Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Hamilton
Hi Douglas, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Doug. I grew up in Los Angeles, studied art, and began my career designing jewelry for Tiffany & Co. in New York. From there, I transitioned to designing watches for Movado Group, then wearable technology, eventually working remotely for 15 years after moving to the South. My career culminated in designing a competitor to the Apple Watch, but I was laid off at the start of COVID.
As a late-career professional, I reflected on my future and considered pivoting from a highly specialized field into something new. This led me to take an online course in Unity, where I designed a Virtual Reality Jenga game. Towards the end of the course, I learned about the MIT Reality Hack—a moment that would change my life.
In 2023, I joined over 700 participants at the in-person MIT Reality Hack, a prestigious hackathon held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I had no idea this experience would set me on a new path. Collaborating with incredible people of all ages, I was inspired by the philosophy of the hackathon: collaborate with others and taking the most efficient and direct route to achieving a goal.
The friendships and lessons I gained at that event sparked my decision to bring hackathons—and a broader mechanism for innovation—to Charleston, South Carolina.
CharlestonHacks, our non-profit has held 6 hackathon events, partnering with academic institutions and a community of innovators to bring the culture of “hacking” to our region.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest part of doing what you feel is a meaningful thing is to see it clearly. Once it is clear in your mind you must be able to communicate it to others. Once others have heard your ideas you must get them aligned to your vision and build momentum and excitement for what you are doing.
Clarity of vision is the hardest thing to achieve, and maintaining the vision through all of the complexity.
If you can organize your thoughts into a plan, get the community on-board, and recognize the individuals capabilities and resources available to you, all you must do is execute the plan.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Having a clear delineation between for-profit and non-profit endeavors is important to me. The decisions you make when you are thinking about the good of the community are different than the decisions that feed you.
I believe I am good at “architecting” solutions to problems. Professionally I connect startup businesses to the resources they need, and create a pathway they can follow. In our non-profit, CharlestonHacks, I connect people through events and initiatives that create pathways to goals.
I use creativity to visualize how individuals, and groups of individuals can work with eachother.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We collaborate through our non-profit, CharlestonHacks, and the Medical University of South Carolina’s Human-Centered Design (HCD) program.
Most people discover CharlestonHacks through LinkedIn, our events, or by emailing us at hello@charlestonhacks.com to join our weekly newsletter. We welcome anyone interested in addressing tech, entrepreneurship, or creative projects in our community. Through our Innovation Engine initiative, we encourage engagement with like-minded individuals and participation in our events. Sponsorships are also welcomed, as they help us continue hosting impactful hackathons.
Industry professionals outside of MUSC can engage with the HCD program via the MUSC Human-Centered Design Program website: https://medicine.musc.edu/departments/surgery/center-for-surgical-innovation/human-centered-design
We especially invite individuals in the healthcare industry to collaborate with our program and member companies.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charlestonhacks.mailchimpsites.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlestonhacks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglas.hamilton.376/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/98408337/admin/dashboard/
- Twitter: https://x.com/home?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/
