Xuedong Huang
Encyclopedia
Xuedong David Huang is the key person behind Microsoft's spoken language and search technologies. He is currently a Distinguished Engineer and Architect in Microsoft's online services division for Bing.
without finishing his high school. He graduated with a B.S. degree in computer science
from Hunan University
in 1982, and went on to earn a MS in computer science
from Tsinghua University
. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Edinburgh
.
faculty in 1989 and worked with Raj Reddy
and Kai-Fu Lee on speech recognition. At CMU, Huang directed Sphinx-II speech system research that had the best overall performance in every category of DARPA's 1992 benchmarking. He received the 1992 Allen Newell
research excellence medal for his leadership in speech recognition.
Huang has co-authored two books: Hidden Markov Models for Speech Recognition, (1987) and Spoken Language Processing, Prentic Hall(2000). He became an IEEE Fellow
in 2000. Huang received the National Education Commission of China's 1987 Science and Technology Progress Award, IEEE 1993 Speech Processing Best Paper Award. SpeechTek has named him a top 10 leader of the speech industry.
initiatives. Huang is currently the divisional architect driving Bing's next generation services.
Before his current role Huang was general manager of Microsoft's Communications Innovation Center. He helped to create Microsoft Response Point
that received 2009's Technology of the Year Awards for the best VOIP phone system from the InfoWorld Magazine.
Huang has spent his career helping to advance speech recognition technologies in a variety of capacities. He was the key leader who brought Microsoft's Speech Application Programming Interface
(SAPI) and speech recognition/TTS technologies to the public. From 2000 to 2004, Huang served as general manager of Microsoft's Speech Platforms Group, where he led both the business and engineering teams that shipped Microsoft Speech Server
and other voice technologies used in Microsoft Windows
, Microsoft Office
, Windows Mobile
and Microsoft Exchange Server
. He currently spends his career in the Bing
department of Microsoft, working as the Architect of both Bing and Mobile.
helping to modernize China's software engineering education. He also serves as an affiliate Professor and is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of EE at University of Washington
.
Education
In 1978, Huang entered Hunan UniversityHunan University
Hunan University , located in Changsha, Hunan province, is one of the oldest and most important national universities in China.- History :Hunan University traces its history back to the Yuelu Shuyuan founded in the Song Dynasty, originally in 976, over 1000 years ago...
without finishing his high school. He graduated with a B.S. degree in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from Hunan University
Hunan University
Hunan University , located in Changsha, Hunan province, is one of the oldest and most important national universities in China.- History :Hunan University traces its history back to the Yuelu Shuyuan founded in the Song Dynasty, originally in 976, over 1000 years ago...
in 1982, and went on to earn a MS in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
.
Academic research
He joined the Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
faculty in 1989 and worked with Raj Reddy
Raj Reddy
Dabbala Rajagopal "Raj" Reddy , a Turing Award winner, is one of the early pioneers in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University for over 40 years. He was the founding Director of the Robotics Institute at CMU...
and Kai-Fu Lee on speech recognition. At CMU, Huang directed Sphinx-II speech system research that had the best overall performance in every category of DARPA's 1992 benchmarking. He received the 1992 Allen Newell
Allen Newell
Allen Newell was a researcher in computer science and cognitive psychology at the RAND corporation and at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, Tepper School of Business, and Department of Psychology...
research excellence medal for his leadership in speech recognition.
Huang has co-authored two books: Hidden Markov Models for Speech Recognition, (1987) and Spoken Language Processing, Prentic Hall(2000). He became an IEEE Fellow
IEEE Fellow
An IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...
in 2000. Huang received the National Education Commission of China's 1987 Science and Technology Progress Award, IEEE 1993 Speech Processing Best Paper Award. SpeechTek has named him a top 10 leader of the speech industry.
Microsoft
Huang is known as Mr Speech at Microsoft for founding its speech recognitionSpeech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
initiatives. Huang is currently the divisional architect driving Bing's next generation services.
