Fatimah Hussain
High School Student, Two Time Start-Up Creator, and Innovator
Article & Design By Kylie Cameron
You can find more about Fatimah on:
Personal Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, GitHub, Math Youtube Channel, Personal Youtube Channel, Facebook
Introduction📖
Fatimah Hussain is a a sophomore (10th grade) in the Bay Area. From middle school preceding, She has attended Walters Middle School, Gale Ranch Middle School, and is currently attending Dougherty Valley High School. At this schools, she is involved with her school’s Robotics Club, TEDx Club, PVSA Club, and CSF Club and is also an athlete as she plays varsity softball as a pitcher and a first basemen.
High School📚
Fatimah has mainly explored her “passions at the beginning of entering high school. During freshman year, [she] spent a majority of [her] free time learning about topics [she] wanted to make a difference in. For instance, [she] wrote articles about the stock markets, made 2 minute math YouTube videos, set up [her] LinkedIn profile, and networked with others! [She] also made sure to be knee-deep in volunteering activities and to participate in activities [she] found enlightening and served [her] community. This was also a reason why [she] co-founded a nonprofit, Pakistani’s in the Bay!”
Outside of School👩💻
When asked about what she can be found doing outside of school, she said that, “[she] divulged into rabbit holes of passion projects that [she] worked on at that time. [She’ll] mention a few that stood out to me the most beneficially. [She} has loved learning about stem cell exhaustion, a disorder that contributes to aging — and prolonging the cycle of aging in humans. [She] writes article[s] about topics [she] enjoy[s] learning about on [her] personal website and Medium account. [She] love[s] developing iOS applications, and recently released one to the App Store, stemming from [her] interest in card games (BlackJackPot Cards on the App Store). [She] also bought a 3d printer and have launched [her] business of creating child safety locks, stemming from [her] interest in designing using CAD software and tackling the recurring problem of my baby brother continuously opening [her] drawers. Whatever project [she] may be extensively working on, it’s always something [she is] genuinely curious in. [Her]biggest tip is: don’t work on something just for the “volunteer hours” or because “it looks good on college applications”. Do it so you can heighten your understanding and expand your curiosity on a topic you’re interested in!”
Fatimah has also “done an Instagram takeover for Kode with Klossy’s podcast, @techsetters — see “Fatimah” in highlights — done an Instagram takeover highlighting my entrepreneurship projects and tips for WiSTEM @superpositionstl -see “May Takeover” in highlights — done a talk for a global nonprofit, @bettertomorrow.education, about the digital divide for fundraising — see Fatimah post and personal website for full speaker reel — did a TEDx talk about the cultural change and adaption from moving halfway across the world” which can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/vXnx0u9r9RE]. She has also “hosted a hackathon workshop for @star.hacks on iOS development, surmounting hundreds of viewers” and you can view the recording here:https://youtu.be/qaZjgoJsk9E
She has also “been involved with Stanford University and their Women in STEM program in middle school, was lead web developer for the largest Pakistani nonprofit worldwide, OPEN Silicon Valley. [She is]actively working with mentors from Kode with Klossy, Makerspaces, Stanley Black and Decker, Kapowza, and several more. [She] was involved as a Director of Technology for Pledge HOPE, a nonprofit with +1000 active members, was involved in The Knowledge Society, an accelerator incubator program, [and is] involved in my local science Olympiad with +500 middle schoolers.”
Mentorships
Fatimah said that she “find[s] mentorships to be one of the most helpful things when working on projects. Contrary to popular belief, there is ***nothing*** wrong with asking for help. Asking questions should be encouraged, in and out of the school perimeters. Mentors can be anyone! Personally, [she] find that some projects [she] prefer[s] [are] talking to other colleagues on the same boat, and other projects. [She] find it useful to talk to professionals working or who previously worked in the field of interest.”
Networking
When asked about her experiences with networking, Fatimah shared that “[She] cannot stress the utter importance of networking with others. It gives you the fundamental opportunity to learn about other people’s experiences and roadblocks to where they are right now. It can provide enlightening perspectives and teaches you to become a people-person. Companies and dreams don’t get built by one person — it’s built from a collection of ideas from groups of people with the same end goal! The early you start, the more rewarding networking is in the future. When you network, you don’t need to find a future co-founder. It’s totally okay to introduce yourself to someone who’s the polar opposite of you career-wise!”
