Resume

Oracle Power and Utilities: Opower Senior Product Manager

May 2022-Current

Conducted in-depth customer interviews to identify and understand the needs of target users through business analysis and in depth research to design features for our Business Customer Engagement (BCE) solution. BCE targets both Small and Medium Business (SMB) and Commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers in managing their energy use.

Defined short and long term product roadmap for the success of BCE, and took accountability for executing the product plant. Conducted competitive analysis to understand industry dynamics.

Moved quickly and made appropriate trade-offs based on data analysis and qualitative feedback from business customers.

Defined BCE product requirements, providing users with a fast and convenient way to monitor and manage their energy consumption, meeting their business needs and increasing customer satisfaction with their utility.

Worked closely with cross functional teams & stakeholders to document technical requirements for product features, and drive alignment for product requirements, delivering great user experiences on time in a highly collaborative environment.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Qualitative Researcher/Assistant Professor (Tenure Track)

August 2020-May 2022

Led, planned, and owned 2 independent end-to-end research studies using diverse range of qualitative methods (1:1 and group interviews, questionnaire and survey development).

Analyzed, synthesized, and curated over 500+ pages of research data in qualitative analysis software.

Utilized my ability to explain technical concepts in clear, non-technical languages to 200+ undergraduate students over two years. This has resulted in 200+ graduated students with a bachelor’s degree.

Hired, mentored and developed an exceptional diverse team of 4 graduate students in engineering and construction. This resulted in 2 graduated students with a master’s in construction management, and two students still pursuing this degree.

Investigated the intersection of social equity and engineering design through conducting research and NIH and NSF proposal preparation. Research and technical writing resulted in 3 journal articles and 5 conference presentations.

Independent Project Analysis: Research Analyst/Project Manager

May 2019-September 2019

Created, implemented, and maintained a comprehensive database of detailed project data for 2000 power and pipeline projects. This resulted in an organized protocol for storing and referring to power and pipeline projects at the company.

Collected and analyzed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods data to generate equity-focused insights, drive system and process change, and communicate analytic stories to all levels of internal and external stakeholders.

Created user-friendly data collection tools and evaluation performance measures designed to monitor goal progress, elucidate effectiveness, and ensure timely progress of electrical distribution projects.

Developed a cost model for Electrical Distribution Projects using quantitative data analysis and software such as Python and STATA that resulted in the improvement of the Project Analyst team’s ability to provide clear and concise training to clients.

Demonstrated clear leadership skills and experience working with multiple project teams and strategic projects by translating the highest-level organization priorities from team meetings into robust day-to-day operations.

Performed a cost and schedule analysis on 2000 power and pipeline projects using STATA and presented findings to team and higher management. This resulted in team understanding and alignment on critical power and pipeline projects leading to improved consulting to customers vision, strategy and roadmap for power utility customers.

Salt River Project: Research Project Manager

May 2018-August 2019

Aided engineering group and resource planning group regarding resilience and reliability of their Natural Gas Fleet for one year. Performed several Root Cause Analysis that led to implemented system-wide corrections.

Regularly produced accessible analysis reporting materials including presentations, written reports, and visualizations, in order to inform the major strategic goals of

Planned and implemented program governance structures in an organized and controlled fashion to ensure that decision making was occurring with the right people involved (resource planning and engineering teams). This resulted in improved transparency and collaboration between resource planning and engineering groups that led to successful implementation of resiliency program.

Identified, monitored, and controlled program risk for 3 power infrastructure projects. This resulted in successful execution of the projectsGT on time, and on budget.

Created a project plan and decision support tool in consultation with Engineering and Resource Planning team leads. This resulted in a documented roadmap and execution strategy with a clearly defined scope, timing, deliverables, success criteria, and resource assessment for the retrofit of 3 natural gas generation plants.

Arizona State University: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Lead

August 2016-July 2020

Conducted comprehensive literature review, and developed scope, vision, and strategy for maturing a body of research in Resilient Power Infrastructure. This resulted in a dissertation addressing the impact that rate of return regulation has on power infrastructure. This dissertation has produced 3 peer reviewed journal articles and 4 conference abstracts.

Coordinated the development of study materials for institutional review board (IRB) approval for Engineering Education Research, including study documents, procedural documents, participant materials, and recruitment materials. This resulted in a successful 3-year NSF project using board games and play in the engineering classroom.

Qualitative researcher with agenda to improve engineering student-related experiences – included recruiting participants; preparing research artifacts (protocols, scripts, discussion guides); interviewing; survey building; data cleaning, analysis, and synthesis; and presentation of findings.

Organized and completed multiple projects of varying lengths by partnering with multiple research science teams on CII, NSF, and NIH funded research projects, of long-term research agendas. Prepared presentations of research using software such as Revit, SketchUp, Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering- Arizona State University, 2020

Dissertation: The impact that regulation has on the process and performance of power and pipeline projects

M.S. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering- Arizona State University, 2019

B.S. in Civil Engineering-Clemson University, 2016

Product Management

-Product Strategy

-Product Roadmap

-Communication across cross-functional teams

-Set and tracking KPI’s

-Financial Analysis

-Leadership

Research Methods/Design

-Research design and implementation, recruitment, hypothesis building and testing

-Qualitative methods: Interviewing (1:1, semi-structured, deep, group), focus groups, case study, facilitation, transcription, card sorting, usability studies

-Presentation of user journeys and stories, strategy, recommendations, and solutions; workshop planning and facilitation; content mapping

