Meet Hamel Husain
Former Vice President
How has your career developed?
I worked at AlixPartners as a Vice President, Applied Analytics on the Digital team from 2011-2015. My time at the firm gave me first-hand experience of helping companies navigate a variety of difficult technical and organizational situations. After AlixPartners, I moved into the tech industry, first at DataRobot, followed by Airbnb, and now GitHub, which was recently acquired by Microsoft. I have been involved with the design and development of software engineering, machine learning, and developer tools, as well as leading engineering teams.
Tell us about the work you have been doing to support the COVID-19 crisis?
The COVID-19 Dashboard Project is an open source venture where virtual teams of data scientists collaborate to gather, analyze and present data related to the COVID-19 pandemic, through accessible dashboard visualizations. The dashboards are continually updated and because the underlying code is completely open source, they can be adapted to support many researchers in their work.
What is the goal of the COVID-19 Dashboard Project?
We are collectively building tools that serve the scientists and healthcare professionals working to monitor and resolve the COVID-19 crisis. The project has already been used to measure infection growth rates in certain regions and to help track the number of cases of COVID-19 worldwide.
What inspired you to get involved?
When the COVID-19 epidemic began, I saw that data scientists were struggling to share information with a broader audience, so I created these dashboards as a place where data scientists could share their work related to the crisis. The uptake was immediate.
Do you have any advice for others who are looking for ways to help during the COVID‑19 crisis?
I think that people from all backgrounds can help during this challenging time. I recommend that you examine your own skillset and try to find opportunities to leverage your unique domain knowledge and expertise to support others through this crisis.
How do you find balance during this time when work and life are so intertwined?
I like to start my day with exercise. I usually begin my day by doing something physical before I dive into any other tasks. I also try to have a growth mindset and focus on learning something new each day. Most importantly, I believe that spending quality time with my family is key to finding balance, meaning, and strength during this difficult time.
