// Archive for the ‘about’ Category

// It’s a Sign!

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Today, an expert construction crew from Medway, completed the installation of a Microsoft sign atop One Cambridge Center in Kendall Square. One Cambridge Center, a short walk from One Memorial Drive, is home to our Microsoft Advertising teams, partners Dogpatch Labs and TechStars and will be the future home for our Waltham-based sales, marketing and services employees as well as the Microsoft Technology Center (MTC). The new sign is designed to help guide visiting guests, customers and partners to One Cambridge Center more easily.

Some fun factoids about the sign:

The “M” is 60” high and the remaining letters are 46-5/8”
Each letter weighs about 75 pounds
The letters are face lit aluminum channel letters with acrylic faces
The lighting system uses energy efficient LEDs

Thank you to the daring crew from Advanced Signing LLC for installing it!

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// NERD is Expanding in Kendall Square!

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

View of One Cambridge Center from front of building.

Cambridge Map

Microsoft expands its NERD campus in Kendall Square.

When we opened the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in September of 2007, we knew this would be the first of many steps in our journey to build a world class R&D center right here in Massachusetts. And what a journey it has been! NERD is now a bustling vertical campus with 10 R&D teams focused on some of Microsoft’s most strategic products and investments. During the past year we have welcomed more than 25,000 members of the community to our campus to learn, network, and collaborate.

Today, we are thrilled to announce the expansion of NERD in two important ways:

We are leasing and renovating 113,000 sq. ft. of office space at One Cambridge Center from our longstanding partner Boston Properties. One Cambridge Center is located in the heart of booming Kendall Square and a short walk from our One Memorial Drive building. The initial expansion phase at One Cambridge Center is expected to be completed this summer and will accommodate our Microsoft Advertising team and our employees from Navic, who have been working from our Waltham Jones Road location.

At the end of June, our Microsoft SharePoint Workspace team (formerly Groove) will move from our Beverly office to join us at One Memorial Drive. These moves will bring together the majority of our more than 500 Massachusetts based R&D employees at NERD in Cambridge.

Our expansion reflects the value Microsoft places in Massachusetts as a high-tech talent center and the company’s commitment to growing our presence and investment in the state. These are exciting times for our industry and for Microsoft employees here in Massachusetts. If you aren’t familiar with NERD, we hope you’ll join us at an upcoming community event hosted at NERD and of course we encourage you to check out our latest job listings.

Perspectives on NERD Expansion

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

”Massachusetts has been known the world over as the hub of innovation. Our entrepreneurs have advanced our economic prosperity, our doctors have made historic breakthroughs, and our academics have set the global standard in education. Today we are blazing a trail in information technology as well from robotics to video games. That’s the future we want to build in Massachusetts and with the expansion of the NERD Center Microsoft is leading the way.”

Ray Ozzie – Chief Software Architect – Microsoft Corporation

“As the executive sponsor of Microsoft’s New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge, Mass., I am delighted to announce our plans to expand our company’s presence here in Kendall Square. I am pleased by how it builds toward our goal of creating a campus in Cambridge that can attract some of the best tech talent that this region has to offer. I am also pleased by what it means in terms of our ability to further contribute to the region’s vibrant tech community.”

City of Cambridge Mayor David P. Maher

”Microsoft’s commitment to the city of Cambridge is an example of how municipalities and the private sector can partner to benefit both the residents of the city and a dynamic company. The city of Cambridge is proud that Microsoft has chosen to expand their presence in Kendall Square.”

Rupert Bader – Director of People Insight – Microsoft Corporation

“When we evaluate where the qualified engineering talent is around the world – the biggest market isn’t India or China it’s the East Coast of the United States. Massachusetts has established itself as one of the world’s leading centers for innovation.”

