Emma Haruka Iwao
Japanese computer scientist (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emma Haruka Iwao (born April 21, 1984) is a Japanese computer scientist and cloud developer advocate at Google.[5][6] In 2019 Haruka Iwao calculated the then world record for most accurate value of pi (π); which included 31.4 trillion digits, exceeding the previous record of 22 trillion.[7][8][9][10][11] This record was surpassed in 2020 by Timothy Mullican who calculated 50 trillion digits,[12][13] but she reclaimed the record in 2022 with 100 trillion digits.[14] The record was surpassed by a computer storage company in 2024, reaching roughly 105 trillion digits.[15] She identifies as queer.[16]
Emma Haruka Iwao | |
|---|---|
岩尾エマはるか | |
| Born | April 21, 1984[1] Kaizuka, Osaka, Japan[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Tsukuba |
| Awards | Guinness World Record for most accurate value of pi (π) in 2019 and 2022[3] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | Google Panasonic GREE Red Hat[4] |
| Website | blog |
Early life and education
As a child, Iwao became interested in pi, learning of the record-breaking computations of her Japanese compatriots Daisuke Takahashi and Yasumasa Kanada.[7][17] She studied computer science at the University of Tsukuba, where she was taught by Takahashi.[6][5] She was awarded the Dean's Award for Excellence in 2008, before starting graduate studies in computing. Her master's thesis considered high performance computer systems.[6] After graduating, Iwao took on several software engineering positions, working on site reliability for Panasonic, GREE and Red Hat.[5]
Career
Iwao joined Google as a Cloud Developer Advocate in 2015.[7] She originally worked for Google in Tokyo, before moving to Seattle in 2019.[4] Iwao offers training in the use of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), as well as supporting application developers.[18][19][20] She works to make cloud computing accessible for everyone, creating online demos and teaching materials.[21]
In March 2019 Iwao calculated the value of pi to 31,415,926,535,897 digits (equal to ⌊π × 1013⌋), using 170 terabytes (TB) of data.[7][22][3][23] The calculation used a multithreaded program called y-cruncher using over 25 machines for 121 days.[7][24][21] This was the first time the record had been set using a cloud computing service, and was achieved at a cost of roughly US$200,000.[25]
In March 2022 she extended the world record to 100 trillion digits of pi.[14]
