TCT Focus: Chris Harris

Author, lecturer and consultant - Chris Harris is a true expert in the field. Trained as an engineer, Chris has been involved in various industries and has also been greatly involved with setting up a new governmental department in the U.K. known as Foresight. But Chris is probably known best for his work on the New Industrial Revolution, as he is a leading authority on the future development of RP technologies. He has written and lectured on the subject many times and is just beginning his campaign in the U.S. Read on and make sure that you are ready for the future of RP technology and industry - a future which Chris asserts is closer than you may think.

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you become interested in your field? What was your education like?

I studied and trained as a product design/development engineer. To my credit, I made deputy design manager at A.P Besson (a leading U.K. telecoms OEM) by age 21. Also at that time, I was lead design engineer for the world's first multifunctional telephone: the 'Venue 24E.'

Later, I had a spell in commercial lighting, taking on the dual role of design engineer and CAD/Concurrent Engineering project leader. I cut my teeth in project management during that tenure.

However, c.1992, I came across an opportunity in the aerospace industry that really appealed to me, and after five years, I made my way up to Aerospace Program director, driving the overall design, development and integration of new platform In-flight Entertainment Systems. I worked with dozens of aerospace companies. The more renowned include GEC, Rockwell-Collins, Boeing, American Airlines and British Airways. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience; the projects consisted of a diverse range of technologies, huge design and system engineering challenges, super-teams made up of hundreds of engineers, involving everything from systems analysis to mechanical engineering to industrial automation to product design to system integration, and more. The development labs looked pretty much like a scene from a Terminator movie.

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