure in a portfolio. The one correlation [with failure] that held through up and down was the size of the series A--the first round of funding. The bigger it was, the more likely the company was going to fail.

SL: I think the economy has done every entrepreneur a big favor, by making you focus, making you know what you want. The point is to go do something. It's not the exit, it's not the money--it's to do the thing that's there for you to do.

JP: Entrepreneurs: the disinterested artists of the business world! None of the entrepreneurs [here] took angel funding. Did any of you consider it?

KS: Angel funding is definitely something we are very interested in, especially in this market where we are able to take a smaller amount of angel funding, where the exit size might not be as large as it might have been five years ago. A lot of the professional angels do come with contacts, and open a lot of doors.

LC: The ones who have the big pocketbooks in good times tend to be keeping their money close now.

JP: If it's true that recessions are often periods when great ideas are turned into lasting enterprises, what are those ideas?

SL: Twitter!

SJ: I don't think there's one elephant in the room--there are a lot of mammals, and I'd bet on the whole field.

DG: We are marginally through the transition of the media business from the physical to the digital. Obviously, people see that the first thing to go away is the physical newspaper. ... We are still very early on, and video is probably the biggest part of that.

LC: Omigosh. Phones: make them smaller, get there faster. Please hurry up. I want to watch videos on the phone. I want to check in with friends on my phone, I don't want to own any other device. Just get there, please.

JP: In the developing and poor world there are a whole host of problems calling out for elegant solutions. There are real markets and money to be made, but they are also places where technology can truly improve human lives. Are any of you interested in creating technologies for India, China, or Africa?

SJ: There are so many needs on the planet. A subset of that is water purification--probably the biggest mismatch between a screaming, enormous market and a lack of technology innovation I've ever seen. This is a trillion-dollar opportunity, and that's just water purification.

JP: The U.S. government's stimulus package (see Can Technology Save the Economy?) means that a lot of money is about to pour into Silicon Valley and places like it. Will people know what to do with it?

SJ: Some of Obama's efforts are going to funnel a lot of money into startups. A lot: several hundred million dollars. And I don't think it's entirely a good thing.

Audience: But will you leverage capital with government stimulation capital?

SJ: Yes, in certain companies. There are some companies involved with solar thermal and solar installation that used to rely on tax-equity investment [in which state or federal governments provide tax incentives for funding renewable-energy projects].

Now there is a new plan in place that is even better than we'd dreamed of. We didn't lobby for it, we never asked for it, but from our perspective it will create a boom in solar installations of all sorts. We don't invest in companies with the hope of a handout, or the hope that the government will swoop in and create a regulatory regime that is noncompetitive.

But when it happens, then it's a windfall, and it's not like we're going to turn it away. The only problem is that you can't predict the next one. Moore's Law doesn't pay any attention to a recession or depression. ... So you have all this pent-up innovation that will find a way to revolutionize industries.

Startups and new-company formation are the economic juggernaut of the future--always have been, always will be.

[ Jason Pontin is Editor in Chief and Publisher of MIT's Technology Review. I had an extraordinary privilege to meet and chat with HIM in EmTech India 2009-Mahbub Manik.]

Melinda and Bill Gates on Making a Difference

2009-02-09T16:11:00.003+06:00

The founders of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation talk about life after Microsoft
-by Maria Bartiromo

Last July, Bill Gates officially stepped away from Microsoft (MSFT), the startup that made him one of the three richest men on the planet (along with Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim). His new business is putting a lot of that money to work eliminating disease, fighting poverty, and improving education as co-chair and trustee, along with his wife, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As of last October its resources amounted to $35.1 billion. That's down from $38.7 billion in December 2007, but still a staggering number—pumped up by Buffett's pledge in 2006 to give the bulk of his fortune to the foundation. Bill Gates' first annual letter on the foundation's Web site talks warmly of Buffett and a shared belief that their wealth stems in part from being born in America, "where innovation and risk-taking are rewarded." On Jan. 30 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I talked with Bill and Melinda about their important work.

MARIA BARTIROMO
How is the transition going?

BILL GATES
It's been great to get more time with the scientists, more time out in the field. These are intense, complex issues. And as I say in a letter on the foundation Web site, it's really drawn me in. And I find the same magic elements that made me love my work at Microsoft.

MARIA BARTIROMO
You mention in the letter that you're still working on breakthroughs but in a different capacity.

BILL GATES
That's right. I get to learn new things. But bringing top people together, taking risks, feeling like something very dramatic can come out of it—that's something that the previous work and the work now have in common.

MARIA BARTIROMO
Melinda, can you tell us a little about the priorities of the foundation?

MELINDA GATES
We're involved in three different areas: global health, global development, and the U.S. program, which is primarily focused on education. In global health, we're really focused on top diseases that affect the poor. Malaria, HIV-AIDS, and tuberculosis are the big ones, but also some things like maternal health and newborn death. So many newborns die in the first 28 days of life. In global development, we're really trying to see how you can help the poor lift themselves up in the developing world. So we work on agriculture and financial services.

MARIA BARTIROMO
What kind of progress have you seen since you started the foundation?

MELINDA GATES
Malaria, I think, is a great example. There are a number of countries—Rwanda, Zanzibar, Zambia, Ethiopia—where the malaria rates are down over 50% because the world is now paying attention to malaria. And so insecticide-treated bed nets are getting out there. For instance, 60 million nets have been distributed by the Global Fund [a public-private partnership]. That's not going to solve the problem. What's ultimately going to solve the problem is a vaccine. But even that much progress was unheard of two years ago.

MARIA BARTIROMO
Is foreign aid not flowing as freely because of this economic slowdown?

BILL GATES
So far, the rich world governments have continued to increase their aid. The one exception to that, which I call out in my letter, is Italy. It's proposing a pretty dramatic cut from a fairly low level. Hopefully, that will be turned around. Now if this [recession] lasts over the next several years, we're concerned that aid will be cut and that people who face not having enough food to eat won't be the priority they should be. But these issues have more visibility, more young people caring about them and speaking out. France was considering some cuts, and there was a strong response.

MARIA BARTIROMO
Has the financial crisis had any impact on the foundation?

BILL GATES
The foundation's assets were off 20% last year after years of very good gains, though we will actually increase the payout amount in 2009 [to $3.8 billion]. And then a lot of foundations we partner with are looking at their strategies because almost every foundation has had an asset reduction, and that makes things tougher. It all forces you to step back, prioritize, be more creative.

MARIA BARTIROMO
What has it been like working together?

BILL GATES
We get to share what we've seen on a trip, or one of us reads something more in depth than the other and summarizes why maybe it should be a priority for us. We weren't peers at Microsoft, and now at the foundation we are.

MELINDA GATES
We have offices next to one another with a door between them. So you can just pop in and say: "Did you read this? Did you see this? Are you thinking about this team in this way?"

MARIA BARTIROMO
Tell me about working with Warren Buffett. How wonderful that his gift dramatically increased the resources of the foundation.

MELINDA GATES
It's incredible. It's allowed us to scale some things up a lot faster and be more ambitious. And it's because he sees the same inequalities that we see in the world.

MARIA BARTIROMO
Does he take an active part in the foundation?

BILL GATES
Actually, it was Warren's idea that I do an annual letter. I ran a few drafts by him. He is very excited about the work. He's a trustee, and his advice is very helpful. I'm on the phone with him a lot. Partly he's explaining to me how these financial markets are working, and he's one of the few people whose opinion really is meaningful at this point. But he loves his full-time job.

-Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's Closing Bell