Fahim Ahmed is a computer science and finance student at Waterloo, and the president and co-founder of Waterloo Blockchain. But what feels like a direct path to success now, took him a while to find.
Fahim was only 12 years old when he started crypto-mining.
“I had seen people talking about it a lot online, so I set up my own hardware to do mining in my bedroom,” he recalls. “I just wanted money to buy video games!”
In elementary and high school, Fahim (on right) switched schools frequently, and had trouble staying focused.
“I was always interested in learning stuff, I just didn’t like learning at school,” he says.
He dabbled in different aspects of tech throughout his teen years, building an Android kernel in Grade 9 and studying data science in Grade 10. He also developed a keen interest in economics and financial markets.
“I was always trying out technologies, trying out software and dabbling in financial markets because they interested me,” he says. “I remember being in class in Grade 9 and constantly checking the financial markets — especially what was happening with the blockchain and cryptocurrency.”
In Grade 11, Fahim realized that if he wanted the resources and credentials necessary to do the work he was most interested in, he would need to apply himself academically. He buckled down at school, aced his classes and eventually applied to the University of Waterloo, drawn by the university’s strong reputation for innovation and tech programs.
“When I first came to Waterloo, I tried to find people who were interested in crypto and financial markets, and was shocked to find that the community wasn’t really there.” Always a self-starter, Fahim and his friends decided to create Waterloo Blockchain in 2022.
“We focus on getting people interested in blockchain, promoting entrepreneurship and actual building,” he says. In the two years that followed, the non-profit has hosted over fifty events, grown to over a thousand members and sponsored students to attend hackathons across North America.
- Read the full article on Waterloo News.
