Hi there, my name is
Radison Akerman.
I lead teams who deliver exceptional digital experiences. Currently, I'm studying CS + Business @ UIC, project managing a team of 7, and co-building Pulqra – a mission capitalist creative marketing collective.
Check out my lecture at UIC!01. About Me
Hello there! I’m Radison, a creative leader, project manager, computer science student, and professional photographer. My interest in digital technology started back in middle school when I tinkered with microcontrollers and competed in FIRST LEGO League competitions — it turns out you can learn a lot from bits of plastic and expensive servos.
Fast-forward to today, where I’ve had the privilege of working at a R1 research university, a department of the U.S. government, a U.S. Senate campaign, a start-up, and an event management group. Nowadays, you’ll find me relentlessly building and operationally leading Pulqra, a creative marketing collective with over 200 collaborations worldwide.
I’m also juggling quite a few responsibilities at the University of Illinois Chicago. For starters, I am studying computer science and business full-time (with a 4.0 GPA, whoop!). I also project manage and work directly with 6+ software developers under the College of Engineering. Together we've developed over 10 full-stack web applications used by 1000's on campus.
Making an impact is part of my DNA, especially when it comes to personal projects. I recently gave two distinct 300-level guest lectures at UIC about Exploding Chickens — a popular web-based card game I built with my friends. We dove deep into project management, design patterns, code review, and test coverage.
Exploding Chickens fanned the flames (literally) and acted as a springboard for both my professional skills and further projects down the line. I now independently host 10 web services, 2 web products generating revenue, and 5 organizational members who help make these ideas a reality.
In my spare time, I love to building things with my hands (woodworking, small electronics), volunteering in the community, and competing in endurance triathlons. Just this past summer, I finished 214th out of 2,456 in the Chicago Triathlon, Olympic distance — my first ever multisport race.
02. Experience
Where I've Worked
Lasting impacts. Pushing things further.
Project Manager & Software Engineer @ University of Illinois Chicago
Sep 2021 - Present // Chicago, IL
- Managed a team of 7 web developers working on over 10 large-scale, full-stack web applications
- Developed and maintained custom full-stack web applications on Nuxt, Laravel, Vue/React, SQL, used by 3,000+ users
- Integrated new project management software (Paymo) and maintained framework templates/documentation in Github
- Single-handedly developed and published a Shibboleth (SAML SSO) to Express (Node.js) authentication package on npm
- Drafted and enforced university IT policies and procedures, identified data risks across all 500+ faculty and staff
Executive Operations Director @ Pulqra
Mar 2020 - Present // United States
- Co-built and operationally led Pulqra, a mission-capitalist creative marketing collective
- Reimagined businesses and artists by designing over 5 commercial websites and social portfolios from scratch
- Rendered services to over 200 clients worldwide — from photography to social media management to copywriting
Digital Lead @ Steven Olikara for U.S. Senate
May 2022 - Sep 2022 // Milwaukee, WI
- Completely rebuilt campaign website from the ground up using Nuxt, Tailwinds, visited by 1,000’s of Wisconsinites daily
- Secured sensitive campaign data and digital infrastructure against cyber attacks using Cloudflare, NGP VAN, Informr
- Worked with a team of web developers and content creators to rapidly push media; took photographs in the field
Web Security Intern @ U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Oct 2021 - Jun 2022 // Remote
- Penetration tested dmeinterns.org using Wireshark, SQLmap, and other web scanning tools, evaluated WordPress plugins
- Created strict security standards for 250+ interns, conducted phishing campaigns on all website users
- Educated other VA departments on password protocol and breach prevention through Slack
Software Engineering Intern @ University of Illinois Chicago
Jun 2021 - Sep 2021 // Chicago, IL
- Maintained and redesigned a custom space-and-access management system using Laravel, Vue, SQL
- Created new documentation and issue reporting standards with Atlassian Jira, Bitbucket, increasing readability by 3-fold
- Presented projects to university admin and trained faculty/staff on application usage regularly (via MS Teams, Calendly)
03. Projects
Other Neat Stuff
Mighty projects. Huge breadth.
May blow your socks off.
Space and Key
A full-stack web app streamlining data entry between physical accesses and spaces
Nuxt
Auth0
SQL
Tailwinds
ImpackAI
An inventory management and purchase order platform built for small packaging warehouses
Node.js
Express
MongoDB
Auth0
HTML/CSS
RAkerman Pace Clock
A pair of meshed swim pace clocks built using neopixel segments and Particle.io microcontrollers
Particle.io
C++
Small Electronics
Mesh Networking