Weise, who works in Microsoft's Natural Languages Group, this week was rewarded for his brilliance and enthusiasm by being named a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer, an honor created by the company to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the company's success, yet do not aspire to become high-level managers or vice presidents. Weise is working on one of computer science's most challenging problems -- creating software that can understand written or spoken language. Since joining the Natural Languages Group in 1996, Weise has worked on software that analyzes sentences, determines how they are constructed and makes educated guesses as to their meaning. Currently, this technology runs behind the grammar checker in Microsoft Word, the Search Assistant in Windows XP, and on the Encarta Web site, where users can retrieve articles by typing sentences in plain English, such as "What is the population of Uruguay?" This technology, according to Weise, is a crucial step towards the ability to interact with computers using natural language rather than learned commands.