Cliff Kushler has spent his career working to create innovative human-computer interfaces.  Much of the focus of this work has been on how to make computer devices function more effectively as human-(computer)-human interfaces.  This started with graduate research conducted in the Artificial Language Laboratory at Michigan State University in the late 70’s, one of the first centers for research in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).  AAC focuses on providing comprehensive communication support for individuals with motor impairments that prevent them from speaking intelligibly, using sign language, or effectively using a standard keyboard (or any other standard computer interface).  After earning a doctorate at the University of Tokyo, he served as Director of Research at Prentke Romich Co. (PRC), one of the leading companies focused on the design, development and distribution of AAC devices.   

He left PRC in 1995 to work with partners Martin King and Dale Grover in co-inventing the original “T9” text input technology and founding Tegic Communications; recent reports show that T9 has now been installed on over 3 billion phones.  T9 evolved directly out of work on developing improved text input interfaces for AAC. After Tegic was acquired by America Online in 1999, he left the company the following year and began to work with Randy Marsden of Madentec, Ltd., focusing again on the development of improved AAC interfaces.  The result of this collaboration and seven years of innovation and development was Swype text input technology for screens – another evolution from work on AAC (www.swypeinc.com). 

Bert Keely is the PM Architect who has been driving Microsoft’s Windows Pen & Touch Technologies since forming the Tablet PC team in Microsoft Research nearly a decade ago. 

Formerly an Engineering Director at Silicon Graphics, he joined Microsoft in 1998 with a personal mission to make the PC as handy as a pad of paper. He first worked to improve readability, co-inventing ClearType, designing the ultra-clean MS Reader experience, and co-inventing its rights management system which was based on watermarking the owner’s identity into the book’s cover. Soon thereafter he co-founded Microsoft’s Tablet PC effort to evolve the notebook PC towards the convenience and expressive use that will be needed to keep it relevant in the age of mobility. He architected its pen and ink features and has worked closely with teams inside and outside Microsoft to advance the mobile PC experience in more ways than he can count, with patents currently numbering more than eighty. He currently reports into the Windows Core UX team where he is concentrating on making Windows and apps “touchable” in the Win 7 wave. 

Bert commutes from Silicon Valley where he has been designing computers ever since earning a BS in General Engineering from Stanford University in 1980. He writes, records and performs lots of music, in Seattle you can sometimes catch him on a Weds night at the Hopvine in capitol hill. 

Jeff has been heavily involved in the gaming industry for over eleven years holding such roles as game programmer, producer, and chief operating officer. Most recently, before breaking off to found HPE, Jeff was a group leader at Microsoft for the Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms.  

Jeff has shipped over 20 different game titles on four different platforms. He's also had the privilege of bringing games in the Half-Life, Homeworld, and Lord of the Rings franchises to market. Jeff acted as Sierra Studio's first external producer in 1988, granting him atypical involvement in all elements of the publishing business including developer acquisition, contract negotiation, profit and loss planning, forecasting, production oversight, manufacturing, documentation, interaction with quality assurance, marketing, and public relations.  Later, when Jeff was a part of WXP, an independent game development house, he worked on the other side of the negotiation table, dealing with several publishers on actual and potential contracts, as well as overseeing budgets and executing business strategy.  

Jeff joined Microsoft in 2002 to head up a group of developer liaisons working closely with game developers on the Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms to help improve the potential of their titles. Jeff was the primary spokesperson for Microsoft when talking with game developers about Xbox 360 plans. He also represented the Advanced Technology Group on the third-party portfolio management team for the platform. Before Jeff entered game development, he earned a doctorate in Aerospace Engineering. At various times, he was a film student, a researcher, a systems engineer, and a project manager.