University dropout Gregor Kiczales is headed back to school, taking over a new chair in software design at the University of British Columbia, where he'll be in charge of a $1.75-million research budget over the next five years.
A brilliant student, Prof. Kiczales was scooped up by industry before he finished his computer science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1980s. He spent the past 15 years at the renowned Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) in Silicon Valley.
"I had always wanted to go back to university, and this was an opportunity to do it," said Prof. Kiczales, 39.
Along with Prof. Kiczales, UBC recently recruited Resve Saleh, an Ottawa native who has been working in Silicon Valley in chip design.
Prof. Saleh will fill a new research chair in high-speed microelectronic circuit design funded by UBC, Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), B.C. Advanced Systems Institute and Vancouver-based semiconductor firm PMC-Sierra Inc.
Prof. Kiczales's chair is funded by NSERC, Xerox Canada Ltd. and Sierra Systems Group Inc., a technology consulting firm in Vancouver.
The high-profile appointments should help UBC attract top faculty and students, and generate skilled employees for the region's growing high-tech sector, said Bob Woodham, head of UBC's department of computer science.
"We look at someone of [Prof. Kiczales's]international stature as a magnet," Mr. Woodham said. "He allows us to recruit other junior faculty, to attract graduate students, even undergraduates. It just gives us tremendous leverage."
Prof. Kiczales is known for his work in aspect-oriented programming, a computer language that builds on some elements of object-oriented languages like Java, and aims to make systems easier to develop and maintain.
At UBC, Prof. Kiczales will set up a new software practices lab to further those techniques.
He moved to Vancouver in January, but his appointment became official this week.
Personal connections made it easier for UBC to attract both candidates: Prof. Kiczales had been doing some joint research work with a professor at UBC, and his wife is originally from Vancouver.
Prof. Saleh, for his part, has spent time in Vancouver with his family over the past several years.
Mr. Woodham said such personal connections can help UBC compete with private industry and U.S. schools to lure star faculty.
UBC is also getting a boost from industry, as local companies become large enough to bankroll more research -- and to snap up the graduates who start their careers in university laboratories.
PMC-Sierra has participated in joint research projects with several Canadian universities, including UBC, company spokeswoman Teri McNaughton said. Funding a chair "kicks [joint research]up another notch," she added. The UBC chair is the first of its type backed by the company.
Ms. McNaughton said PMC-Sierra, which currently has about 450 employees worldwide, expects to add another 900 positions by the year's end, including at least 200 in Vancouver.
Prof. Kiczales said he is delighted with the facilities in his lab, and with his students, some of whom were making research proposals to him even as he was unpacking boxes in his office. "At PARC, we had students in the summer. Here, they're here all the time. That's exciting -- it really keeps you on your toes."
Correction
PMC-Sierra Inc. currently has more than 900 employees worldwide and expects to add another 450 employees this year. Incorrect information appeared on May 10. (Saturday, May 13, 2000, Page B2)
Wendy Stueck