JP Posma j@npaulpos.ma janpaulposma.nl
Experienced programmer and entrepreneur with a broad range of interests. Coding and building since I was 10, and never stopped.
Goals 1. make stuff 2. have fun.
Expert skills Rust, C/C++, JS/TS, Python (and more; used 20+ languages in production), high-perf algorithms, architecture of interactive software, small team mgmt, safety-critical software, rapid prototyping, WebAssembly, visualization, compilers, mentoring.
Solid skills GPU/shaders, cloud/data architecture, company founding (twice), constraint satisfaction / integer linear programming (ILP), product mgmt, open source, recruiting/hiring, fundraising, UI design, community mgmt, open competition design, public speaking.
Dabbled in Embedded systems, circuit design, computer vision, projector-camera systems, programming competitions, teaching, security research, hardware engineering (CAD/CAM, mill, lathe, 3d printing, laser cutting, glass blowing, welding). I once used 25 wine glasses in a project for MTV.
Please find an interactive version of this document online at janpaulposma.nl/cv
Vesuvius Challenge (project+tech lead)
Speedrunning an archeological breakthrough using machine learning, computer vision, and open competition. Hired by Nat Friedman to lead perhaps one of the most efficient deployments of research capital ever — converting 1.3MM into a breakthrough in non-invasive reading of the Herculaneum papyri, within a year. Owned the project end-to-end: designing the competition structure, ML evals, data releases, community management, web design, tutorials, animated explainers, adjudication, marketing, helping with particle accelerator scans, running a small labeling team, coding in Python, C++, JS.
Zaplib (cofounder / CTO)
Speeding up heavy web applications with Rust and WebAssembly. Incubated at Cruise (~10x speedup), managed team of 3 eng. Found a cofounder, started a company, raised from top devtools investors, and worked with several pilot customers. Rust, low-level JS, C/C++, shaders/GPU programming, custom threading, custom memory management, custom linking of native app against Chromium/V8. Invalidated business thesis, returned 100% of the investment.
Cruise (tech lead / L7)
Self-driving car company. Tech lead on robotics debugging tool Webviz (later spun off into a startup, Foxglove). Grew into the most widely used and highly rated internal tool. Low-level JS, C++, WebAssembly, shaders/GPU programming, high-throughput data architecture, extension APIs, strong quality controls (safety-critical). Led team of 8 engineers, coordinated with 10+ teams. Cross-company hiring. Some work on behavior/manoeuver planning and vehicle platform software (C++, Python).
Remix (tech lead / eng mgr)
Urban planning software. Tech lead and engineering manager on the bus scheduling product, which I took from a prototype to production (15+ paying cities). JS, Python, Ruby, C++, constraint satisfaction algorithms (e.g. integer linear programming), realtime models, geodata pipeline, elastic cloud compute, external integrations, highly interactive UIs. Led technical team of 8-10.
Val Town
If GitHub Gists could run
And AWS Lambda was fun
Zipline
Medical drones
Brigade
Political discussion platform
Versal
Interactive courses
Factlink
Web annotation and factchecking
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia
Cantouch
Big multitouch tables
Triati
Cofounded; CMSes and tooling for SEO
Audivididici
Language learning tool
JPP Solutions
Webapp consulting in high school and college
MSc in Computer Science, Oxford
Thesis project: programming course aimed at making the first two hours of learning programming as incredible as possible. Coursework include multithreaded database design (C++), logic programming, machine learning, and computational linguistics. Got a scholarship. Programming competitions. C++ and JS.
BSc in Computer Science (cum laude), Groningen
Thesis project: better editing UI for Wikipedia (9.5/10 grade). Coursework in algorithms, computer graphics, engineering management (led student team for IKEA), AI/ML, signal processing, compilers, correctness proofs, etc. Minor in math: group theory, cryptography, complex analysis, numeric methods. Programming competitions (won gold in one). TA’ed math and CS courses. Java, C++, Matlab, and Magma.
WLG school, Groningen
Secondary education / high school. Programming and circuit design on the side. Final project: custom designed circuit board and software for rendering images inside a bike wheel, using the “persistence of vision” effect. Maintained the school website. Contracted for various companies on the side. Built a language learning tool. Competed in robotics competitions (and won once) and in informatics olympiad. Taught electronics and programming to kids at local youth centers. C (PIC microcontroller), C++, PHP, and Visual Basic.