Microsoft Research will kick off its Tech Fair 2005 at the Library of Congress Wednesday, April 27, with a panel discussion featuring Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates; Microsoft Research Senior Vice President Rick Rashid; U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; U.S. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.; Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman; and other guests. The panel will look at how leaders in technology, government and education must meet the challenges of the global marketplace with high-quality education, a commitment to innovation and research and development, a willingness to engage in private-public partnerships, and a strategy to recruit the brightest global talent to U.S. schools and businesses. James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, will serve as moderator.

After the panel discussion, attendees can tour display booths in the National Digital Library Learning Center on the ground floor of the James Madison Memorial Building, where they will see demonstrations of the latest Microsoft Research projects in the areas of computing beyond the PC, the influence of wireless technology and the transformation of science through computing. Microsoft researchers and academics will be available to discuss their work and how they are inventing the future of computing.