Thoughts of a quantified self, Google and more…
View(s):Young entrepreneur and MIT graduate Dilan Jayawardane shares his experiences of working at Google with Shaveen Jeewandara. Pic by Athula Devapriya
When Dilan Jayawardane was offered a scholarship to attend MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) -one of the world’s most prestigious universities in science and technology- he knew that he’d make it big in the computing field, but little did he know that one day he’ll be working for everyone’s friend in need: Google.
“It’s amazing to have been surrounded by some of the best engineers and the best minds going around in the computing industry,” Dilan says, adding that Google is the place to be if you want to grab a footing in the industry. Dilan’s stint at Google saw him as the Product Manager of the Google X Project, which is one of the most ambitious and technologically advanced projects in development at Google.
Its secretive nature naturally hinders an extravagant scoop revealing everything, but Dilan does hint at the much speculated ‘Space Elevator’ project – bridging not only the gap between the Earth and the ISS (International Space Station) in order to carry a payload into space, but also the gap between one of the many surreal things we read about in Arthur C. Clarke’s novels (Fountains of Paradise) and reality. Dilan also mentions advancements in Google’s ‘Self driving car’ which would revolutionise driving.
The 33-year-old’s stint at Google, although highly memorable, lasted only two years as he left in April this year to pursue his next venture. He expects to test several business hypotheses over the coming months before going headfirst into his latest business venture. “I’ve never wanted to work for someone else, and there’s always self-satisfaction in growing your own business model,” he tells us.
In fact, Dilan’s entry into Google was not via an application or interview that scored him points with the top-guns; it was rather via an acquisition. Upon completion of his Electrical Engineering and Computer Science degree at MIT, Dilan went on to join the Oracle Corporation. However, when things didn’t seem so clear, he quit Oracle, moved to the UK and started development on a search engine along with another Sri Lankan engineer, Ajmal Asver. Their collaborative efforts saw the birth of ‘Scoopler’ which would redefine internet searches worldwide, causing a paradigm shift. “The idea behind Scoopler is to gather real-time information and show in the search results. This means that everything is up-to-date, and even if someone tweets, or updates a facebook status about the thing you’re searching for – it will be available on the search results”, explains Dilan.
Dilan answers the question of credibility of a random individual’s tweet being indexed on a search engine by citing an example. “During the Arab-Spring, all information was exchanged via facebook and twitter. It was more or less organised on the internet and several people would tweet about the same thing. When there is a collection on such tweets/statuses, its credibility is automatically justified.”
‘Scoopler’ was created in 2009, and it had a pretty big scope, even being aired on Good Morning America, CNN and BBC. Dilan and his team then got cracking on JustSpotted.com that would give users the whereabouts of celebrities by tracking them via real-time data streams. JustSpotted.com was even endorsed by celebrities like Megan Fox and Jim Carrey. The fact that Dilan’s series of developments made everything real-time and indexed meant that search engines like Google had to change their perspectives – which led to a team lead by Dilan at Scoopler/JustSpotted being acquired by Google in 2011. During this period he gave his insights into the Google X project and was also a key developer of the new Google+ social network.
Speaking of life after Google, Dilan says he is into the world of ‘quantified self’ products, which are essentially devices that track human bodily changes on a personal level. A prime example being the wristband that measures the calories burned on a run. “A new series of devices would enable the tracking of breathing, and how focused you are,” Dilan tells us that its core lies in the Buddhist Anapansathi meditation, where one is conscious of breathing – resulting in stress reduction.
Dilan hails from Nalanda College and is still very much in touch with his roots and hasn’t forgotten about other youngsters trying to get into the IT industry. “There is so much of potential, but there is no boost from the relevant authorities”, he mentions. Dilan says that gone are the days where the Silicon Valley was considered the only innovation hub. “The technology is spilling out of the Silicon Valley and we need to take our shot at the global market”.
Dilan himself was largely benefited through incubator programmes such as Y-Combinator and is willing to lend a helping hand to any start-up business in the IT industry in Sri Lanka. Dilan can be contacted on dilanj@gmail.com
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