Alessandra de Santis is also known as Hydra Design as an employee of Hydra Armaments, which is a family-owned company from northern Italy specializing in weapon accessories and tactical equipment. The experienced knife enthusiast, has been collecting, testing and comparing countless knives since the age of 14 and is the author of numerous reports and articles published in a wide variety of trade magazines. As an industrial chemist by profession, she can draw on a wide range of expertise in steels and materials. She is also a firearms enthusiast and a Filipino Martial Arts practitioner.