Russell started his career with a BFA in Industrial Design at CMU and went on to receive an MS in Transportation Systems Design from Art Center College of Design. There his studies focused jointly on public transit systems and architectures for space exploration. His work on space architecture led to a research fellowship at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and involvement with Caltech's Keck Institute for Space Studies, resulting in novel engineering concepts published in the American Society of Civil Engineers' Earth and Space journal.

He spent the subsequent five years as Design and Development Director at a 3D printer manufacturer, managing product and application development as well as client relations. Experience gained here led to founding his own brand of 3D printed audio equipment, Singer Personal Audio.

Russell's current area of research returns to transportation with an aim to understand how public and private systems can transition to networks that are sustainable, equitable, and culturally sensitive.