![[Heading 1] Rust Foundation [Heading 2] Silver Member Spotlight: Traverse Research [Sub-heading] featuring: Jasper Bekkers CEO of Traverse Research](/img/news/2023-06-08-member-spotlight-traverse-research/traverse.png "Traverse Research")
Welcome to another installment of the Rust Foundation Member Spotlight series! These blogs aim to introduce our community to various Rust Foundation Member organizations and their leaders. In this installment, we spoke with Jasper Bekkers, CEO of Traverse Research — the newest Rust Foundation Silver Member organization. Jasper chatted with the Rust Foundation team about the work of Traverse Research, how they use Rust, and more.
Tell us about Traverse Research. What do you do and who do you serve? #
Traverse Research is a rendering research and development company located in Breda, Netherlands. We offer specialized services to a range of respected tech companies, including AMD, ARM, Intel, Samsung, and Qualcomm.
Our focus is on advancing the state of computer graphics through research services. These services center on rendering technology based on ray tracing, rasterization, and machine learning. We also offer benchmarking capabilities at various levels of the development process, with a particular focus on the cutting edge of technology.
In addition to serving GPU hardware manufacturers, we provide our services to game studios such as Embark Studios and automotive companies like Applied Intuition, helping them to advance their rendering technology and enhance the overall quality and realism of their products. Our team is dedicated to providing top-notch services that enable our clients to create the best possible technology products, with a focus on optimizing performance and user experience.
Traverse Research also works closely with academic institutions such as the Breda University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University. We believe that collaboration with these institutions is essential for the advancement of the rendering technology field.
Furthermore, at Traverse Research, we are committed to the principles of open source and actively contribute to open source projects. We believe that open collaboration and sharing of knowledge benefit the entire industry, and we are proud to be a part of this community.
How is Traverse Research using Rust? #
At Traverse Research, we are building our own cross-platform rendering technology called the Breda Renderer. This framework is designed to make it easy to create and test advanced rendering systems and technologies such as ray tracing, and machine learning. The framework is built from the ground up directly on top of ash and windows-rs for DirectX 12 support. Our goal is to provide a user-friendly interface that enables developers to create cutting-edge graphics quickly and efficiently.
To achieve this, we are leveraging the power of the Rust programming language, which we believe is an excellent fit for our needs. We are also investing in open source crates to further enhance our platform and contribute to the larger Rust ecosystem. While we still have some code written in HLSL, we're committed to writing all our CPU-side code in Rust. We believe that this approach will enable us to create a robust and flexible platform that can serve the needs of a wide range of industries, from gaming to automotive and beyond.
Why did Traverse Research decide to join the Rust Foundation? #
Traverse Research has made a significant investment in the Rust programming language and the Rust ecosystem. We believe that investing in Rust is an investment in the future of systems programming, and we want to be part of shaping that future.
Our company is also committed to giving back to the community, given how critical open source is to the success of the tech industry. Joining the Rust Foundation is an important part of this commitment. As members of the Rust Foundation, we are now able to support the wider Rust community and be actively involved in helping to steward the language. We are proud to be part of the Rust community and look forward to continuing our work with the open source community.
Jasper, what is your personal favorite thing about Rust? #
Coming from a C++ background, it’s extremely refreshing to be able to refactor code with confidence because of the much stronger type system. This makes it nice to make large sweeping changes in the codebase, and it makes bringing code from prototype quality to production quality a breeze. Rust enables people like me to work much faster than they could traditionally.
What are Traverse Research’s hopes for the future of Rust? #
While Rust has many great upsides, there is also a lot of opportunity for growth. Beyond the normal technical advances we can expect to see from the Rust Project over time, the Rust ecosystem could benefit from increased support and adoption from educational institutions. This could lead to a larger pool of Rust developers and a greater diversity of applications and use cases.
At Traverse Research, we think all enterprise organizations that benefit from Rust should invest in its development, including its tooling, documentation, and educational resources. We would love to see a future where there are more Rust learning initiatives such as courses and programs at universities, more grants and funding for Rust projects and research, and more widespread contributions and investment from enterprise users. By doing so, we can all help Rust reach its full potential as a powerful and widely-used programming language.
Jasper Bekkers is an accomplished rendering engineer, having worked with some of the biggest names in the gaming industry. His expertise in rendering made him a highly sought-after talent in the industry. Jasper is the founder and CEO of Traverse Research, where he leads the research and development of new technologies.