Tags: campus, career, kendall square, sharepoint
Posted in: about, community, Events | 1 Comment »

// A Warm Welcome at the Microsoft New England R&D Center in Cambridge

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

On July 13^th, 2009, 9 unique high school scholars from very different walks of life entered the offices of Microsoft in Cambridge to begin an eight-week internship, a rather life changing experience! I, Kayla M., speak for all of the high school interns when I say this internship opens the door to our future goals. We’ve been here for three weeks now, and it’s been a warm environment suitable to all of us. The culture at Microsoft is great and since the employees are the ones that shape the culture of Microsoft, indeed, the employees are great as well.

The best part about this internship is that I not only participate in amazing projects, but I also get to network and meet great people with diverse backgrounds. I’ve met some amazing people- two of them being a Principal Researcher for Microsoft Research and a Principal UX Designer for Microsoft Startup Labs. My first conversations with them were comparable to that of lifelong friends; they advised me on how to excel in the workforce and recommended the best colleges in the Bay area.

I’ve also had the opportunity to attend a few Microsoft events. I’ve had the chance to meet many people and learn new marketing and communication skills. I’ve met a few students from around the globe, participated in a webcast, and was recognized by Chancellor J. Keith Motley of UMass Boston. Very exciting!

As interns, we always talk at lunch about what our very different days consist of, and I’ve learned so much about them. I’ve gained so many new family members here and will never forget this experience. Microsoft opened the door to my career path and there isn’t anything in the world I’d trade for this experience. The feelings I have coming to work every morning are so jubilant words fail me. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity of a lifetime.

album2-003-42

2009 High School Interns Take a Photo with Lauren Day, program creator

From left to right Top Row: Stacy Ogierumwense, Patrick Leonard, Christine Umeh, Saketh Kalathur, Jennifer Decopain

From left to right Bottom Row: Thomas McCormick, Lauren Day, Arjun Agarwala, Susanna Yee, Kayla Mendonca

Tags: career, culture, Events, high school, intern
Posted in: about, Events, people | No Comments »

// Introducing the latest version of ourselves…

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Paul

Hello and thanks for reading our inaugural blog post!

My name is Paul Coebergh, and I am part of a new team working on Microsoft’s involvement in the greater Boston tech community. Let me start off by introducing my fellow team members and future co-bloggers…

Sara

Sara Spalding is the Senior Director of our campus and a 15-year Microsoft veteran. Prior to leading Microsoft’s efforts in Cambridge, Sara was the Product Unit Manager for MSDN; she also worked on the .NET Framework and IE4. Sara holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Math from the University of Puget Sound, and lives outside of Boston with her husband, daughter, and dog.

Gus

Gus Weber is the Business Development and Community Relations Manager where his primary responsibilities are to work with the greater Boston tech community, and the Cambridge community. Gus is a student at heart, and spent his first 3 years at Microsoft in the Academic Evangelism team working with students and faculty across the Northeast US. Gus is an alumnus of RIT and come June, will reside in Clinton, MA with his wife, son and their 2 Welsh Corgi dogs.

Leah

Leah Brunson is the Marketing Manager for our campus. Her primary responsibility is to manage the newly designed Conference Center and develop internal marketing initiatives to generate employee engagement. Leah is a new member to the Microsoft community, joining our team in May 2009. Prior to Microsoft, Leah worked in the retail industry where she led a variety of corporate brand and CSR initiatives. Leah is a graduate of Simmons College, holding a dual degree in English and Marketing. When she’s not planning an event, Leah enjoys volunteering in her local community and travelling.

My role as Senior Marketing Manager is to help promote our efforts broadly to the local tech community. I spent the past 6 years in Redmond working in a variety of Product Management roles, most recently on the Office team. I am excited to be back in Boston where I grew up and attended Babson College as well as Boston University’s MBA program.

Our hope is that this new blog can serve as a vibrant place for discussion. Let us know what’s on your mind, and what Microsoft can do to help the local tech industry in terms of events, community involvement and other initiatives.

P.S. we are now also live on Twitter.

Tags: .NET, blogging, gus, introduction, microsoft, paul, sara, twitter
Posted in: about, people | 1 Comment »

// Archive for the ‘about’ Category

// It’s a Sign!