Volunteering
Fatimah said that “Another place where [she] volunteered recurringly was for nonprofits. [She] yearned to make meaningful connections in [her] community, and nonprofits were the best place to start. [She] also volunteered at their conferences where [she] met experienced individuals who also longed to help the community!”
Internships
Though she is still in high school, she shared some great information about internships. “Now, the definition of internships is a little iffy. Many people qualify internships similar to a paid part-time job, where you’re under the wing of experts in the field. [She] define internships as something that provides [her] with a high return on experience and productive experience, such as making valuable connections! [Her] first internship was a political internship, leading a group of high-schoolers in related projects and working closely with the person in-running.
Another internship that [she] enjoyed participating in was working on developing playground projects to aid the lives of children in Kenya. It provided the exposure for [her] to meet other people who were passionate in the same fields as [her].”
Projects
Fatimah has also created two startups: “I’m also the founder of BluWings Technologies LLC and Unicorn Lock, two startups that I created due to my two areas of passion: creating apps and computer-aided designing & 3d printing. I’ve spent most of my available time working on expanding the potential of startups and outreaching to gain a reputation for Unicorn Lock and BluWings Technologies LLC.”
Unicorn Lock
“Ever since my dad bought an online 3d Modeling with Fusion 360 course, I’ve been in fascinated about the concept of 3D printing and 3D modeling. It always struck me with awe how you’re able to turn a sketch into a tangible object. With a computer-assisted design software and a 3D printer, the possibilities were endless!
Right there, I knew CAD would be something I’d could never be bored of. The whole concept was immaculate and I knew once I garnered up some CAD skills, I had to try printing them out.
After learning CAD, I did some research on beginner printers and settled on the Ender 3 Pro. I was so excited to finally lay my hands on a mystic beauty and eager to print my first design.
After printing loads of cool designs from my printer, I was keen to create a product of my own. And then, it hit me…
For many years, I’ve dealt with the problem of my siblings snooping around my cabinets and taking my belongings. I realized I needed to combat this crucial problem. After a few (aka one too many) iterations and fiddling with my 3D printer settings, I was finally able to produce my very own child lock!
After using my 3d-printed child lock on my own cabinets, it successfully prevented my baby brother from unlocking my belongings. Then, I had an epiphany, why not sell these! I’m sure many mothers, nannies, babysitters would find this lock useful to keep their toddler/pet away from the cabinets!
So, I set on a mission to do just that — luckily I already had set up a personal website and my LinkedIn profile so finding mentors to aid me through this journey was a smooth process.”
Check out the Unicorn Lock website here: https://unicornchildlocks.wixsite.com/site/
BluWings Technologies LLC
“Similar to 3D printing, developing game apps was another favorite hobby of mine. From learning Swift and XCode, I strived to accomplish a goal: get my iOS app on the App Store, so I set sail.
Whilst developing app ideas, I was intrigued with the game of poker. Previously, I’d developed a fully-functional two-player poker game and a blackjack game in Python. When I first started developing iOS applications, I had an ambition of turning my Python game into an iOS application — and I sought to do just that!
Whilst creating my app on Swift and XCode, I plowed through several iterations, until I was satisfied with the first version. Then, I created a sole proprietorship account to launch apps. From there, I sent it to TestFlight, a beta testing platform that allowed me to garner feedback before sending it off to the real world.
After implementing the necessary changes, I immediately sent it for review on the App Store. That’s when I realized a major problem, the App Store didn’t accept apps that have chips-and-cards applications, unless it was being submitted by a company. I admit, I was a tad frustrated because I didn’t have any issues sending it over to TestFlight. But, there are always obstacles and we always need to adapt to new, changing circumstances. After sending a dispute to the Apple Developer Program, they suggested to register an LLC company under my state’s secretary. In simple terms, fill out paperwork.
And after a tedious few days, I was able to successfully register my company which I decided to name BluWings Technologies LLC. After following a similar routine for my new Apple Developer Business Program, I gaped in awe as I saw my first app, BlackJackPot Cards (get it, because I conjoined “Jack” in both BlackJack and JackPot), on the App Store! I was filled with excitement and passion as I fathomed the potential of BluWings Technologies LLC and was thrilled to create a startup that was revolved around developing apps!”
You can check out the BluWings Technologies LLC website here: https://www.bluwingstechnologies.com/, which will be updated on new apps that get launched onto the App Store, so keep your eyes open for that!
✨Fatimah is an inspiring student in STEAM, with a strong passion! We can not wait to see what she does in the future!✨
