You can reach me by email: tomchr at neurochrome dot com.

Resume: Tom Christiansen, Resume

LinkedIn Profile: Tom Christiansen, LinkedIn

I’ve been living in the Greater Seattle Area since the fall of 1999. I love the Pacific Northwest. The laid-back coffee culture, the moody weather, the scenery. Though presently in the US, I could easily see myself living in British Columbia or western Alberta as well.

My interest in electronics started well over 30 years ago. I’ve been employed in the field since 1991 and in 2002, I earned my Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Washington, Seattle. In my day job as a Senior Circuit Design Engineer at Texas Instruments, I design precision analog circuits for use in cellphone base stations.

I’m still amazed by the simplicity of vacuum tubes. The fact that one can build a perfectly good audio amplifier with one tube and a couple of passives offers a sort of Zen-like quality to the design that I rarely experience from semiconductor designs. In addition to the technical challenges of vacuum tube audio design, I also enjoy the multifaceted aspects of the projects. Many of my projects involve some amount of artistic design, metalwork, and woodwork.

Another interest of mine is leadership and organizational behavior. Sadly, these areas tend to be under-prioritized at many companies, as they are not guaranteed to provide revenue growth next fiscal quarter but are rather more likely to provide a long-term benefit. It is, however, interesting to note that many software companies are ‘getting it’. And as a result, they are reaping the long-term benefits in form of lower employee turnover, higher employee satisfaction, fewer sick days, and, ultimately, a stronger bottom line. I tend to approach leadership from a psychological point of view with focus on communication, human interaction, and transactional analysis.

Design Philosophy

My philosophy is simple: Engineering : : Done : : Right.

I set my customers and clients up for success. I provide circuits and circuit boards that are well tested, peer reviewed, and well documented. My boards have all been prototyped before production and the bugs have been ironed out. The board layout does matter for circuit performance. If you want precision performance – i.e. low susceptibility to electromagnetic interference and low noise – the board needs to be optimized for signal integrity. This is especially important in circuits that require high signal-to-noise ratio, such as audio circuits, and in circuits that is exposed to fast current spikes, such as high voltage regulators and switching regulators.

All circuits and circuit boards offered on this page are peer reviewed and have been optimized for signal integrity and circuit performance. In addition, all audio circuits have been extensively tested by listening tests.