Chris Petrillo '18 wanted to understand the physical world.
At UVM, the Vermont native tapped into his curiosity and pursued mechanical engineering.
Now Petrillo is head of product for Wikimedia LLC, a subsidiary of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Less than a decade out from graduation, Petrillo forms a major part of a global not-for-profit that hosts open and free knowledge-based projects, including Wikipedia.
Petrillo's trajectory was nonlinear, and included a few early successes and digressions.
What is clear is that Petrillo, of the recently-announced Forbes' 30 Under 30 2025 Class for his work in artificial intelligence, is exactly where he needs to be.
HIS UVM JOURNEY
Petrillo began his college journey at The Johns Hopkins University but was ultimately drawn to UVM's "educational environment and community" and transferred in. He quickly found his footing, and by his senior year, was elected Student Government Association (SGA) president.
"The UVM culture encourages students to go outside of their comfort zones, confronting difficult ideas and realities. Being exposed to new subjects and learning from failure was an important part of college for me, and the community made the experience memorable."
Hailing from a family of Catamounts didn't hurt his decision to attend either, Petrillo adds: his father (Jay Dennis Petrillo G'96) and sister (Katherine Anne Petrillo '15) are both alumni; his mother, Dr. Jane Petrillo, is Professor Emeritus in Community Development and Applied Economics at the University.
While keeping up with classes and rigorous requirements for his biomedical and mechanical engineering degree, Petrillo worked at Rasputin's Bar downtown.
He also managed to work as an emergency medical technician part-time at the Fire Department in his hometown of Williston.
The Knowledge Engineer
Following graduation, Petrillo began working for Amazon as a Knowledge Engineer on Alexa Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the accuracy of their models and their processing of natural language.
This would lead to more work in the bioinformatics and artificial intelligence space at different startups, eventually landing Petrillo at Wikimedia Foundation -- the non-profit behind Wikipedia and other free collaborative online knowledge projects (such as Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata).
Wikipedia, founded by Jimmy Wales in 2001, is one of the top ten websites in the world, with 6,700 pageviews every second and 345 edits per minute.
While Petrillo is now well-situated in this space, he experienced a lot of doubt initially. When he originally attended UVM, he had aspirations of medical school.
Then Petrillo changed his major about seven times.
"My parents were probably not the biggest fans of all the changes," he reflects, "but it took a while for me to narrow down what I wanted to do."
UVM's multidisciplinary approach allowed Petrillo to explore several career possibilities. Ultimately, Petrillo leaned into the productive capacity of his frustration.
"I remember being frustrated that I could not explain how so many of the things we use daily function or came to be."
More than the human body, Petrillo wanted to understand the physical world. Mechanical engineering made a lot of sense.
Plus, he notes, the program at UVM afforded Petrillo flexibility and the ability to satisfy the broad range of his interests, including art, biology, and literature.
"I really enjoyed taking the new upper-level classes in biomedical engineering."
His advisor, Dr. Ryan McGinnis, also made a tremendous impact. McGinnis is an Assistant Professor in Electrical, Biomedical, and Mechanical Engineering, as well as Director of the M-Sense Research Group at the University.
"His classes were part of the core engineering curriculum at the time," Petrillo shares, "And his teaching style was instrumental to my understanding of the material."
LOOKING AHEAD
Now a Seattle, Wash. resident, Petrillo misses a lot about his UVM days but says it's hard to single out any one specific thing. Outdoor sports -- hiking, skiing, and swimming -- were a perk, he reflects, alongside cross-disciplinary lab research at the UVM Medical Center.
"So much about a place becoming a home depends on the people you are with, and the memories you make over the years. I can say that I miss the first sunny campus days of April, when students just start to exit winter mode. I miss late nights studying with friends at the library, testing the limits of what is considered 'quiet' on the fourth floor. I miss hockey games and Creemees; lake views and summer nights.
"In sifting through UVM memories, for Petrillo, it comes down to the entirety of the experience.
He keeps in contact with his favorite professors and Catamount friends, and has been working on a few research collaborations with the Vermont Complex Systems Center.
Beyond that, Petrillo has plenty to occupy him these days.
"So many people volunteer their time to edit Wikipedia," Petrillo reflects. "All that content is freely accessible to millions of people across the world. I feel very fortunate to be part of the organization that supports a diverse editor community and access to human knowledge during an unprecedented explosion of information from suspect sources."
The UVM Alumni Association will honor Petrillo with the 2025 Outstanding Young Alumni Award in the fall.
Read About More Alumni Lives
UVM Alumni are living rich lives, doing astounding and impactful work in many fields, in communities around Vermont, across the US, and around the world. Here are just a few of the stories we've gotten to share recently:
Alumni Spotlight: Chris Petrillo '18
Lisa Wartenberg Vélez
Mar 13, 2025