Before his current role Huang was general manager of Microsoft's Communications Innovation Center. He helped to create Microsoft Response Point
Microsoft Response Point
Microsoft Response Point was an advanced software-based telephone system developed by Microsoft. Response Point, a PBX system targeting small businesses with less than 50 employees, was launched in March 2007, with systems available on the market in the fourth quarter of that year. Response Point...
that received 2009's Technology of the Year Awards for the best VOIP phone system from the InfoWorld Magazine.
Huang has spent his career helping to advance speech recognition technologies in a variety of capacities. He was the key leader who brought Microsoft's Speech Application Programming Interface
Speech Application Programming Interface
The Speech Application Programming Interface or SAPI is an API developed by Microsoft to allow the use of speech recognition and speech synthesis within Windows applications. To date, a number of versions of the API have been released, which have shipped either as part of a Speech SDK, or as part...
(SAPI) and speech recognition/TTS technologies to the public. From 2000 to 2004, Huang served as general manager of Microsoft's Speech Platforms Group, where he led both the business and engineering teams that shipped Microsoft Speech Server
Microsoft Speech Server
The Microsoft Speech Server is a product from Microsoft designed to allow the authoring and deployment of IVR applications incorporating Speech Recognition, Speech Synthesis and DTMF....
and other voice technologies used in Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
and Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
. He currently spends his career in the Bing
Bing
Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft.Bing may also refer to:* An onomatopœia of a bell sound* Bing cherry, a variety of cherry* Bing , Chinese flatbread* Bing , a German company that manufactured toys and kitchen utensils...
department of Microsoft, working as the Architect of both Bing and Mobile.
Hunan University and University of Washington
In addition to his responsibilities at Microsoft, Huang is currently the Honorary Dean of School of Software Engineering at Hunan UniversityHunan University
Hunan University , located in Changsha, Hunan province, is one of the oldest and most important national universities in China.- History :Hunan University traces its history back to the Yuelu Shuyuan founded in the Song Dynasty, originally in 976, over 1000 years ago...
helping to modernize China's software engineering education. He also serves as an affiliate Professor and is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of EE at University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
.
TV and books
- Robert MacNeil, William Cran, Robert McCrum (2005). Do You Speak American? page 191-197, Harcourt Trade
- PBS TV: Do You Speak American? 2005
- Xuedong Huang, Alex Acero, Hsiao-Wuen Hon (2001). Spoken Language Processing: a guide to theory, algorithm, and system development, page 1-980. Prentice Hall
- Xuedong D Huang, Yasuo Ariki, Mervyn A Jack (1990). Hidden Markov Models for Speech Recognition, Edinburgh University Press
External links
- Thoughts on Microsoft's Response Point, "ZDNet", Sept. 24, 2008
- Microsoft's Xuedong Huang Delivers Keynote at ITEXPO West, Emphasizes Telephony Ease-of-Use and Describes Future Natural User Interface, Sept. 17, 2008
- Microsoft Bolsters Its VoIP Strategy With Response Point Service Pack, "Information Week", March 24, 2008
- Innovation Spotlight: Q&A With Xuedong Huang On Microsoft Response Point 2007
- Microsoft Launches Breakthrough PBX for SMBs, "EWEEK", March, 2007
- Huang appointed as Hunan University's Honorary Dean of Software School "Hunan University News", Nov 5, 2005
- Microsoft Gets Futuristic With Speech Server 2004 March, 2004
- Microsoft Peppers the Market with Integrated Voice Solutions March, 2004
- Why it's getting easier to talk to your PC "ZDNET", Nov 14, 2002
- The Year Ahead for Microsoft, Microsoft PressPass, Dec 18, 2001
- Speech Recognition in Microsoft Office XP Increases Productivity, Efficiency for Chinese and Japanese Users, Microsoft PressPass, Aug. 16, 2001
- MiPad: Speech Powered Prototype Listens and Learns Microsoft PressPass, May 22, 2000
- Gates demos Microsoft MiPad "ZDNET", Oct 13, 2000
- Microsoft's speech guru Xuedong Huang says that a "conversational interface" will make computing dramatically easier early next century. Newsweek, March 9, 1998
- BEYOND TALKING BARNEY BusinessWeek, Feb 23, 1998
- Talking Face To Interface. Seattle Times, June 1, 1997