Chris Raastad is a seasoned software engineer with several years of experience, specializing in backend systems, big data, web services, and cloud services. He has a strong passion for writing clean and testable code, finding ways to constantly improve development processes, and prioritizing security. Chris is a strong proponent of "keep it simple and clean" software craftsmanship and has a wealth of experience using Agile, TDD, BDD, CI, and open-source libraries.

Chris has a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Washington and dual Master's of Science degrees in Cybersecurity from Tallinna Tehnikaülikool and Tartu Ülikool / University of Tartu. He has worked at various organizations such as Bolt Mobility, TransferWise, Shazam, Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room, and Raastad.tech as a senior software developer, principle product manager, director of engineering, and software developer team lead.

Chris is a Fulbright scholar, has studied Mathematics at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, and completed the UMBC HPC REU Site: Interdisciplinary Program in High-Performance Computing at the University of Maryland. He is a former research assistant at Woodruff Scientific, Inc., and former undergraduate teaching assistant at UW CSE.