Experts from software giant to visit campus this weekend

By JENNIFER PALMBERG

Microsoft representatives will be coming to campus on Saturday to talk about computational linguistics and natural language processing.

Microsoft senior researcher and manager Bill Dolan and product manager Keiichiro Suzuki, will be the guest speakers at the event organized by linguistics professor William Lewis and the Department of Linguistics.

Dolan and Suzuki will explain jobs at Microsoft and explain why there is an increasing need for computational linguistics majors.

“Dolan works in machine translations and Suzuki works in designing systems for cell phones, mainly voice commands and voice recognition,” Lewis said. “Imagine a day when you could be driving in your car and not ever need to touch your phone to call someone, or answer a call or to send a text message. Think of how many cell phone-related accidents could be prevented. Or imagine a day when you could communicate with your computer like it was another person. That’s what these people are developing.”

Computational linguistics is a growing field with great job opportunities. Lewis said there is a growing demand for people who are trained to understand language and comprehend computer science.

Companies like Microsoft, Google and AT&T, as well as other phone companies, and government agencies are all looking for graduates of this program.

“Most people don’t know what computational linguistics is, if you ask an average person to explain it to you, they’d look at you and go ‘huh?’” Lewis said. “A lot of people, even on this campus, don’t realize that we offer it as an option through the linguistics department. That’s why I thought it was important to get speakers in the profession to come and educate people and help build interest in it.”

The presentation will also feature Fresno State prof. Sean Fulop and Gerald McMenamin- of linguistics, and Walter Read of Computer Science department.

The event is on May 7, in the East Engineering Building, Room 191, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.