Lars Rasmussen (software developer)
Lars Rasmussen | |
|---|---|
 Lars Rasmussen in 2007 Photo credit: Charlie Brewer | |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Alma mater | Aarhus University University of Edinburgh University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Google Maps, Google Wave |
| Awards | Pearcey Award (2010) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | Google, Facebook |
| Doctoral advisor | Alistair Sinclair |
Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen is a Danish-born[1] computer scientist, software developer, and co-founder of Google Maps.
Qualifications
In 1990, Rasmussen graduated from the University of Aarhus with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics.[2] He gained his MSc in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 1992.[3]
Rasmussen began his PhD, working with Mark Jerrum and Alistair Sinclair in the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science at Edinburgh, then moved, with Sinclair, to Berkeley, California, USA. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, for his thesis "On Approximating the Permanent and Other #P-Complete Problems".[4]
Where 2 Technologies and Google Maps
In 2003, Lars and his brother, Jens, with Australians Noel Gordon and Stephen Ma, co-founded Where 2 Technologies, a mapping-related start-up in Sydney, Australia. This company was bought by Google in October 2004, to create the popular, free, browser-based software, Google Maps.[5][6] The four of them were subsequently employed by Google in the engineering team at the company's Australian office in Sydney.[7] Lars and Jens are also the originators of the Google Wave project.[7]
On 29 October 2010, Rasmussen announced that he had left Google, and was moving to San Francisco to work for Facebook.[8] At Facebook he was, among other things, the engineering director for the Facebook Graph Search project[9] which is a semantic search engine for the social network. In 2013 he and Tom Stocky were listed as number 79 in The 100 Biggest Stars In Silicon Valley by Business Insider.[10] Rasmussen had been working in the Facebook London office.[11]
Music start-up
On April 27 2015, Rasmussen announced his departure from Facebook to co-found a music start-up with his partner Elomida Visviki. He worked at Facebook until the end of June.[12]
Awards
On 19 October 2010, Lars and Jens Rasmussen were awarded the Pearcey Award for NSW ICT Entrepreneurs of the Year.[13]
Investments
Rasmussen has made personal investments in a number of technology startups including Canva, a simple-to-use online design tool; and Posse, a way to get recommendations on cafes, restaurants, bars and shops from people in your network.
References
- ^ "Sydney Morning Herald article". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2009-05-29.
- ^ "Lars Rasmussen's Facebook page".
- ^ "LFCS report, Approximating the Permanent, Lars Rasmussen, LFCS, Edinburgh". 1992-03-12.
- ^ "Berkeley PhD Dissertations 1998". 1998.
- ^ "CrunchBase Profile". CrunchBase. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ "Video: Lars Rasmussen on creating Google Maps".
- ^ a b Sutter, John D.: The genius brothers behind Google Wave, CNN, October 27, 2009.
- ^ Hutcheon, Stephen: Why I quit Google to join Facebook: Lars Rasmussen, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 November 2010.
- ^ Sullivan, Danny: How The New Facebook Search Is Different & Unique From Google Search, Search Engine Land, 15 January 2013.
- ^ "The Silicon Valley 100". Business Insider. 2013-02-12.
- ^ Patangay, Girish: Girish Patangay answer on Quora, Quora, 08 December 2013
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/27/rasmussen-facebook
- ^ Press Release – Jens and Lars Rasmussen Win 2010 NSW Entrepreneur Award and 9 Entrepreneurs Inducted into Hall of Fame, The Pearcey Foundation, 19 October 2010.
- Living people
- Google employees
- Facebook employees
- Aarhus University alumni
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Danish computer scientists
- Danish expatriates in the United States
- Danish expatriates in the United Kingdom
- Danish company founders
- Danish expatriates in Australia