Google Student Blog: Meet Caltech basketball star and soon-to-be Googler, Ryan Elmquist

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Meet Caltech basketball star and soon-to-be Googler, Ryan Elmquist

April 11, 2011

Today we’re featuring a Q&A with NCAA athlete and future Googler, Ryan Elmquist. Ryan speaks of his experiences at Caltech, his interest in computer science and why he’s excited to work at Google.

Tell us a bit about your background. Where are you from? How did you end up at Caltech?Ryan Elmquist: I live in California now, but I’m originally from Woodbury, Minnesota. I went to Caltech because I knew it was going to challenge me academically. I was also excited about continuing to play basketball in college. Finally, getting out of Minnesota into sunny southern California certainly didn’t hurt.

What makes Caltech unique?RE: Caltech has a very small student body compared to other similar colleges. It has a really intimate atmosphere, where most of the students know each other and their professors.

Any fun Caltech stories?RE: Caltech has several campus wide parties throughout the year. They are all themed and (in true Caltech fashion) built by the students. The themes have ranged from Tron to the Wild West (complete with a mechanical bull).

Why did you decide to study computer science? RE: The process of breaking down a complex problem into manageable pieces to solve is really fun. I enjoy the projects that we get to work on in class and the fast turn-around when you work on those projects. It’s not possible to see your results almost immediately in many other fields.

What’s been your favorite CS class or class project?RE: I took a course on machine learning that involved a project I really enjoyed. We worked on the Netflix competition, where we were given a bunch of users’ data and their ratings for various movies. Then we had to use that data to predict their ratings on other movies. It was cool to see the techniques we learned in class translate so well to real world applications.

Any advice for students considering computer science?RE: Don’t be discouraged when your programs don’t work the first time; we all have to debug every once in a while. :)

Tell us about playing basketball at Caltech and your recent press whirlwind. RE: In the last game of my senior year, we faced a 310 game conference losing streak. While we had won several non-conference games, it had been a while since Caltech had seen success in the conference. With a few seconds left in the game, the score was tied and I was shooting two free throws. Since there was such little time left, these were probably the last shots I’d take in my college basketball career. I made the first free throw, putting us up 46-45, and missed the second. The other team missed a last second desperation shot, and we won. After breaking the losing streak, we received hundreds of emails from fans and alumni, and have been interviewed by news reporters across the country. It’s been pretty wild, but I can’t think of a better way to end my basketball career.

How do you use Google products in your daily life?RE: I’m a big Gmail user. I use Google Reader to keep up to date on what’s going on in the tech world. Also, having access to Google Maps on my phone has saved me from getting lost while navigating my way through a new city.

What made you want to work at Google?RE: Since Google has so many users, the scale at which it operates is intriguing. It’s fun to think about all of the users your work can potentially impact.

Any big plans for post-graduation, before Google? When is your Google start date?RE: I’m graduating from Caltech a term early, so I am going to backpack through Europe with a friend. I’ve never been to Europe before, so I’m really excited. My sister is studying abroad in Germany and will be joining us once we get there. I’m joining Google on June 20th.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?RE: Don’t give up! I think breaking a 310 game losing streak has shown that it’s worthwhile to persevere!

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