Raised in St. Louis, MO, Chris majored in English Literature and History under a National Merit Scholarship at the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he worked in the University's computer science department and as an assistant editor for the Journal of Chemical Physics.

After graduation he traveled extensively throughout North America (mostly by motorcycle!) before relocating to Santa Rosa, CA. There, he learned optical fabrication, thin film coating and CNC manufacturing technologies at OCLI, now part of JDS Uniphase. Chris then moved to southern China in 1998 and has called it home ever since. He has extensive experience as a freelance journalist for several Chinese newspapers (Global Times, China Daily) while also working in rapid manufacturing, content marketing and mobile electronics.

His specialty is technical writing, especially when it comes to explaining traditional manufacturing, 3D printing and material science to a lay audience.