REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 15, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that two of the key software developers of Microsoft® ClearType TM display technology, Bill Hill and Bert Keely, were distinguished finalists in the Information Technology category of the inaugural World Technology Awards hosted by the World Technology Network (WTN) of London, in association with The Economist magazine and sponsored by Booz-Allen & Hamilton. The World Technology Awards were created by WTN to honor those innovators whose work is of the greatest likely long-term significance for the benefit of business and society.
A panel of judges including educators, members of the media and industry experts nominate and select winners for each of the 20 categories in the World Technology Awards. Case study information and artifacts from each of the finalists — an extraordinary snapshot of the various technological revolutions in progress — is being submitted to the National Museum of Science & Industry in London for inclusion in its archives. In addition, Hill and Keely, along with all the other finalists and judges, have also been inducted as the newest members of the World Technology Network.
Microsoft researcher Hill and software architect Keely were honored specifically for their efforts to develop ClearType display technology, an innovation that greatly improves readability on LCD screens for Windows® operating system-based computers, and for their efforts in the development of Microsoft Reader, the first software product to include ClearType.
Hill and Keely were among nine finalists considered leading emerging technologists worldwide for the IT hardware category. Other finalists in this category included winners Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky, creators of the Palm computer; Daniel Hillis, vice president of research and development at Walt Disney Imagineering; Tomlinson Holman, president of TMH Corp.; Joseph Jacobsen, director of the Micromedia Lab at the MIT Media Lab; and Mike Farmwald and Mark Horowitz, co-founders of Rambus Inc.
“Being a finalist for this award recognizes the hard work of Bill, Bert and their team in bringing ClearType to fruition, as well as the technology innovation that it represents,”
said Dick Brass, vice president of Emerging Technology at Microsoft.
“We are honored to have been included in such an accomplished group of co-finalists.”
The World Technology Network is a global
“club”
of key players in the technology world, assisting relationships across a wide variety of industries and emerging technologies, ranging from communications, information technology and energy to biotechnology, materials and space. Founding institutional members include British Telecommunications plc, MCI WorldCom Inc., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Time Warner Inc., Virgin Group Ltd., and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (U.K.). For more information about the organization and the awards, visit the WTN Web site at http://www.tioc.uk.net/wtn/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
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