The leading experts of the IT world prefer to work close to flourishing study and research environments.

2013.09.10

It means a lot for dedicated experts that there’s a strong study environment in the town they decided to settle down in. Aarhus University has a really good reputation worldwide as far as that goes, says Kasper Verdich Lund, software designer and Tech Lead Manager, Google.

Google, one of the most important IT businesses in the world, has made a strategic decision to locate a development department right next to the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University.
Kasper Verdich Lund isn’t wearing shoes when he opens the door to Google’s Aarhus division. His socks match the company’s colourful logo. The lively Google colours are repeated in the office interior, which features Google-striped wallpaper. There’s a relaxed, young atmosphere which is emphasised even further by the racer bike parked right next to the wallpaper and the variety of trainers and sports clothing on display in the lobby.
»We go running three times a week,« explains Kasper Verdi Lund, a software developer who also – somewhat reluctantly – admits to the title Tech Lead Manager. Though he and his colleague Lars Bak have helped build the Aarhus division from the ground up, he’s not interested in titles.
»There’s not far from the top to the bottom at Google. We’re more interested in what people do than in what titles they have,« he says.

Every other employee an AU graduate

Google has around twenty employees at the Aarhus division, which has specialised in working with the development of the browser Google Chrome since it opened in 2006. While the employees come from all over the world, over half of them have a particularly intimate knowledge of Aarhus – including Kasper Lund himself. They’ve all taken their degrees on the other side of the street, at the Department of Computer Science.
»Situating Google’s division right across from the department was entirely natural. It makes it possible for us to recruit new staff with the right qualifications. Some of the fundamental research on the development of programming languages that we draw on in our work with Google Chrome was conducted at the department, where among others Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen has been a driving force,« explains Lund.
Google’s Aarhus office is located in INCUBA Science Park just west of the main Aarhus campus, along with eighty other tech and IT-related businesses. The park was established to encourage innovation and growth in knowledge-based businesses. And being able to tap into some of the country’s brightest researchers and students by just crossing the street is no small advantage.
»We know the teaching staff on the other side of the street, and they refer students to us if their interests are a good fit with ours,« explains Lund.

A light bulb comes on

Google’s Aarhus team also makes a valuable contribution in return.
»We’ve taught whole courses to advanced computer science students. Of course, it takes a lot of preparation to produce fifteen lectures per semester, but in return, we’re certain that the students gain insight into the the techniques we work with. It’s fantastic to see students light up during a lecture, and you have the sense that they’re saying »I’m going to go home and keep working on that,« to themselves,« says Kasper Verdich Lund.
In addition to giving students insight into how one of the world’s leading IT corporations functions, he also benefits from having to explain himself in front of a packed lecture hall.
»Communicating my experiences in a teaching situation means I get my thoughts in order,« says Lund.
According to him, the study environment associated with the Department of Computer Science has such an excellent reputation that it makes it easier for Google to recruit talented staff to the tiny Google office in Aarhus.
»It means a lot for dedicated experts that there’s a strong study environment in the town they decided to settle down in. Aarhus University has a really good reputation worldwide as far as that goes,« he says.