-Project management roles, peer mentoring, teaching research methods

Data Analysis

-Qualitative data analysis

-Quantitative data analysis

-Mixed Methods Data Analysis

-Content analysis

-Thematic and discourse analyses

-Grounded theory analysis

-GIS Mapping

-Meta-Analysis

-Systematic Review

-Regression

-ANOVA

-Structural Equation Modeling

Leadership

-Project Management (PMP)

-Agile Project Management Methodology

-Project Scheduling

-Project Planning

-Organizational

-Public Speaking

-Analytical Storytelling

-Problem Solving

-Relationship Building

-Communication

Academic

-Curriculum Development

-Proposal Development

-Grant Writing

-Statistics

-Technical Writing

-Teaching

-Editing

Tools

-Microsoft Word

-Microsoft Excel

-Microsoft Powerpoint

-Microsoft Project

-Primavera P6

-ArcGIS

-SPSS

-STATA

-Google Suite

-CANVA

Journal Publications:

Sherman, R., Parrish, K., & Lamanna, A. Forthcoming (2021). “Identifying and Categorizing Risks Incumbent in US Nuclear Power Plant Construction Projects.”Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002018

Sherman, R., Parrish, K., Gibson Jr., G.E., Merrow, E. (2021). “Examining the Impact of Rate of Return Regulation on Capital Project Planning” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.

Sherman, R., Parrish, K. (2021). “The Construction Performance of Pipeline and Power Projects in Different Regulatory Environments.” Journal of Management in Engineering.

Sherman, R., Cruz Rios, F., & Grau, D. (2021). “Project Validation – A Novel Practice to Improve Value and Project Performance” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, In preparation (Re-Submission planned 28 Feb).

Conference Papers/Presentations

Sherman, R., and Parrish, K. (2020). “The Effect that Regulation has on Project Performance of Power Plants Throughout the Construction Process.” CRC 2020 Conference Proceedings Tempe, AZ. 8-10 March. 10pp.

Sherman, R., and Grau, D. (2020). “Project Validation – Informing Client’s Approval Decision and Enhancing Project Performance” CRC 2020 Conference Proceedings Tempe, AZ. 8-10 March. 10pp.

Sherman, R., and Parrish, K. (2019). “US Nuclear Power Plant Project Risks: An Analysis Across Nuclear Regions.” Proc. Engineering Sustainability 2019 Pittsburgh, PA. 8-10 April. 2pp.

Grau, D., Cruz-Rios, F., and Sherman, R. (2019). “Project Validation – A Novel Pactice to Improve Value and Project Performance.” In: Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International. Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), Pasquire C. and Hamzeh F.R. (ed.), Dublin, Ireland, 10pp.. Available at: <www.iglc.net>.

Sherman, R., Clark, R., Parrish, K., Bilec, M. M., & Landis, A. E. (2017). Developing a Framework to Better Engage students in STEM via Game Design: Findings from Year 1. Paper presented at the 124th Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Columbus, OH. 25-28 June. 7pp.

Sherman, R., and Parrish, K. (2017). “Small Buildings, Big Impacts: The Role of Small Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Case Studies in 2030 Districts.” Proc. Engineering Sustainability 2017 Pittsburgh, PA. 9-11 April. 2pp.

Invited Presentations:

“Navigating Academia with Imposter Syndrome” Meeting of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences. Morgantown, West Virginia. September 21, 2020

“How to be an Imposter” West Virginia University Seminar. Morgantown, West Virginia. January 22, 2021

CMET 3224- Construction Project Administration (Spring 2021)

The objective of the course is to provide the student with a working knowledge of the concepts, terminology, and methods associated with construction project administration. Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

-Describe the basic project delivery processes in engineering and construction

-Identify the essential elements of a construction contract

-Prepare an agreement between the owner and contractor for a simple construction project

-Estimate the cost of a conceptual project design

-Analyze a construction claim and employ dispute resolution techniques

-Prepare a comprehensive construction project schedule

-Produce and analyze Gantt, CPM, and linear schedules

-Use industry software (Microsoft Project and Primavera P6) to aid in preparing project schedules

-CMET 4126/5126 Project Scheduling and Control (Fall 2020/2021)

The course is designed to provide the student with a working knowledge of the concepts, terminology, and methods associated with construction projects scheduling and control. Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

-Develop a WBS and list of schedule activities, sequence activities for a logical project work flow, and estimate activity durations

-Develop a commodity loaded schedule using a commercially available scheduling software program

-Update a schedule and report project status in terms of schedule and cost criteria

-Develop a schedule using a commercially available scheduling software program

-Apply the serial and parallel methods for resource allocation

-Apply the minimum moment algorithm to level resources

-Develop a least cost crash curve for a schedule network

-CMET 6135- Advanced Construction Planning and Management (Spring 2021, 2022)

The course is designed to provide the student with detailed knowledge of how construction projects and operations are planned and managed. Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

-Apply planning processes within the construction industry

-Use a construction plan to identify and manage changes during construction

-Develop a work plan for a construction operation

-Apply the Monte Carlo simulation technique to problems within the construction industry

-ETGR 1100L- Engineering Technology Computer Applications Lab

This course is designed to Introduce the use of computer applications required for engineering technologists. Use Microsoft Office applications, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project and other engineering software and scientific calculators to solve problems, prepare technical documents and presentations

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

-Create MS Word documents that include tables, inserted images, equations, appropriate use of fonts, spacing, and tabs.

-In MS Excel, use mathematical and logical functions, perform calculations on multiple columns of data and graphically display data in charts and figures

-Create an effective presentation using MS Power Point

-Using a calculator, plot a two-dimensional function and solve three simultaneous equations

-Use Visio to generate figures and flowcharts

-Become familiar with the MultiSim software package to create and simulate simple electrical circuits