About Chris
A techie at heart. Chris started teaching himself how to program in 6th grade when he started building his own games. He started his career in Journalism as an infographic artist. Always a hobbyist programmer, he quickly started converting his infographics into online interactives, then on to building intuitive UI's to databases. Always focused on building something 'cool', he prides himself on continually learning, always testing out new technology.
Chris enjoys camping and traveling with the family in the RV, playing card and board games, learning new tech (especially AI), kites, petrified things, mountains and oceans.
Chris is currently looking for employment.
Skills
Web Software Developer
Designing, building, and maintaining scalable web applications and comprehensive digital solutions, with a focus on high performance and intuitive user experience.
AI Software Developer
Pioneering AI-powered solutions and agents, including chatbots, SEO analysis tools, and leveraging LLMs with RAG for context-aware responses.
Interactive Designer / UI/UX Specialist
Crafting intuitive and engaging user experiences, translating complex designs into dynamic, production-ready interactive interfaces, and leading UI development standards.
Data Visualization & Analysis
Expert Transforming complex data (election results, census, sports data, etc.) into clear, interactive visualizations and actionable insights, with a focus on intuitive and informative presentation.
Tech Stack
Frontend
Backend
Cloud & DevOps
Tools
Github Contributions
Projects
AI Notebooks
Interactive climate data explorer showing temperature trends, precipitation patterns, and environmental changes over time.
Enterprise Template
At The Washington Post, I transformed online storytelling by introducing customizable, flexible templates to replace a single restrictive design option; significantly expanded creative possibilities for the design team.
React RetroFitting: Class to Func Components
Converted older React class components to functional components and implemented Hooks as part of significant technical updates to enhance existing React-based projects.
HR ChatBot
I designed, developed, and maintained an **internal AI HR chatbot** for The Washington Post using **React, Python, RAG, and LLMs/OpenAI's API** to deliver **context-aware responses** and incorporate **user feedback mechanisms** for continuous refinement.
Mobile Publishing System
Created a proprietary HTML5/Ajax Single Page Application mobile framework system across 120+ newspapers, increasing user engagement. COMING SOON!
Census Map
Real-time stock market data visualization with candlestick charts, technical indicators, and portfolio tracking. COMING SOON!
Professional Experience
Web Software Developer / AI Engineer
Self Employed
Jan 2025 - Present
- Consultancy focused on conceptualizing, designing, and deploying engaging user experiences, interactive web applications, and tailored AI-driven solutions.
Senior Software Engineer
The Washington Post
Dec 2018 - Dec 2023
- Designed and implemented both front-end and back-end solutions to enhance the performance and scalability of digital products.
- Worked as part of the ‘AI-Pod’ for rapid development of proof-of-concept projects.
Senior Product Developer / Designer
The Washington Post
Sept 2014 - Dec 2018
- Developer embedded in the newsroom to build tools for better online storytelling.
- Build "Enterprise Template", transforming online storytelling by introducing customizable, flexible templates.
Director, Mobile Product Development
MediaNews Group
Nov 2022 - Nov 2023
- Directed the strategy, development, and execution of mobile initiatives across 120+ newspapers.
- Conceptualized, planned, and personally built proprietary HTML5/Ajax single-page application (SPA), to host all news mobile sites