Sustainability and Development Engineer, Project Manager, Public Relations Specialists
Contact MeHello! I am Nicholas Raven. I am a Sustainability and Development Engineer, a Project Manager, a Public Relations Specialists.
My goal is to combine my knowledge of public relations and sustainable energy practices and develop opportunities for regenerative and sustainability practices.
August 2017 - Present
Course Work
Capstone Project:
To design and deliver sustainable, resilient energy resources into refugee encampments. This project addresses the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees' priority of safe, sustainable, and resilient energy to the 6.5 million displaced persons worldwide.
Urban Development:
Recommended sustainable opportunities for the City of Grand Prairie, Texas' redevelopment of the downtown area. This recommended rebranding the downtown area as an artesian food destination and included sustainable options such as: bioswales for storm drainage, solar assisted street lamps, urban and rooftop gardens to reduce the heat island effect.
Sustainability:
Dole Plantations: Reviewed and recommended sustainable practices for Dole's plantations, carbon capture and sequestration during processing and transportation of products.
Cold Pressed Juice Companies in the Dallas area: Reviewed the sustainable practices by the cold pressed juice companies within the Dallas area and recommended sustainable practices that included producing energy for their juicing plant using biofuel created from their pulp waste.
Hydroponic Farming proposal for SMU's Taos Campus Technologies in Sustainability course project. Conducted research and proposed a shovel ready project to hydroponic farm the most common vegetables and herbs for SMU's Taos campus cafeteria.
Project Management Proposals
Video Assisted 9-1-1 App for the Functionally Deaf Community. Developed a proposal and project outline for a video assisted 9-1-1 App for the functionally deaf community. Defined the project outline which included a timeline, ghant chart, Critical Path Method for the deliverable schedule, statement of work, and proposed budget.
Night lighting for nocturnal animals. Proposed replacing the current public street light with nocturnal animal friendly lights to reduce the light pollution, provide a normal night time to allow for nocturnal animal's natural migratory patterns. Conducted research, developed the proposal, budget, timeline, and critical path for the deliverable schedule.
Embedded Braille currency. Proposed embedding braille into our currency to allow for monetary value identification for the blind and limited sighted community. Conducted research, developed the proposal, budget, timeline, the CMP, and schedule for deliverables.
July 2004 - August 2012
Senior Project Manager/Trainer, August 2010 - August 2012. Developed training programs in various topics across the unit. Trained 445 assigned personnel on advanced photojournalist techniques to include: lighting, composition, and story writing for print and broadcast.
Tuskegee Airmen Convention, August 2010. Developed the proposal to provide public affairs support for the 2010 Tuskegee Airmen Convention. Delegated personnel and equipment to ensure successful task completion. Coordinated with local convention sponsors, developed a timeline for deliverables and final project completion. Oversaw the day to day assignments of 13 journalists, videographers, and photojournalists.
Exercise Global Medic, June 2009. Acquired personnel, equipment, transportation (air and ground), and housing of personnel to support the Department of Defense mission readiness exercise, Global Medic. Developed a timeline, deliverable schedule, and work breakdown schedule to ensure successful completion of the task. Coordinated with host base and cross service project managers to maintain WBS compliance and final product delivery on time and within budget.
Strategic Communications Joint Base Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, September 2007-July 2008. Effectively communicated scope, budget and work breakdown schedule with both customers and contractors. Developed deliverable schedules for a forward deployed location. Coordinated with multinational project managers to assess the day to day assignments of 42 photo/video/multimedia journalists stationed on the Horn of Africa. Conducted information sessions and mission planning meetings for Camp's senior leaders. Coordinated with U.S. Embassy Public Affairs personnel for delivery of products. Documented and standardized the deployment and post deployment of personnel and equipment assets within the Horn of Africa. Investigated and managed technical issues for assurance and adherence to appropriate Department of Defense regulations. Provided weekly project update presentations to senior military leaders and senior U.S. Embassy personnel.
