Presentation: "Party Keynote: Charles in Space"

Time: Monday 18:30 - 19:30

Location: To be announced

Abstract: On April 7, 2007, Dr. Charles Simonyi launched as the fifth civilian space traveler aboard Soyuz TMA-10 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He joined Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov for the flight. They arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on April 9 and were greeted by the Expedition 14 crew. In preparation for his spaceflight, Dr. Simonyi completed a training program at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center located in Star City, Russia. During his 11-day stay aboard the ISS, Dr. Simonyi assisted several international space agencies by conducting research, communicated with hundreds of high school students via HAM radio signal in cooperation with Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) and celebrated Cosmonautics Day by presenting a gourmet meal to the space station crew. Dr. Simonyi has been chronicling the details of his mission, from training to landing, on his Web site, www.charlesinspace.com, with photos, video, audio, in-depth blogs, answers to questions posed by visitors to the site, especially kids, and much more. Children can continue to visit the site's "Kids' Space", take an interactive quiz to earn an official "Charles in Space Certificate of Achievement" and parents and teachers have an online educational resource for space science.

Charles Simonyi, Intentional Software Corporation

Charles Simonyi

Charles Simonyi is co-founder of Intentional Software Corporation. The company, started in August 2002, accelerates innovation by integrating the business domain experts into the software production process.

Simonyi was employed by Microsoft Corporation from 1981 to 2002, where he held titles of Director of Application Development, Chief Architect, and Distinguished Engineer. While at Microsoft, Simonyi hired and managed teams that developed Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and other best selling software applications. Simonyi worked at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) from 1972-1980 where he created the first WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) text editor called Bravo. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Simonyi earned his B.S. in engineering mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a doctorate in computer science from Stanford University. He received a honorary doctorate from the University of Pecs in Hungary, in 2001. Simonyi has been a member of the National Academy of Engineering since 1997, elected for his contributions to "widely used productivity software" and he is a Correspondent Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Simonyi has also been serving on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton since 1998. He has endowed a chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University and a chair for Theoretical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, among many other educational and charitable contributions through the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences.

Simonyi is an avid collector of modern art, enjoys classical music and is an experienced pilot. He participated in the Soyuz TMA-10 mission to the International Space Station in April 2007.