Chris Schlesselman teaches High School Physics and Computer Science at ASH. But after the school day is over and the classroom is put behind him, Chris turns to this long list of projects for the rest of the day.

 

From welding in his workshop, to experimenting with fermentation and cooking, to designing and building furniture for a friend’s new restaurant, to writing code for apps, he is mostly busy creating something new. “I really, really like making things. Period,” he says.

 

After years of moving his tools between countries, Chris decided to tear down his old workshop and build a new one. He has gradually filled the space with the equipment he needs to create: a CNC machine, laser, 3D printer, welder and an assortment of tools and machines. His goal was to create a miniature version of the manufacturing capabilities he had worked with as a mechanical engineer in California.

 

The workshop is less a finished space than an ongoing project. Chris is constantly creating something for it…or making something that will allow him to make something else. At the moment, that includes a fold-down welding table, carts for his equipment and brewing supplies, and even a small can-seaming machine for his home-brewed beer. Making the equipment he needs himself, rather than purchasing it, is exactly the point. “It’s just so satisfying. And sometimes the things I want simply don't exist.”

 

His interest doesn't stop at machinery. Chris tends to follow an interest wherever it leads, often ending up somewhere quite unexpected. He describes it like falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole: one interesting subject leads to another, and then another. Brewing beer introduced him to fermentation, which led him to making his own hot sauce.

 

 

He is now bringing that same approach into an entirely different part of the school, such as the High School Theater Department. Recently, Chris has been working with students and set designers to explore how his machines and digital manufacturing skills could help turn their ideas into props and other elements for productions, like in our upcoming High School Musical, “Come From Away”.

 

Chris’ projects all come back to that same curiosity and satisfaction of creating something from the ground up. The process of making is an enjoyable way of learning, solving problems and connecting with the people around him. And judging by the growing list of projects waiting for their turn in his workshop, we can probably expect to keep stumbling across pieces of Chris’s work around ASH, but also in places we might least expect, like a restaurant somewhere in Haarlem.