J-3 Communications, Joint Base Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, September 2005-August 2006. Multimedia manager for a team of 21 multimedia journalists. Coordinated the delivery of over 1,2000 images, both photo and video products and 500 journalist stories for publication, to the Department of Defense Public Affairs Office. Coordinated public affairs meetings for the senior Public Affairs Officer, developed informational slides and pamphlets for all attending staff, host nation officials, and U.S. Embassy staff.
2017 - 2018
Southern Methodist University, Lyle School of Engineering
During this Civil Engineering Degree program, I conducted research, developed project proposals for real-world, shovel ready projects. Studies included: Sustainable Designs, Sustainable Methods and Technologies, and Sustainability Leadership.
Capstone project - to design rapidly deployable, sustainable energy infrastructure for man-made or natural disaster response. I am currently conducting quantitative and qualitative research (Federal, State, and County) statutory and regulatory requirements to ensure proper compliance with policies for the development and delivery of temporary, modular energy infrastructures.
Hydroponic farming at SMU-in-Taos - designed and proposed a hydroponic farming system for the SMU-in-Taos campus cafeteria to reduce their dependency on carbon-emitting transportation of commonly used fruits, vegetables, and herbs for cooking and to ensure fresh produce is available year round.
Sustainable Management of Biowaste - devised an environmentally friendly, sustainable management process for biomass waste created during the cold-pressed juicing process for three Dallas area cold-pressed juicing companies. Proposed avenues for biomass management included providing biomass as compost for commercial/community farms, utilizing edible biomass as feed for livestock, and providing biomass for use in clean energy production through the conversion into biomethane through the digestate process.
Redevelopment of Grand Prairie's Main Street - proposed an environmentally sustainable development of Grand Prairie’s Main Street district (course project) which would increase business diversity and reduce the heat island effect. This proposal included utilizing green roofs for energy management and pollinator habitats, bioswales to manage stormwater runoff, and urban forestry to mitigate the C02 accumulation from the state highway. Each project entailed extensive analytical research into the technical and regulatory aspects of environmental management to ensure the adequacy and accuracy of data collected and compliance with state, federal, and local laws/regulations.
2014 - 2015
Texas State University, College of Fine Arts and Communication
Studies included Advance Online Media, advanced HTML/CSS, and JavaScript. Analyzed corporate communications and marketing programs for various international corporations, recommended appropriate marketing/communication plans to including global advertising and public relations campaigns.
Developed a Social Media campaign for Les Galeries LaFayette, Paris, France - during a semester abroad, I analyzed the social media marketing plan for Les Galeries LaFayette, Paris, France and recommended alternative social media platforms for pop-up sales and discounts to loyal social media followers. This recommendation increased their social media traffic by 30%.
Published various works in Mass Media Research Journals - I conducted quantitative and qualitative Mass Media research for publication in the International Graduate Student Research Journals. Topics included: Third party communication and its effect on interpersonal communications, The portrayal of men in mass media and its effect on gender identification in boys, The hypersexualization of teen girls in teen programming.
2011 - 2014
Texas State University, College of Fine Arts and Communications
Studies included creating creative content for online media (YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram). Coded websites using HTML/CSS and JavaScript. Interpreting Mass Communication Law and analyzed the marketing/public relations campaigns of national and international corporations. Furthermore, I piloted research on the efficiencies of mass media campaigns for both domestic and international advertising and public relations markets. Conducted qualitative mass media research and developed campaigns and communications strategies that convey information to various audiences across various media platforms (radio, television, newspapers) and professional journals, pictures, posters, and exhibits.
2011 - 2014
Texas State University, School of Fine Arts and Design
Studio Art degree with a concentration on photography, drawing, and ceramics.
Photographer, Help Portrait. - A movement of photographers, makeup artists and hair stylists, making holidays special by providing professional family portraits for those in need. I designed creative portraits for families in the Austin, Texas area.
Soldier Songs and Voices - Conducted guitar lessons and peer-to-peer counseling with disabled veterans.
Austin's Empty Bowl Project - As an artist, created handmade ceramic bowls to fight hunger around the Austin area.