Hacker was born and raised in Zug and studied at ETH Zurich. In a 2020 interview, Hacker specified that gaming played a large role in his interest in computer science: "What originally drew me to computers was video games and the desire to build your own games and understand how those games are built. I was somewhat obsessed."[5]
Initially, Hacker and his former graduate advisor, Luis von Ahn, wanted to develop an application that could translate internet sites, so that they would be accessible for non-English speakers. They felt that automated translation software wasn't as effective as using the skills and knowledge of bilingual speakers.[7] During Hacker's doctoral studies, Duolingo became a by-product of this idea, or "happy mistake."[8] Hacker's goal for Duolingo was to make it "100% free" so the most disadvantaged person with an internet connection would still have access to it.[7]
Duolingoedit
Hacker and his team of PhD students used machine learning to personalize Duolingo to each user. Specifically, they wanted to predict what language concepts the user was on the verge of forgetting. In 2012, a study by American universities showed that spending 34 hours of learning on Duolingo was equivalent to a full-semester of a college language course. In 2015, Hacker and von Ahn started selling translations, such as to the Spanish tech news group of CNN.[9]
Retention Philosophyedit
There are two parts to Hacker's "Retention Philosophy": learning should be fun and motivation should remain high.[9] Through Duolingo, Hacker wants users to have the option to increase their 'stay-tuned quota' which involves adjusting the learning time and difficulty of the course. Another idea derived from Hacker's philosophy was to apply gamification to Duolingo. This was to apply game elements and principles instead of classroom learning tools to the course.[9]
Awards and honorsedit
In 2014, Hacker received the Crunchie Award for Best Startup.[10]
In 2014, Hacker was included in the MIT Technology Review's "Top Innovators under 35."[9]
In 2016, Hacker and Luis von Ahn received the Tech 50 award.[11]
In 2019, Hacker received One Young World's Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[12]
External business ventures and investmentsedit
IAM Robotics, a robotics company focused on autonomous fulfillment.
ViaHero, a trip-planning service creating personalized itineraries.
Brainbase, a platform that helps companies manage and monetize their intellectual property.
Gridwise, an app that provides information for driver demand throughout a city.
Abililife, a company developing technologies to assist Parkinson's patients.[13]
Referencesedit
^Siegler, MG (April 12, 2011). "Meet Duolingo, Google's Next Acquisition Target; Learn A Language, Help The Web". TechCrunch.
^Geron, Tomio (September 17, 2012). "Duolingo Gets $15 Million To Translate The World's Text Through Online Learning". Forbes.
^Doyle, Patrick. "A novel approach to learning languages is making the Web more accessible". MIT Technology Review.
^"Duolingo: The Most Popular Language Learning App". Online Course Report. 30 May 2018.
^"Not enough people, passion, capital?". StartupTicker.ch. June 12, 2015.
^ abSchneider, Chloe (October 23, 2015). "Meet the entrepreneur who is helping the world learn a new language". Mashable.
^Shandrow, Kim (October 7, 2015). "How Duolingo Mastered the Fickle Language of Startup Success". Entrepreneur.
^ abcdClapasson, Valérie (March 11, 2015). "Effortless language learning -- ETH alumnus Severin Hacker talks about Duolingo in an interview". ETH Zurich.
