Chris Lam received his Ph.D. in Technical Communication and MS in Technical Communication and Information Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology. His research interests apply linguistic politeness theory to various issues in technical communication, particularly to computer-mediated communication. He is also interested in discovering unique ways to apply quantitative research methods, including experimental research, to technical communication scholarship. Dr. Lam is a member of the Association for Business Communication and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with Anna, his wife, James, his son, and Maggie, his dog.