Radu B. Rusu

Timeline

1. 2004–2009

   Doctorate at TU Munich

   He graduates from the Faculty of Automation and Computer Science at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca in 2004 and earns a computer science PhD at the Technical University of Munich in 2009, summa cum laude. During the doctorate he is affiliated with Munich's CoTeSys excellence cluster and with the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI as an international fellow researcher, working on 3D semantic mapping for mobile robots.

2. 2009–2012

   Willow Garage and PCL

   From 2009 to 2012, he works as a researcher at Willow Garage, a lab that creates open source software for robotics applications. He leads the 3D computer vision efforts there that create the Point Cloud Library (PCL), which launches officially in March 2011.

3. 2011

   Open Source Software World Challenge

   In 2011, he wins the Open Source Software World Challenge with PCL. South Korea's Ministry of Knowledge and Economy awards the project first prize.

4. 2012

   Heading Open Perception

   In 2012, he becomes president and CEO of Open Perception, a non-profit launched to manage PCL after the project outgrows Willow Garage. Incorporated in California in April 2012, the organization supports open source software for 2D and 3D processing of sensory data.

5. 2013

   An IEEE early career award

   He receives the 2013 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award in the Industry/Government category, while at Open Perception. The citation honors his contributions to an open source ecosystem that fosters technology transfer in 3D perception between academia and industry.

6. 2014

   Co-founding Fyusion

   He co-founds Fyusion, Inc. in 2014 and serves as its CEO. The company builds 3D data from computer vision and machine learning software, and its .fyuse file format lets people capture 3D images with smartphones and draws more than 100 million users through consumer apps. In 2018, he describes the format as a 3D JPEG.

7. January 2021

   Fyusion joins Cox Automotive

   Cox Automotive acquires Fyusion in January 2021, and he is the computer vision company's CEO and co-founder at the time of the deal. The two companies begin working together in 2018 on imaging for the Manheim Express app.

8. As of October 2026

   Investor at Exponential

   He is an investor at Exponential, the early-stage AI investment vehicle of Cox Enterprises, based in Silicon Valley. Exponential backs companies applying AI in the real world with checks of $500k to $1m.