Gene Haas learned the metalworking trade at an early age. As a teenager, he swept the floors of machine shops after school for extra pocket change. Later, in high school, he worked at local Southern California machine shops developing the skills that ultimately supported him while attending California State University at Northridge.
Graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Finance, Mr. Haas found job opportunities limited in the field of accounting.
To make ends meet, he continued working at various machine shops, further honing his skills and learning the trade, both on the shop floor and in the front office. In 1978 Gene Haas struck out on his own and started Proturn Engineering in Sun Valley, California. This was a small machine shop specializing in subcontractor work for the aerospace and electronics industries. Over the next five years, Proturn Engineering built a dedicated customer base and became a solid success.
This success resulted in the need for a rotary indexer to further increase the shop's productivity. Mr. Haas found the indexers available on the market to be very expensive, and cumbersome to use. So, together with Kurt Zierhut, he developed the first fully programmable 5C collet indexer in 1983. As a result, Haas Automation, Inc., was born. The Haas 5C indexer was and still is both highly accurate and very affordable.
Over the next five years, Mr. Haas designed and manufactured a full line of indexers and rotary tables, making Haas Automation, Inc., the leader in fourth-axis parts positioning. In 1987, Mr. Haas began development of a CNC vertical machining center (VMC), with the idea of providing a high-quality, easy-to-use, affordable machine for the company's current customers. A machinist himself, Mr. Haas designed the machine from both the programmer's and operator's points of view. The success of this machine -- the VF-1 -- led Mr. Haas to develop a complete line of vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers and CNC lathes.
Today, Mr. Haas continues to devote most of his time to engineering and product development. As president of Haas Automation, Inc., he enjoys traveling throughout the world visiting customers and "talking shop".
以下為百度翻譯，供中文用戶參考：
吉恩·哈斯很小就學會了金屬加工。十幾歲的時候，他放學後打掃機器店的地板，以獲得額外的零錢。後來，在高中時，他在加利福尼亞南部的機械商店工作，在加利福尼亞州州立大學諾瑟裡奇大學期間，培養了他最終獲得的技能。
哈斯1975年畢業，獲得會計和金融理學學士學位，他發現會計領域的工作機會有限。
為了維持生計，他繼續在各種機器車間工作，進一步磨練自己的技能，並在車間和前台學習這門手藝。1978年，吉恩·哈斯獨立創業，在加利福尼亞州太陽谷創辦了普洛特工程公司。這是一家小型機械加工廠，專門從事航空航天和電子工業的轉包工作。在接下來的五年裡，Proturn Engineering建立了一個專門的客戶群，並取得了巨大的成功。
這一成功導致需要一個旋轉索引器，以進一步提高該店的生產力。哈斯發現市場上的索引器非常昂貴，而且使用起來很麻煩。於是，他與庫爾特·齊爾胡特（Kurt Zierhut）一起，於1983年開發了第一台完全可編程的5C夾頭索引器。haas5c索引器過去和現在都是非常精確的，而且非常經濟實惠。
在接下來的五年裡，哈斯先生設計並製造了一整套索引器和轉台，使哈斯自動化公司成為第四軸零件定位的領導者。1987年，哈斯先生開始開發數控立式加工中心（VMC），為公司現有客戶提供高質量、易用、價格合理的機床。作為一名機械師，哈斯先生從程序員和操作員的角度設計了這台機器。這台機器——VF-1——的成功使哈斯先生開發了一整套立式加工中心、臥式加工中心和數控車床。
如今，哈斯先生繼續將大部分時間用於工程和產品開發。作為哈斯自動化公司（Haas Automation，Inc.）的總裁，他喜歡周遊世界，拜訪客戶和「聊天室」 |
