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Dear Visitor,

Thank you for visiting my portfolio website! My name is Oliver Haas and I come from Austria and Uganda, currently studying in my second year at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA. I completed my high school education at the Vienna International School in Vienna, Austria, scoring 43 out of a total of 45 points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (link) and receiving the European Council of International Schools Award for International Understanding (link).

At Olin College I decided to pursue the option of creating my own degree concentration, which I have titled “Engineering with a Concentration in Design for Sustainability and Development.” This decision was influenced by my diverse set of passions and interests, which I felt would not be well represented in a standard engineering degree. These passions and interests include a number of different forms of design and the design process, media-related design (including web and publishing design) environmental sustainability, international development and (social) entrepreneurship. In creating my degree I hope to gain experience in a number of different areas of design, including sustainable, product, user-oriented, interface, web and publishing design and then to apply these in environmental sustainability and international development contexts. Together with a number of advisors and professors, I am working to construct a comprehensive set of courses and research opportunities that will equip me with the necessary skills to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time. In addition, I have a strong passion for entrepreneurship, which I am exercising through founding and getting involved in a number of entrepreneurial ventures.

I see myself as one of the most fortunate people on this planet, having been given chances in life which many members of our global society are not able to pursue. I see it as my obligation, therefore, to focus part of my life on supporting and empowering the less fortunate members of society effectively and sustainably.

I consider myself a true internationalist, growing up with two very different, but complementing backgrounds, attending an international school with students from 101 different nations for 13 years, travelling to and living in different parts of the world and maintaining a general embracing attitude to cultural diversity. I am also fluent in both English and German, with the ability to converse in Spanish – a language I am currently working on achieving fluency in, as well.

This online portfolio contains a small collection of my work, relating to the diverse passions and interests mentioned above. I have categorized the work into four main categories: web and publishing design work, engineering (including engineering projects and engineering design work), environmental and international development work and, finally, entrepreneurial work.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please contact me at oliverckhaas@gmail.com. I am currently looking for jobs in the areas of web, publishing, product, interaction and interface design, environmental sustainability, international development,  environmental marketing and in start-up (entrepreneurial) ventures.

Thank you, once again, for viewing my portfolio!

-Oliver Haas