Dangerously Smart
She began studying for her Bachelors degree when she was only 15
. In between studying and army service she found time to work at a number of start-ups and even start an initiative of her own a company that develops platforms for creating websites, which was sold recently. "There's a quote by Thomas Edison that I really like", she says. "He said: 'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work'. Achievement is mainly about not giving up and wanting to succeed".- What area are you researching in your Masters studies?
"I'm into Machine Learning. I conducted research that tries to predict future chain events, following the repeat of the basic event and with the help of semantic data published on the net. For example, the engine identifies that on a specific date there was an irregular amount of searches about hurricanes, and it predicts that at that time a hurricane actually occurred. Afterwards, it identifies the chain of events according to statistical feasibility and it can describe various scenarios based on probability. Today I'm involved with semantic observation of all newsworthy events since 1800 it is extremely interesting and challenging".
Her research has awarded Kira with international acclaim and rewards for innovative technology, and has led her to be one of the world's top 20 promising young researchers in EMEA by Google. In addition, she was invited to present her research at the Think Next convention, and from here it was a short leap to summer internship at Microsoft Israel R&D Center.
-Tell us about your work at Microsoft
"It's a very educational experience. I'm with the PM team of Machine Learning, responsible for identifying security threats on the net by following and investigating irregular events. Today I'm dealing with identifying malicious web pages according to semantic classification".
- How does the time at Microsoft affect you?
"There are lots of really great people here, each in their own area of expertise, and interacting with them is very contributory. There's also an intensive feeling of achievement and deep interest. Things become results that are bigger than the sum of their individual parts. I think that a creative environment has a lot of influence in all areas. I feel that my research has also benefited from being here".
- And what is there in your life besides technology?
"Sports, a lot of it. I'm on the Technion's karate team, which reached 1st place in a number of competitions. I've been training since I was 5 years old. On other days I do long distance running and also work out in the gym. You can say that I'm quite fit".
- So sports and academia go together?
"Absolutely. There's no way I'd give up, whether it's research or karate. I think that the courage and the belief that you must get up and try again even though you don't know the outcome is a very important trait for life. If you believe, there's no reason to give up".
Next month Kira is planned to participate in the challenging Geekcon competition, where participants present an original idea and develop it in only 2 days. Kira explained that her idea for the competition is to map out the probability of your Facebook friends to contact swine flu, according to the closeness of your relationship to people who have reported being affected or feeling similar symptoms.
Box:
Big plans for students in the coming year
Microsoft's activities for students is planned to be ramped up in the coming year, and will include extensive activities in the various campuses. Some of the plans are:
-Adding an additional excellence program and firming up ties with the current session.
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-Combining students in various activities, including summer internship with Microsoft Israel Recruitment in Microsoft Israel Labs and abroad, highlight days, open days at the ILDC, student newsletter and of course recruiting students for the product groups.
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-Promoting courses and projects of technology for the community
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-Involvement in project mentoring
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-Teaching Microsoft technologies at campuses
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-Initiating joint research projects
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