Three years in the making, a new Institute speaker series, Talks@Tech, will host its first event this month with Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

On Tuesday, Nov. 20, Gates will address Tech students by video from Seattle, speaking for 5-10 minutes before opening the floor for an extended live question-and-answer session. 

“Mr. Gates has such an incredible background in science, technology, humanities and the arts,” said John Miller, the fourth-year industrial and systems engineering major spearheading the Talks@Tech project. “His experiences founding Microsoft and creating the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide insight for the innovative, intellectual and ambitious students at Georgia Tech.”

Students planning on attending should RSVP online for the talk, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Room 152 of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, with overflow in Room 144. Students are encouraged to arrive at 5:45 p.m. for seating. Attendees can submit questions ahead of time through the comments field of the online event listing or ask them during the event.

Miller and his fellow organizers hope to use Talks@Tech to engage the community through distinguished speakers and topical conversations that go beyond lectures, providing a place for discussion-based learning.

“We want students to be engaged in conversations that they would otherwise not be able to have,” said Miller.

The Talks@Tech initiative was born out of a student-led effort, with faculty and staff providing guidance along the way through a steering committee. The group also hopes to organize and centralize various prestigious speakers around campus at talks.gatech.edu.