Facebook Inc. chose to hire the chief of Advanced Technology and Products of Alphabet’s Google. The aim of Facebook is to employ efforts towards new hardware that is able to run software that is closely related to Facebook, along other pieces of equipment such as the Oculus VR. It is not the first time that Facebook snatches one of Google’s leading researchers, as last year they hired Mary Lou Jepsen, an executive also from Google’s advanced-projects lab.
It is all part of developing Building 8, a campaign into advancing towards, as Zuckerberg has stated, “our mission of connecting the world.” Building 8 is another step into the field of artificial intelligence, internet access and virtual reality as Facebook is aiming towards more ambitious technological objectives.
Who is Regina Dugan?
Dugan is a former director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. At her time in Google, Regina Dugan had the task of finding new technologies to be implemented in newer products, including mobile security, 3D-mapping and digitally advanced textiles.
Regina Dugan obtained her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Caltech and became the first woman to preside the head of the Pentagon’s Darpa division from 2009 up to 2012. She was then hired through Motorola and onto Google to review and launch novel technologies on new products.
She stated through a Facebook post that she was excited to work in the company: “Building 8 is an opportunity to do what I love most… tech-infused with a sense of our humanity. Audacious science delivered at scale in products that feel almost magic. A little badass. And beautiful.” It seems that Google will have a hard time trying to replace Dugan, as she is one of the best professionals in the world in the field of advanced global technology. She was frequently given speech time among Google conferences.
Zuckerberg commented that he is excited to have Dugan on board, as she is able to apply the same concepts used in the Pentagon’s Darpa division to develop new technology through “aggressive, fixed timelines, extensive use of partnerships with universities, small and large businesses, and clear objectives for shipping products at scale.” Dugan’s work group had around 100 staff members and around 1,000 non-employees, all working towards testing different technology projects.
To have an idea of what Dugan had to review, one can check Boston Dynamics, an impressive and advanced robot division that was up for sale. It was shortly bought by Alphabet just as Dugan’s work group approved it.
Source: Bloomberg