My story as a web native

I still remember that massive book my brother gave for my twelfth birthday. Back when going online meant using a modem, Netscape Communicator, and a mix of other bits and pieces of software, and it often took several minutes just to get everything up and running. But thanks to that book — and some ideas in my head as motivation — I taught myself JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create my first interactive websites in the mid-90s. Later, I learned Turbo Pascal and Delphi to build desktop software. These initial sparks led me to studying computer science, blending it with graphic design and usability engineering.

While hacking away on university assignments and small open-source side projects, I began designing and building a CMS for a local web agency.It was cutting-edge technology at the time, featuring a WYSIWYG editor and in-place editing — and it helped pay my bills.

Driven by curiosity about living and working abroad, I took a junior researcher position at the University of Trento in Italy in 2007. Two years later, I moved on to work as a research engineer at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Germany.

That time was invaluable for my growth, but I also realized that I wasn’t cut out for the 9-to-5 office life. So, in 2013, I began freelancing as a web technology consultant and developer, gaining experience in marketing, technical writing, and communications along the way.

In 2017, I started my deep dive into distributed ledger technology and, by the end of the year, joined the Nimiq Project as full-time contractor.

If you speak German and enjoy mystery adventures, you might find Hollow White an interesting project. It began in 2020 during a conversation with an old friend about a book he’d written and how great it would be to turn it into an interactive reading experience — something between a traditional book and a role-playing game. Readers can collect items, make decisions, and shape how the story unfolds. I started developing hollowwhite.de at the end of 2020 as a side project, and we launched the full version in late 2022, adding a read-aloud function in 2023. The source code is available on GitHub.

Also in 2023, I joined the COOP project, a non-profit initiative to establish a global standard for carbon accounting. I’m currently developing a prototype to present to potential investors.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked on a wide variety of projects, teams, frameworks, and management approaches. I’ve collaborated with private companies, universities, research centers, startups, and NGOs/NPOs. I’ve learned that loving what you do is essential, that working culture matters just as much as the software stack, and that project management is often underestimated.

I’ve also honed my communication and writing skills. Since 2022, I’ve been working on my first novel, weaving together everything I’ve learned about history and human behavior in light of the current AI boom and the fears and doubts it has sparked. My goal is to reflect on the prevalent “doom and gloom” mindset in popular culture, debunk misconceptions, and replace fear with a clear, hopeful path forward for humanity. I aim to release the novel by the end of 2026.

As I’ve moved through projects, I’ve also moved across countries and continents, becoming an avid traveler with a passion for immersing myself in new cultures and ideas. Over the years, I’ve lived in Germany, Italy, Greece, Australia, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and Spain, and I’ve come to deeply appreciate what a beautiful, diverse place our little blue planet is.

At my core, I strive for harmony — with myself, with friends and colleagues, and with nature as a whole.