severin, hacker, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guideline, academics, please, help, demonstrate, notability, topic, citing, reliable, secondary, sources, that, independent, topic, provide, significant, coverage, beyond, mere, trivial, menti. The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for academics Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Severin Hacker news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Severin Hacker born July 6 1984 is a Swiss computer scientist who is the co founder and CTO of Duolingo the world s most popular language learning platform 1 2 3 4 Severin HackerBorn 1984 07 06 July 6 1984 age 39 Zug SwitzerlandAlma materETH Zurich BS Carnegie Mellon University PhD Known forDuolingoScientific careerInstitutionsCarnegie Mellon University ETH ZurichDoctoral advisorLuis von Ahn Contents 1 Biography 2 Founding of Duolingo 2 1 Duolingo 2 2 Retention Philosophy 3 Awards and honors 4 External business ventures and investments 5 References 6 External linksBiography editHacker was born and raised in Zug and studied at ETH Zurich In a 2020 interview Hacker specified that gaming played a large role in his interest in computer science What originally drew me to computers was video games and the desire to build your own games and understand how those games are built I was somewhat obsessed 5 He moved to Pittsburgh to study at Carnegie Mellon University where he co founded Duolingo with Luis von Ahn in 2009 6 He received his BS in Computer Science from ETH Zurich in 2006 and his Ph D in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014 Founding of Duolingo editInitially Hacker and his former graduate advisor Luis von Ahn wanted to develop an application that could translate internet sites so that they would be accessible for non English speakers They felt that automated translation software wasn t as effective as using the skills and knowledge of bilingual speakers 7 During Hacker s doctoral studies Duolingo became a by product of this idea or happy mistake 8 Hacker s goal for Duolingo was to make it 100 free so the most disadvantaged person with an internet connection would still have access to it 7 Duolingo edit Hacker and his team of PhD students used machine learning to personalize Duolingo to each user Specifically they wanted to predict what language concepts the user was on the verge of forgetting In 2012 a study by American universities showed that spending 34 hours of learning on Duolingo was equivalent to a full semester of a college language course In 2015 Hacker and von Ahn started selling translations such as to the Spanish tech news group of CNN 9 Retention Philosophy edit There are two parts to Hacker s Retention Philosophy learning should be fun and motivation should remain high 9 Through Duolingo Hacker wants users to have the option to increase their stay tuned quota which involves adjusting the learning time and difficulty of the course Another idea derived from Hacker s philosophy was to apply gamification to Duolingo This was to apply game elements and principles instead of classroom learning tools to the course 9 Awards and honors editIn 2014 Hacker received the Crunchie Award for Best Startup 10 In 2014 Hacker was included in the MIT Technology Review s Top Innovators under 35 9 In 2016 Hacker and Luis von Ahn received the Tech 50 award 11 In 2019 Hacker received One Young World s Entrepreneur of the Year Award 12 External business ventures and investments editIAM Robotics a robotics company focused on autonomous fulfillment ViaHero a trip planning service creating personalized itineraries Brainbase a platform that helps companies manage and monetize their intellectual property Gridwise an app that provides information for driver demand throughout a city Abililife a company developing technologies to assist Parkinson s patients 13 References edit Siegler MG April 12 2011 Meet Duolingo Google s Next Acquisition Target Learn A Language Help The Web TechCrunch Geron Tomio September 17 2012 Duolingo Gets 15 Million To Translate The World s Text Through Online Learning Forbes Doyle Patrick A novel approach to learning languages is making the Web more accessible MIT Technology Review Duolingo The Most Popular Language Learning App Online Course Report 30 May 2018 Hudson Subrina 2020 02 28 Meet The 36 Year Old Co Founder Behind Duolingo s 1 5 Billion Valuation CSQ Magazine Events Community Retrieved 2020 03 25 Not enough people passion capital StartupTicker ch June 12 2015 a b Schneider Chloe October 23 2015 Meet the entrepreneur who is helping the world learn a new language Mashable Shandrow Kim October 7 2015 How Duolingo Mastered the Fickle Language of Startup Success Entrepreneur a b c d Clapasson Valerie March 11 2015 Effortless language learning ETH alumnus Severin Hacker talks about Duolingo in an interview ETH Zurich Spice Byron February 20 2014 Crunchie Award Carnegie Mellon University Waltz Amanda November 4 2016 Pittsburgh Technology Council announces 2016 Tech 50 award winners Pittsburgh Next One Young World Announces 2019 Winners of Entrepreneur of the Year Award One Young World 2019 06 19 Retrieved 2019 11 26 Severin Hacker External links editSeverin Hacker s official website Severin Hacker on Twitter nbsp Severin Hacker publications indexed by Microsoft Academic Severin Hacker at DBLP Bibliography Server nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Severin Hacker amp oldid 1218038039, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
