JP Posma j@npaulpos.ma janpaulposma.nl

Experienced programmer with a broad range of interests. Coding since I was 10, and never stopped.

Current status: sabbatical.

Goals 1. do good 2. make stuff 3. have fun.
Expert skills Rust, C/C++, JS, Python (and more; used 20+ languages in production), high-perf algorithms, architecture of interactive software, small team management, processes/culture for high quality, rapid prototyping, WebAssembly, visualization, compilers, mentoring.
Solid skills Shaders/GPU, cloud/data architecture, constraint satisfaction, product management, open source, customer interviews, recruiting/hiring, company founding (twice), fundraising, UI design, public speaking.
Dabbled in embedded systems, circuit design, computer vision, projector-camera systems, programming competitions (high school, college), teaching kids, security research, hardware engineering (CAD/CAM, mill, lathe, 3d printing, laser cutting, glass, welding).

Please find an interactive version of this document online at janpaulposma.nl/cv

2021-2022

Zaplib (cofounder / CTO)


Speeding up heavy web applications with Rust and WebAssembly. Incubated at Cruise (~10x speedup), managed team of 3 eng. Then 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.
2018-2020

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 adjacent). Led team of 8 engineers, coordinated with 10+ teams. Also cross-company hiring (“bar raiser”). And some work on behavior/manoeuver planning and vehicle platform software (C++, Python).
2016-2018

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; 4 direct reports.
2021

Zipline


Medical drones
2015-2016

Brigade


Political discussion platform
2013-2015

Versal


Interactive courses
2012-2014

Factlink


Web annotation and factchecking
2011

Wikimedia Foundation


Wikipedia
2009-2010

WorldTicketShop


Concert and sports tickets
2009

Cantouch


Big multitouch tables
2008-2009

Triati


Cofounded; CMSes and tooling for SEO
2007-2009

Audivididici


Language learning tool
2004-2011

JPP Solutions


Webapp consulting in high school and college
2011-2012

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. Did some programming competitions. C++ and JS.
2008-2011

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. Some programming competitions (won gold in one). TA’ed math and CS courses. Java and C++. Some Matlab and Magma.
2002-2008

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 a robotics competition (and won once). Competed in national informatics olympiad. Taught electronics and programming to kids at local youth centers. C (PIC microcontroller), C++, PHP, and even Visual Basic.
I’ve written production code in 21 languages, been programming for 22 years, and once used 25 wine glasses in a project for MTV.