Sebastian Thrun

Profession: Computer Scientist

Biography: Sebastian Thrun is best known for his work on self-driving cars and online education. He currently serves as the CEO of Kitty Hawk Corporation and chairman and co-founder of Udacity, an online learning platform.

Thrun earned his Diplom and PhD in computer science and statistics from the University of Bonn in Germany. He then joined Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) as a research computer scientist and later became an assistant professor and co-director of the Robot Learning Laboratory.

During his time at CMU and Stanford University, Thrun made significant contributions to the field of robotics. He developed the robot Stanley, which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a competition for self-driving vehicles. Thrun also co-developed Google Street View and worked on Google's self-driving car project.

In addition to his work in robotics, Thrun co-founded Udacity in 2012. The platform offers online courses in various subjects, including programming, data science, and artificial intelligence. Thrun's goal with Udacity is to make education more accessible and affordable for people around the world.

Throughout his career, Thrun has received numerous awards and recognitions for his achievements. He was elected into the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina at the age of 39.

Thrun has also been honored with the Max-Planck-Research Award, the inaugural AAAI Ed Feigenbaum Prize, and the Smithsonian magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Education category.

Born: May 14, 1967
Birthplace: Solingen, Germany
Age: 57 years old

Generation: Generation X
Chinese Zodiac: Goat/Sheep
Star Sign: Taurus