Hi there, my name is
Radison Akerman.
I rapidly develop high-quality web utilities that perform at scale. Currently, I'm studying Computer Science + Business @ UIC, project managing a team of 7, and mentoring CPS students on behalf of the UIC Cities Project.
Celebrating 1,250 games played!
01. About Me
Hello there! I’m Radison, a software engineer, 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 rocket company, an R1 research university, a U.S. Senate campaign, a start-up, and an event management group. Just this past summer, I was a Software Engineering Intern on the Starship Software team at SpaceX! I had an absolute blast helping build the largest rocket on planet Earth.
I’m 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 and shipped 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 three distinct 300-level guest lectures at UIC and one lecture internally at SpaceX 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 over 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 build things with my hands (woodworking, small electronics), volunteer in the community, and compete in endurance triathlons. In August 2022, 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
Aug 2021 - Present // Chicago, IL
- Organized 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
Software Engineering Intern, Starship Software @ SpaceX
May 2023 - Sep 2023 // Starbase, TX
- Owned Starship Config Signoff, a critical flight reliability tool used by 100+ Starship engineers to validate 1M+ vehicle config values
- Spearheaded development of 10+ features into Signoff: rebuilt Flask APIs, new SQLAlchemy query structure, refreshed React UI
- Integrated a vehicle software verification Python script concurrently into SpaceY, a next-gen operations platform using Rust, Bazel
- Built functioning UI mockups in Lit, CSS as part of Starship software deploys rework, participated in design conversations and CDRs
Section Leader @ Stanford University
Apr 2021 - Jul 2023 // Remote
- Section led Code in Place 2021, 2023 — a free, human-centric, intro-to-coding course
- Helped instruct over 10,000 students on the fundamentals of Python and computer science principles
- Worked one-on-one with all age groups, built office-hours-esque curriculum tailored to the 4 week course
Executive Operations Director @ Pulqra
Feb 2020 - Feb 2023 // 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
03. Projects
- Vibhav Bansal WebsiteArchived
A razor-sharp business portfolio website for a nationwide leader in Neuroscience
Nuxt
Cloudflare Workers/KV
Tailwinds
- Space and Key
A full-stack web app streamlining data entry between physical accesses and spaces
Nuxt
Auth0
SQL
Tailwinds