# Chris Yonge > Digital modeling and animation specialist Location: Santa Cruz, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/chrisyonge Chris Yonge is principal of StudioCruz, a 3D design/communication group based in Santa Cruz that serves the central coastal California region. StudioCruz specializes in fast moving consumer, medical, and litigation product design/development as well as visualization and rapid 3D prototyping. An experienced product designer and animator, Chris consults as expert witness on 3D visualization for major California law firms. He brings a unique and powerful set of skills to the management and fulfillment of design/visualization projects. StudioCruz' clients are creative professionals with the challenge (and opportunity) of communicating 3D structures, products, situations, events, and processes to lay audiences. Chris teaches 2D and 3D creative and technical animation at the University of California in Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley, as well as at Cabrillo College in Aptos. He is also founder of VariCruz, a company based around the intellectual property of the VariCruz mechanism, a fundamental power transmission innovation. ## Work Experience ### Continuing Lecturer @ University of California, Santa Cruz Jan 2011 – Present | Santa Cruz, California Chris teaches at UCSC Baskin School of Engineering for three quarters a year. Each Fall there is a 200 seat CMPM25 3D Computer Modeling course using the open source modeling and animation software Blender. Winter quarters bring a 60 seat CMPM26 Blender Animation follow-on, and finally for specialist game designers there is a 60 seat CMPM27 Spring course in the Adobe 3D Substance suite. All of these are part of the Computer Science (Playable Media) department of the Baskin School of Engineering at UCSC. Chris has also been a faculty member of UCSC's Digital Arts and New Media department, specializing in the use of digital modeling and animation. He taught his first creative animation course, DANM100B, in the Spring quarter of 2014. That course covered the use of 3D computer, 2D drawn, and stop motion animation for narrative and freeform animations ### Principal @ StudioCruz Jan 2001 – Present | Santa Cruz, California StudioCruz, founded 2001, is a central California design and visualization consultancy firm serving clients in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay, and Monterey Bay regions. These clients include creative professionals, litigation attorneys, and product developers. StudioCruz provides design, surface modeling, prototyping, and presentation services. Recent projects include the development of innovative medical, mechanical, and computer products in association with MakersFactory LLC, litigation exhibits relating to eminent domain - including mission-critical courtroom presentations - and animations for web sites and trade shows An experienced public speaker, Chris received a standing ovation at the 2012 TEDx Santa Cruz for his presentation on the impact of open source technologies upon design. In 2013 he gave presentations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, at Stanford University's FabLearn conference, at the Silicon Valley Forum Game Changing Technology conference, and twice at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View. In 2014 he gave presentations at Science on Tap in Santa Cruz, Hacker Dojo, and Sandbox Suites in Sunnyvale. ### Lecturer @ Cabrillo College Jan 2015 – Present | Aptos, California From January 2015 Chris taught two classes at Cabrillo College: DM72, an introduction to 2D animation using Photoshop and Animate on the MacOS platform, and ETech140, an introduction to 3D digital modeling, using Blender on Windows. He ceased to teach DM72 in 2020. ETech140 was split into two courses, ETech40 (digital modeling) and ETech43 (3D animation) in 2022. He also volunteers in the College's Fab Lab installation. ### Founder @ VariCruz Jan 2013 – Jan 2020 | Santa Cruz, California The VariCruz mechanism is a major engineering innovation, widely applicable to high efficiency variable gearing and propeller/turbine blade pitch control. It received its patent in May 2013 after six years of development. The VariCruz company is acquiring seed funding to develop production grade prototypes for eight vertical industry segments. These include bicycle gearing, machine tools, marine propeller blade pitch adjustment, wind and water turbines, and rotary wing aircraft propulsion. ### Founding partner and CEO @ MakersFactory Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Santa Cruz, California Along with Dave Britton and Jim Abendschan, Chris founded MakersFactory as an innovative center for professional services and education centered on 3-dimensional design development technologies. MakersFactory was and remains a pioneer in the teaching and use of 3D printing in the Monterey Bay area. In March 2013 Chris sold his interest in MakersFactory to pursue the VariCruz gear project but they remain good friends. MakersFactory is a supplier of 3D printed components for the latest version of the VariCruz prototype. ### Co-organizer @ Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 | Santa Cruz, California With Dave Britton and other volunteers, Chris organized and presented this leading Santa Cruz technology event, which introduces local and regional technology innovators to monthly meetings of between 80 and 120 local entrepreneurs and consultants. ### Operations Manager @ Santa Cruz Design + Innovation Center Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 | Santa Cruz, California For almost a year Chris built the Santa Cruz Design Center and ran its day to day operation, catalyzing and connecting the diverse creative professionals in Santa Cruz. Elements included organizing events and exhibitions, developing the web site, building a 1200+ membership, and participating in strategy meetings. A high point was the 25 Years of Bicycle Design Exhibition at the Museum of Art and History downtown along with an associated event at the Rittenhouse Building. ### Animator and multimedia developer @ Sun Microsystems Jan 2000 – Jan 2001 | Menlo Park, California At Sun Chris was senior technical animator/visualizer responsible for creating illustrations and animations for field service documentation of high-end workstations. Distributed on CD-ROMs and pre-installed on hard drives, the resulting multimedia reflected Sun's professional standing in the engineering community with their accuracy and usability. ### Senior Designer @ Santa Cruz Industries Jan 1999 – Jan 2000 | Santa Cruz, California This position included product design conception and detail development, materials and process sourcing, liaison with clients and management, supervision of junior designers, and oversight of prototyping and production. ### Product Design Specialist @ Bolt Group Jan 1994 – Jan 1998 | Charlotte, North Carolina As Product Design Specialist Chris worked with clients from manufacturing industry, startups, and individuals to create award winning, market building products. These ranged from medical products and sports equipment through industrial machinery and interface design. He was part of the team that won an IDSA IDEA Award for the Respose biopsy forceps. ## Education ### Master's in Design in Product Design North Carolina State University ### BA Design in Furniture and Product Design Edinburgh College of Art ### BSc Architecture in Architecture, Math, Physics The University of Edinburgh ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/chrisyonge --- Source: https://flows.cv/chrisyonge JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/chrisyonge/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13