Most people call me "D.J.", but my real name is David Joshua Kurlander. Back when I was one of the very first members of Microsoft's User Interface and Graphics Research Group, there were more Davids there than women... so they renamed me. This being Microsoft, I'm lucky that I didn't end up with a 128-bit GUID. Of course, later when I met my wife, she had a brother called "D.J.", so I learned that unique identifiers are a tricky business. But I digress...

If you know me, it is likely from one of the major waystations in my life. I grew up (mainly) in Pikesville, Maryland (and went to what was then called Pikesville Senior High School). Later I went to Harvard University, where I studied Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, and graduated in '85. After that I got my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University (and various Master's Degrees along the way), finishing up in 1992 or 1993 depending upon on how you count. Along the way, I worked summers at various diverse and fascinating places, like the Pentagon, Hewlett-Packard Labs, and Xerox PARC. After getting my doctorate, I became one of the earliest members of Microsoft Research. I turned down a number of very compelling academic jobs because I was primarily interested in having a direct impact on the industry (rather than through my students) - and that is an interest that persists to this day. That desire to have direct impact led me to follow one of my early research projects to Microsoft's product divisions, where I spent most of my time during the 13+ years that I stayed at the company. Three very cool and highly regarded advanced technologies that I proposed to management and led the development of, include Comic Chat (Microsoft Chat), the Mobile Internet Toolkit, and Microsoft Surface. The last role that I had at Microsoft was General Manager of the New Consumer Products Group (a product incubation team), and Microsoft Surface (which grew out of the incubation effort)

These days I am retired from Microsoft, and live with my wife and three kids in Seattle. I satisfy most of my technical interests by being a technical consultant for Tandem Enterprises, a venture capital firm (that prefers to be considered a talent capital firm), and by pursuing my own side products. In my spare time, I love to travel to usual and unusual places, and spend time with the family.

I am quite proud of my many research projects and product efforts, and you can learn more about these by choosing the Projects link (here and above). Photos from my various travels are available for your perusal from the Photos link. The Resume link brings you to a document that describes my background and accomplishments. And if you would like to send me email, you can do so via the Have fun!