My name is Maria Santos. I was involved in architecture long before I attended college, as I come from a family of Architects who exposed me, from an early age, to freehand sketching, technical drawings and helped develop my spatial visualization ability. I remember spending hours in my father’s studio watching everyone work. In fact, my first “project” was made in ARRIS, designing my bedroom!

I was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal and have traveled around the world. I decided to move to the U.S. because I loved the work ethic present here. I’m open to relocating to a new location to pursue my career goals. I do not require a sponsorship to work as I already have my U.S. work permit.

I’ve spent the last year working in the U.S. as an architect and a designer where I learned the imperial system, construction details specific to the U.S. as well as started sharpening my skills with Revit. As soon as I start working under a licensed architect, I will immediately apply for my AIA designation. I’m currently in the process of obtaining my LEED accreditation, as sustainability has always been one of my main concerns when developing a new project, as you will be able to see from my Master’s Thesis, where I designed an Eco-Neighborhood.

I have my Bachelor’s in Architecture and Master’s in Urban Planning from the top college in Portugal, the University of Architecture of Lisbon, which was ranked 51st worldwide in 2017 by topuniversities.com. I have also won two national awards, one for having the best Project Thesis in Urban Planning at my University, the other for Honorable Mention in ARCHIPRIX Portugal 2015 for my thesis “Re-Urbanization of the Models of Occupancy of the City”.

My ambition to work for a company that fosters cultural diversification comes from having lived in three other countries before moving to the U.S. as well as having managed two properties aimed at providing accommodations for foreigners while I studied. I believe a multinational environment constantly challenges the way I see and approach problems.