Experience

I am currently a data engineering manager at Meta, after spending my entire career (since 2004) as a data engineer, data application developer, and founder.

• 2020-2024: Data Engineering Manager at Meta’s Reality Labs/XRTech
  • building foundational insights for future technologies and providing product-in-market insights.
• 2018-2020: Senior Data Engineer IC at Meta
  • Led product analytics efforts for Meta’s Giving Together donations platform (>$1B/yr in donations)
• 2014-2018: Senior Data Engineer at American Addiction Centers
  • Launched premium leadgen product in competitive industry vertical
• 2010-2014: Founder at Industrial Interface, Inc.
  • Founded and sold a company with the largest database of US manufacturing companies
• 2004-2010: Data Engineer, Analyst, and Application Developer at Henry M. Jackson Foundation
  • Programmer/analyst for the largest military cohort study, contributed to peer reviewed research

Background

Travis grew up in San Diego, California, where he lives with his amazing wife and beautiful daughter. He attended Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, graduating in 2004 with a double major in Computer Science and English.

Data Philosophy

Data can have a big impact on understanding the world, illuminating dark corners that were previously unknown. It can also be used inappropriately – bad intentions and sloppy discipline mean that using data can sometimes be worse than not using data.

Favorite Data Related Quotations

• Most people use statistics like a drunk man uses a lamppost; more for support than illumination -Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
• In God we trust, all others bring data — W. Edwards Deming
• Data are just summaries of thousands of stories – tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful. — Chip and Dan Heath
• Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all. — Charles Babbage
• Data that is loved tends to survive. — Kurt Bollacker
• *Look at your $%!@ data!” - Hamel Husain