Patil (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’01, applied mathematics), former U.S. chief data scientist, helps governors answer critical questions with data

In the California crisis command center, DJ Patil (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’01, applied mathematics) was working with governors from across the country to model the potential impact of COVID-19 for scenario planning. 

He wanted to help them answer critical questions, like “How many hospital beds will we need?” and “Can we reduce the spread if we temporarily close places where people gather?” and “Should we issue a shelter-in-place order and for how long?” While nobody can predict the future, modeling the virus with all the factors they did know was their best shot at helping leaders make informed decisions, which would impact hundreds of thousands of lives.

Patil assembled a team of volunteers that consisted of some of the brightest minds from across Silicon Valley and the country. As though following a call to arms, these professionals came together, in a personal capacity, to fight COVID-19 the best way they knew how: with data.
Read more about their efforts in HPCwire: https://www.hpcwire.com/2020/04/20/when-scaling-your-workload-is-a-matter-of-saving-lives/