24 years after selecting Haifa for its first R&D center outside the US, Microsoft is inaugurating a new R&D center in the city on the Matam Park site, owned by Bayside Land Corp. Ltd.(Gav Yam) (TASE: BYSD1).
The new building will cover 7,500 sq.m., 50% more than Microsoft's previous center dating from 1991.The new 4.5-storey building is in addition to the company's R&D center in Herzliya set up in 2006.
The building, which currently houses 150 engineers and other employees, and is designed to accommodate dozens more, took nearly two years to construct. Microsoft is currently expanding its workforce in Israel by hiring dozens of engineers and researchers for the new site.
Microsoft launched the new building today in the presence of VP developers division Soma Somasegar, who is responsible for cloud computing, organizational computing, and Microsoft's R&D centers in Israel, India, and China. Also attending the launching ceremony were Microsoft Israel R&D general manager Yoram Yaacovi; Avi Natan, cofounder of the Microsoft 1991 Haifa R&D center, who managed it for 10 years; and Technion Israel Institute of Technology Prof. Moshe Tennenholtz, who manages the joint Technion-Microsoft research institute.
Yaacobi said, "The launch of the new building points to another expansion in R&D activity in Israel - in infrastructure, mergers and acquisitions, and personnel. Haifa signaled the entry of Microsoft's R&D into Israel. The technological successes that followed have led to the decision to expand this site, and constitute a focus of attraction for professionals in Haifa and the north, and everywhere in Israel. We're now preparing to expand our R&D in Haifa, with the recruitment of substantial additional personnel."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 25, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015