With over 20 years of experience in applied cryptography, Kris works as a Cryptography Architect at PQShield. Educated in mathematics and shaped by extensive experience in software engineering, his role centres on defining how post-quantum cryptography should be engineered for real systems—particularly those operating under strict resource constraints. He works on implementation strategies for devices with limited memory, ensures predictable and secure execution behaviour, and designs side-channel-aware approaches that align algorithm structure with platform behaviour. Kris thrives at the boundary of research and engineering, where theoretical constructions must be translated into robust, maintainable, and secure cryptographic solutions. His work draws on an approach to research that blends exploratory thinking with engineering discipline, aiming to turn experimental ideas into practical cryptographic solutions that can be deployed at global scale.
Kris contributes to PQShield’s post-quantum cryptographic libraries and FIPS-validated components. His work includes adapting algorithms into memory-efficient layouts, creating hardened execution paths for embedded processors, and refining routines for microcontroller architectures. He helps turn evolving standards into implementable designs, validating behaviour across architectures, and ensuring consistent performance on platforms with tight timing, memory, or integration limits.
Outside of work, Kris enjoys sport, experimenting with new technologies, and travelling—usually to whichever city the IETF has chosen for a week of debating protocol drafts in windowless meeting rooms, a hobby he openly admits is objectively strange. He is also a dad of two future rockstars in a field that doesn’t exist yet but will almost certainly involve post-quantum something—his most demanding (and least compliant) customers so far.