About
Hi, I'm Oliver. Ever since I was a kid ive loved to build things: Lego contraptions, air cannons, pneumatic engines, and unnecessarily complex costumes. That curiosity to make has grown into a passion for product design. As a freshman in college I'm currently sharpening that instinct at the Iovine and Young Academy at USC, an interdisciplinary program founded by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre that fuses the disciplines of design, engineering, and entrepreneurship.
Inspired by the organic, alien-like forms, complex geometries, and unmistakable silhouettes that defined Oakley's designs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I set out to challenge myself by working within such a bold and iconic design language. This project explores a speculative scenario: what if Oakley expanded into the world of motorsport, translating the brand's distinctive eyewear aesthetics and performance-driven ethos into racing equipment and design.
Founded with Sia Gupta during our first semester at USC through SEP, a 10-week startup incubator, Torrent is a defense tech product focused on augmenting perception in close-quarters combat. Torrent enables "superhuman" vision for warfighters by leveraging real-time sensing and intelligent data processing via computer vision to improve awareness and decision-making in high-stakes environments. Inspired by the broader shift toward human augmentation in defense, as seen in efforts like Anduril's Eagle Eye, Torrent is built to enhance performance where milliseconds matter most.
After conducting problem discovery and speaking with 20+ individuals across the defense space, ranging from veterans with deployment experience to those building tools for warfighters at companies like Palantir and Anduril, we realized intel was essential to those facing life threatning situations on the battle field.
Per our interviews with soldiers we came to unanimous conclusions that the most important things on the battle field in high danger scenarios are Speed, Stealth, and Intelligence. Understanding this was especially an issue in close quarters combat, we sought to make a product taking advantage of advances in computer vision and AR related technology that would enable real time heightened awareness for warfighters.
Torrent serves as a semi autonomous land drone that houses a camera on a gimbal and compute working with our Yolo trained computer vision model which would be able to box out combatants and other enemy paraphernalia and then translate that to existing AR technologies worn by soldiers.
Home
While building of the project has slowed down, I have reconsidered the form factor of the product and the most optimal way to solve the problem at hand when thinking through a first principals lens. This decision was influenced upon further interviews with those that have combat & especially CQB experience. As of now I am learning how to utilize a raspberry Pi-5 as our compute and solder together electrical components to bring our prototype to life.
Assigned the task of reimagining the universal remote, this project invited the selection of a primary brand to reinterpret in dialogue with a secondary counterpart. I chose Teenage Engineering for its playful minimalism and meticulous attention to form, and paired it with Sonos—a brand defined by its refined functionality and seamless integration within the home electronics ecosystem.
Teenage Engineering Design Language
Sonos Design Language
Recognizing the stronger visual identity of Teenage Engineering, I chose to adopt its distinctive aesthetic language while prioritizing the functional clarity and user experience characteristic of Sonos.
Today, most TV Remotes have finicky, overly-complex, non-intuitive interfaces, as well as aesthetically unpleasing designs, and always get lost with no easy way to locate them.
A fantastical class assignment that tasked me with developing a potion for a unique purpose, I found myself drawn to the stark honesty of brutalist design—its raw forms, unembellished structure, and unapologetic clarity. I thought about applying this to my potion through both form and material.
If you are building cool things, lets connect.
I believe design reaches beyond the familiar north star of form follows function. While indispensable, truly great design does not exist solely at the intersection of utility and aesthetics. It begins with rigorous research, the careful uncovering of hidden pain points, and a clear understanding of the broader market landscape.
Great design asks not only how something should work, but why it must exist and who it ultimately serves. It translates human needs, cultural context, and technological possibility into solutions that feel both intuitive and meaningful.
At its best, design becomes nearly invisible—effortless to use, yet deliberate in its impact.
This is what I strive for.