Gates Backs Education for Tech Growth

Microsoft mogul Bill Gates told hundreds of engineering students Friday that the future of technology could open the door for much more innovative applications than those of the past decade, but the key to further advancements lies in the strength of higher education.

In Zellerbach Hall, Gates said that while the last 20 years have seen vast advances in personal computing and communications technology, we can expect to see more developments intertwined with other fields in the future, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology.

"The interesting (technological) problems we need to solve in the next 10 or 20 years are much more fascinating than those of the last 10 or 20," he said.

Gates, the chairman and chief software engineer of Microsoft, pointed to the advancement of the personal computer as a great technological achievement, but said it still "falls far short of what it should be."

Gates, who dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 to launch Microsoft, touted the importance of education and America's universities to keep the country on the cutting edge of technology.

"The university system is the number one thing allowing the U.S. to be the leader in innovation," Gates said. "Also, the strength of the university research system is incredible. We have to rededicate ourselves to this system."

The most innovative technological research is a product of partnerships between technology corporations and university researchers, Gates said.

"The university can try out wild things that corporate research departments cannot because (corporations) must keep profits in mind," he said. "The best things we've come up with comes out of research collaborations between universities and Microsoft research."

With increasing numbers of technology corporations sending jobs overseas to countries such as China and India, College of Engineering Dean Richard Newton asked Gates to weigh in on the effects of globalization and the outsourcing of some technical positions.

Gates, who tops Forbes magazine's list of wealthy Americans, said he did not see globalization as a threat, saying that it is "a fantastic thing that a very large part of the world population gets to participate in capitalistic competition."

"We all gain from it," Gates said. "It is the start of a process where the whole world is getting into a virtuous cycle-higher income, better living standards, all of those things."

Some students said Gates' speech, which drew laughter from the crowd, surprised them.

"I was very surprised that he was funny and witty in his comments," said UC Berkeley senior Elton Lee, who is majoring in civil engineering. "He came off as very humble and sincere."

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