Bill Gates to speak on campus

It is not often that the richest man in the world comes to town. This week, Carnegie Mellon students will have a chance to see him. Bill Gates, the Microsoft Corporation Chief Software Architect, is speaking on Wednesday, February 25, at 10 am. He will speak in Rangos Hall in the University Center on the topic of "Software Breakthroughs: Solving the Toughest Problems in Computer Science."

His lecture is open only to CMU students, and students are required to register for a ticket through their academic department. The talk will be focused particularly towards computer science and electrical and computer engineering students, but will not be highly technical in nature.

Gates' speech is part of a five college tour in which he will also speak at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cornell University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This Wednesday will be the first time Gates has visited CMU.

"[Gates will speak on] the future of software and development, and how that relates to people in the computer science field," said Kent Hollenbeck, a Microsoft spokesperson.

Gates' lecture will also be displayed by live video in McConomy Auditorium for students who are unable to be seated in Rangos. The talk will be broadcast over the Internet as well.

Students attending the lecture will be required to show CMU ID, and must have a ticket to gain admittance to Rangos. However, the simulcast in McConomy Auditorium will be open to all students.

Backpacks, cameras, recording devices, and food or beverages will not be allowed in Rangos Hall. According to Teresa Thomas of CMU University Advancement, students are advised to store their backpack before coming to the event, but the University Center coat check room will also be available.

“I think Gates is trying to create more of a technical connection than a corporate connection,” said Randy Bryant, head of the School of Computer Science.

“[Gates] wants to be seen as the person setting the technical agenda at Microsoft,” said Bryant, who is coordinating the distribution of tickets for SCS graduate students. According to Bryant, as of last week about 1000 people in SCS had already requested tickets through an online registration system.

According to Bryant, tickets will be distributed to computer science graduate students according to "a combination of what their areas are, and first come, first served." Students in areas more relevant to Microsoft, such as software engineering, are given preference. Distribution to undergraduate computer science students is being handled separately. Each academic department is free to choose how to distribute their ticket allotment.

Gates' total time on campus will be about three and a half hours. He will then leave for his afternoon visit to Cornell University.

Each academic department began distributing tickets today.