Technology, in every way, shape and form, has always been my passion. Imagine me at seven years old, tinkering around with cables, batteries, light bulbs and speakers, building primitive “alarm systems” onto doors, triggering when somebody would open them.. well to the annoyance of my parents. :D
I soon moved into computers, realizing that this strange thing called “Internet” could answer me everything that I wanted to know. Often I spent hours into the night (which back then meant nine o’clock of course) sitting in front of the screen, digging into everything that interested me.
When I received my first iPod at the age of twelve, I soon (well, besides listening to far to much music) jumped into taking apart mobile games, looking into how they store powerups, unlocks, high scores, etc. Luckily for me, most of the time it was just an unencrypted .plist or .txt file, making it very easy to tweak the numbers up a little. I mean, when Flappy Bird was a thing, it was pretty cool to show off my high score of 1000 or so. ;)
What actually got me into programming was once again a video game. On one of my late night internet session I stumbled across the Minecraft-Mod “ComputerCraft”, that made it possible to program computers and turrets with Lua. By quite some trial and error and with the help of some YouTube-Tutorials (thank you so much ReduceTheBlock!) I teached myself the basics of programming, and well, I seemingly somehow stuck with it.
This was also the time when I had to decide which high school I would attend. I went with the HTL Salzburg, which was probably one of the best decisions of my life. Because, although it was a very challenging experience, I enjoyed every second of it: Being it the hard but sooo fascinating math, the (very long) days spent in nerdy laboratories, and all the amazing people I had the honour to meet there, students and teachers alike - many of them I am still friends with to this day.
During my high school years, I also picked up a weekend gig at my family’s night club as a “Light Jockey,” running a small flight-cockpit of hundreds of buttons (moving heads, lasers, strobes, CO2 jets, the LED wall) and improvising it all live next to the DJ. Over the years I got to work with a lot of really cool DJs, including some on the international circuit, and seeing the contrast between their on-stage personas and who they actually were off-stage was always a fun part of the job.
As I continued to explore, I found my way back to modding Minecraft. This time, I dived deeper into creating PvP hacks like tracers and ESP, battling with OpenGL and wishing I had more knowledge in Linear Algebra back then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I shared these mods with my friends, and together we enjoyed pushing the limits of the game.
After graduating from HTL, I spent a year (July 2019 to June 2020) completing my civil service, which was extended to 12 months due to the corona pandemic. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy that time, as it made me feel like my skills were pretty underutilized and my contributions undervalued.
In autumn 2020, I got the chance to work at Raiffeisenbank in their Raiffeisen Technik Zentrum. While I appreciated the opportunity, working mostly on legacy software wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I was grateful for the experience, but I knew I wanted something that aligned more with my interests and goals.
Fortunately, an old colleague from back at the night club called me up about an opening at Authentic Vision around that time, and in January 2021 I joined them. It turned out to be a fantastic three-year run. The tech stack was a pleasure to work with, my colleagues were not only highly intelligent but also had a great sense of humor, and together we built some seriously cool stuff. A lot of them I’m still in touch with today. I only ended up leaving in summer 2024, when I moved to Switzerland for the MSc.
In autumn 2021, when all the corona-dust somewhat started to settle down, I decided to hit the books again and started a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Salzburg, cutting my weekly hours at Authentic Vision to 22 to make room for it. Salzburg was a good place to ease into university life and I made some great friends along the way.
Roughly halfway through the BSc I decided to take the biggest leap of my academic life so far and apply for the MSc Cyber Security at ETH Zürich. The application process was long and nerve-wracking - a 3-page CV, a 1000-word motivation letter, recommendation letters, language certificates, the whole pipeline - and I genuinely wasn’t sure I’d make it through. When the acceptance eventually came in, it felt completely surreal, and looking back, it has genuinely changed the trajectory of my life.
Before the MSc actually started, I got the chance to spend an exchange semester at ETH already during the BSc, in spring 2024, which gave me a great first taste of what was coming. I ended up writing my BSc thesis there at the Sensing, Interaction & Perception Lab on a project called VitalVision - a mobile platform for real-time signal-quality monitoring of wearable ECG/PPG data. (It later received an award from the PLUS Computer Science department, which I was very honored about.)
The MSc itself started in autumn 2024 and has been everything I hoped for and then some. The courses are demanding in the best way, the professors and assistants are top of their field, and almost every week I get to dive into something I would not have been exposed to anywhere else. Beyond the academics, Zürich itself has turned out to be a fantastic place to live: the international student crowd, the lake within walking distance, the mountains a short train ride away, the steady rotation of cool talks and events to drop into. I’ve made friends from countries and backgrounds I’d never have crossed paths with otherwise, and the circle just keeps growing semester by semester. Hands down the best decision I’ve ever made.
In spring 2025 I did another exchange semester, this time at EPFL in Lausanne. Different campus, French-speaking environment, a completely new crowd of people. I worked on my semester thesis with the HexHive security group (more on that under projects) and came back to Zürich knowing what feels like half the hackers in Switzerland.
Alongside the MSc, I’ve also been working as a research assistant at the Network Security Group at ETH, where I get to design the graded course projects, help teach a course with 350+ students, and contribute to SCION - the new internet architecture being developed at the group.
Outside of the strictly academic side, I’ve gotten quite deep into CTFs (mostly pwn) with the 0rganisers team, am part of the local DEFCON Switzerland chapter, and currently serve as president of KÖS, the Klub der Österreichischen Studierenden in Zürich. I also really enjoy giving the occasional guest lecture - most recently one at FH Salzburg on mobile app reverse engineering.
When I’m not busy with work or studying, I love to let loose and have some fun. Hitting the nightlife and grooving to techno music is always a blast, and I’m a big fan of inviting a bunch of friends over for board or video games. I also really enjoy nature, taking a walk in the neighbouring woods to unwind. Food-wise, I love exploring new (vegetarian) dishes at restaurants and sharing my finds with family and friends. Speaking of family, I cherish the time spent with them, especially when it comes to my dad’s seriously good cooking and my mum’s even better desserts. Growing up in a family of mostly chefs certainly spoils you a little.
My passion for technology is always with me. I’ve dived into loads of hardware and software projects, turning every corner of my apartment into a smart space. One of my proudest (and, okay, maybe a bit silly) achievements is my electrically extendable sofa that I can control with my phone. These personal projects are a blast and super educational, helping me learn new skills and broaden my knowledge.
I’m always on the lookout for new challenges. Eager to learn, grow, and share my experiences with others, my journey has been filled with ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m excited to see what the future holds and how technology will continue to shape our world.