Angèle Hamel completed her doctorate in Combinatorics and Optimization in 1994 under the supervision of Ian Goulden. Her thesis, entitled "Algebraic and Combinatorial Methods for Symmetric and Supersymmetric Functions" was written in the area of algebraic combinatorics. Following her graduate work, Angèle moved to New Zealand for postdoctoral work at the University of Canterbury, as holder of an Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 1996 she moved to England, where she held a postdoctoral position at the University of Southampton, followed by faculty positions at Southampton Solent University. In 2000 she returned to Canada as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. She remains there, and was promoted in 2012 to the rank of Full Professor.
Angèle continues to be an active researcher in algebraic combinatorics, where she has focused on combinatorial representation theory and symmetric functions. However, her research interests are much broader than that and she has an extensive list of collaborators around the world. Angèle has published in algorithms, bioinformatics, group theory in physics, combinatorial design theory, and privacy-enhancing technologies. Her research has been supported by grants from a number of organizations, including NSERC, the Ministry of Research and Innovation, SHARCNET, Petro-Canada and the Leverhulme Foundation.
Angèle teaches broadly in the computer science program at Wilfrid Laurier, including two courses that she has designed and introduced: "Applied Cryptography", and "Ethics and Professional Practice in Computer Science". She is very involved with a variety of professional activities. For example, she is a member of the University Senate at Wilfrid Laurier, and is the Chair of an Ontario government selection panel for the Ministry of Research and Innovation's Early Researcher Award.