Chris Airola

Chris has been a career entrepreneur who can bring an idea from the whiteboard to full production and release. He has collaboratively developed and executed the business plans and product strategies for each of the companies he has co-founded, which have given him experience with both success and failure in the Web and Software industries.

Chris is currently the CTO of HomeSavvi (formerly Alphabet Lane.) Prior to HomeSavvi, Chris was the CTO and co-founder of Red Llama, Inc. He was integral in developing the vision of Red Llama’s SimPraxis, an interactive software platform for medical simulation and training, and translating that vision into the release of SimPraxis v1.0. He co-developed the business plan and investment strategies for the company and hired an experienced CEO to take the company forward.

Chris is also a founding member of Stronghold Productions, an arts non-profit seeking to provide access to tools, knowledge and financial resources for artists in the Greater Seattle area. He was CTO and co-founder of Static Factory Media, and artist development organization. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, he was a research engineer at the HITLab at the U of WA. He holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering and is an active member of Execunet, WSA, SIG-CHI, and many Seattle entrepreneurial communities.

Employer:	HomeSavvi (formerly Alphabet Lane)
Position:	Chief Technology Officer
Time period:	January 2007 - Present
Description:	Co-created the product development plan and product roadmaps. Hired and managed multiple concurrent development teams located in Seattle, France, and India. Worked with the founding COO to manage the network and technology infrastructure for scalability and functionality. Co-conceptualized and modeled the core architecture of the company’s consumer facing social media website. Co-designed the master business plan and proforma with the founders. • Worked with the founders to conceptualize and specify the website’s user experience and design. • Conceptualized and created numerous Functional Requirements Documents for the development of new features.

Employer:	Stronghold Productions
Position:	Founder, Board Member, Secretary
Time period:	January 2005 - Present
Description:	Participated in conceptualizing the organization’s primary mission to foster expression and community involvement by operating as a catalyst for creative activity and experience by providing access to tools, knowledge, and financial resources and removing barriers to artistic production and distribution. Co-developed the master business plan and proforma. • Was interviewed by the press and delivered presentations at forums, including Dorkbot Seattle.

Employer:	Wax Orchard
Position:	Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, Board Member
Time period:	January 2004 - December 2005
Description:	Architected the technology backbone needed to establish a complete online presence and e-commerce system.

Employer:	The Machine
Position:	Director of Technology
Time period:	January 2004 - December 2005
Description:	Co-developed technology, grant proposals, and the project for Burningman 2005. Co-developed an eight-channel, seven-day, continuous soundtrack and audio sculpture for the project. Managed the technology teams and finances. Played a key role in raising more than $86,000 via grants, private donors, and fundraising events.

Employer:	Red Llama, Inc.
Position:	Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Time period:	January 2003 - December 2007
Description:	Co-designed the master business plan and proforma. Participated in establishing and hiring the advisory board, CEO, and business and technical strategists. Co-created the product development plan and product roadmaps. Co-developed and presented the company’s vision and technology vision to financing/investment forums in the Northwest and along the West Coast; demonstrated SimPraxis to numerous academic and business leaders. Worked with law firms to draft C-Corp business documents, private placement memorandums, employment agreements, and trademark and patent applications. Managed network and technology infrastructure. Developed and maintains the company website. Coordinated small, custom development projects. Cultivated strategic relationships. • Specified operations technology and implemented technology infrastructure. Drove systems integration R&D for new technologies. • Played an instrumental role in securing angel investment funding. • Initialized a project—SimPraxis, an interactive surgical simulation platform—early in the company’s development, which became the main focus for the company. Played a key role in developing the vision of the simulation software engine and translating that vision into the release of SimPraxis v1.0.

Employer:	Static Factory Media LLC
Position:	Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, Board Member
Time period:	January 2002 - December 2005
Description:	Performed CIO and COO duties in the early stages of startup. Specified, researched, developed, and released internal and external software. Assisted in hiring development, system administration, sales, marketing, and public relations teams. Managed the development of integrated web software packages for the company’s online promotion and distribution. Conducted competitive and market analyses. Created investor reports and delivered presentations at annual meetings. • Contributed significantly in developing the company’s business plan and securing angel funding. • Architected, from the ground up, the company’s network and technology infrastructure, which managed websites for 120 clients. • Created, within three years, profitable hosting and web development divisions for the company. • Partnered with the CEO to close down the company, including selling assets and reconciling all debts.

