Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen is a Danish software engineer, technology executive, and co-founder of Where 2 Technologies which led to

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

Early life

After graduating from Høje-Taastrup Amtsgymnasium in 1986,In Danish, Kraks Blå Bog, 2012–2013, p. 1119, Gads Forlag (Gad's Publishers

,

Kraks Blå Bog is a Danish biographical dictionary. According to the publisher, it only contains autobiographies provided by the subjects themselves. The first edition was published in 1910 by Ove Krak and included 3,000 "life stories",''Kraks Blå Bog 2009-20 ...

Rasmussen enrolled at the

University of Aarhus Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Utr ...

to study Computer Science and Mathematics.

Digital Fountain

From July 1999 to November 2002, Rasmussen was a senior engineer at Digital Fountain in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Digital Fountain used forward error correction to deliver files and stream on-demand content over dynamic mobile, internet and private network environments. Rasmussen developed several new services while employed by Digital Fountain.

Where 2 Technologies and Google Maps

In early 2003, Rasmussen and his brother

Lars Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

started Where 2 Technologies, a mapping project that developed the prototype of their mapping application called Expedition. Google acquired Where 2 Technologies in October 2004, and the Rasmussen brothers led the team that launched Google Maps in early 2005.

Google Wave

Rasmussen invented Google Wave in 2004, while the brothers were in talks with Google about selling Where 2 Technologies to Google. The Rasmussen brothers started working on Google Wave in 2006, and in 2007 Jens moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he continued working with Lars and a small team on the Google Wave idea, under the project name Walkabout. Google Wave was an open source code internet application launched in 2009 and discontinued in 2012. Google described Wave as an application which "lets you communicate and collaborate in real time." Wave made it possible for several people to edit a document at the same time and to conduct a group discussion at the same time. Waves could also be used as forums or just for emails and instant messaging between two or more people.

Google Maps Pin

Rasmussen designed the Google Maps pin while he was employed by Google. The pin is a simple pointer with a bubble top which tapers to a narrow point with a drop shadow. A Google spokesperson told the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

that Rasmussen avoided using a star or dot on the map, because they would obscure too much of the map. The Google Maps Pin touches the map only at the exact point of the location. In 2014,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City acquired a representation of the Google Maps Pin for its permanent collection.

Patents

Rasmussen holds patents on thirty-five software services and applications.

Awards

Google Maps won two Webby Awards in 2006, one in the General Website Services category and another in the Best Practices category. In 2010, the

Pearcey Foundation The Pearcey Foundation is an Australian organisation dedicated to raising the profile of the Australian information technology and telecommunications industry. The foundation was formed in 1998 and is named after Trevor Pearcey, an Australian eng ...

named the Rasmussen brothers

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

ICT Entrepreneurs of the Year and inducted them into the foundation's hall of fame. The foundation noted that the Rasmussens had positioned Australia "as a global leader in online services" and brought many technology jobs to Australia. In 2011, the Rasmussen brothers won the Inaugural 2011 Benson Entrepreneur Award. The Pearcey Foundation notes that the invention of Google maps motivated Google to start a research and development team in Sydney, Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eilstrup, Jens Living people Google employees Aarhus University alumni 21st-century Danish inventors Year of birth missing (living people)