Chris is a chemical engineer by training.  He started his career as a process development engineer at the Lubrizol Corporation, part of Berkshire Hathaway.  After several years in engineering roles he went back to get his law degree and moved to an in house legal role providing commercial and legal support to business units in the chemical and performance material markets. He added an MBA while in an R&D management role and was then named lead counsel for Lubrizol’s Life Sciences division.  About 8 years ago he moved to BASF where, as assistant GC for IP, he supports multiple operating divisions for all US IP topics, including trade secrets.  BASF is a significant material supplier to the automotive industry, especially through its Performance Materials division.