Employer:	University of Washington Human Interface Technology Lab (UW HITLab)
Position:	Research Engineer
Time period:	January 1996 - December 2001
Description:	Developed and managed projects involving wearable computers, driving simulators, surgery simulators, interactive home networks, and eight-channel audio systems. • Functioned as a key member of a team that obtained second-round funding for the Madigan endoscopic sinus surgery simulator. Collaborated in developing Phase Two and Three simulation content and testing protocols. Published several papers on the objective measure of performance on the simulator versus performance in the operating room. • Served as the lead engineer/developer for the content and audio technology subgroups of the Kodak immersive experiences project. Developed 3D soundscapes and interaction software to be incorporated into a smart home system. Coordinated three four-person multidisciplinary teams in securing Phase C funding for an additional 14 months of development. • Managed the HITLab’s virtual reality audio lab and RealDrive driving simulator. Designed, specified, and built hardware devises for the lab’s human interface and human factors studies. Specified and purchased interface, wearable computing, audio, simulation hardware and motion tracking equipment. Incorporated real-time video tracking and object recognition to the wireless wearable hardware prototype system. • Participated in the development of the Augmented Groove and Magic Book exhibits at SIGGRAPH 2000.

Employer:	Sensitize
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2004
Description:	Developed a spatial eight-channel sound system in Max/MSP for Sensitize theater production.

Employer:	Spheres of Transformation
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2003
Description:	Developed a spatial four-channel sound system in Max/MSP for Burningman 2003.

Employer:	Ze Arc
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2002
Description:	Developed Ze Arc’s interactive eight-channel sound system for Burningman 2002.

Employer:	well
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2001
Description:	Incorporate custom Max/MSP eight-channel interactive audio system with video tracking for well, an interactive media installation with Juniper Shuey for UW’s BFA program.

Employer:	milkmilklemonade.net
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2001
Description:	Co-developed an interactive audio/video installation for the Whitney Museum of American Art’s BITSTREAMS Exhibit.

Employer:	Parabola
Position:	Software Engineer
Time period:	December 2000
Description:	Co-developed a multiparticipant, interactive audio/video installation that was shown at the Bellevue Art Museum’s Pacific Northwest Annual 2000 Exhibit as well as at the Cornish College of the Arts BFA Exhibits.

University:	Marquette University
Time period:	1991 - 1996
Degree:	Biomedical Engineering, BSc

Articles:

• Red Llama’s Youth Services projects presented at the IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference in San Diego by Peter Gruenbaum 10-2006. The paper is entitled “Technological Creativity in Low-Income Neighborhoods” and it describes various creative technology classes taught at the Yesler Terrace Neighborhood in Seattle. • Poupyrev, I., Airola, C., Billinghurst, M., Kato, H. Augmented Groove Collaborative Jamming in Augmented Reality, ACM SIGGRAPH 2000, July 23rd-28th, New Orleans, USA. • Charles Edmond, M.D., David Heskamp, Major Glen Mesaros, M.D., Suzanne Weghorst, Christopher Airola, Don Stredney, Dennis J. Sessanna, Roger Crawfis, Naeem Shareef, Gregory J. Wiet and Jeffrey Miller (1998). ENT SURGICAL SIMULATOR Final Report - Cooperative Agreement No. DAMD17-95-2-5023 - HITL Technical Report R-99-14. Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5012 U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. • Weghorst, S., Airola, C., Oppenheimer, P., Edmond, C.V., Patience, T., Heskamp, D., Miller, J. (1998). Validation of the Madigan ESS Simulator. In Proceedings of Medicine Meets Virtual Reality. Art, Science, Technology Healthcare (R)evolution, pp. 399-405. • Weghorst, S., Airola, C. and Oppenheimer, P. (1997). Formal Evaluation of the Madigan Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Simulator (September R-97-34). Seattle: University of Washington, Human Interface Technology Laboratory.

Patents:

pending