Queensland University of Technology Launches Open Source Software Group and Virtual Lab

Posted by Kerry Godes
Senior Manager, Worldwide Marketing and Operations

In Brisbane this week, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) launched the Open Source Software Group and Virtual Lab at the university’s new Science and Engineering Center. This exciting venture will help students acquire critical technology skills and create software solutions for real-world problems.

The new lab will be a hub for emerging technologies, hackathons, open data projects in biology and healthcare, and global competitions like QUT’s Change the World series and the Microsoft Imagine Cup.

The new Science and Engineering Center (left) on the QUT campus

Microsoft Research supported the venture, alongside Microsoft Australia, Red Hat Asia Pacific, and Technology One, a Brisbane-based enterprise software company. Each of these key supporters see the value in working cooperatively on open source projects, understanding the model of community driven projects operating hand-in-hand with commercial services and products.

The Open Source Software Group and Virtual Lab will take a leading role in the .NET Bio project, an open source library of common bioinformatics functions that simplifies the creation of life-science applications for the Windows platform. QUT students are already authoring extensions to the library’s core algorithms and developing new pattern-matching components that will allow complex, structured searches across genomes.

We’re looking forward to sharing more about innovative student projects, like advancements to the .NET Bio project, on the blog later this year. In the meantime, please see the Microsoft Research Connections blog for more on this news.