Watch my TEDx Talk

Read More About me

Where I'm From

I was born on April 10 1996 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Growing up there was a very unique experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. At around age 10, my family made the move to America and started a new life. And thus, here I am today!

My Passions, Dreams, and Aspirations

For as long as I can remember, I was always curious and had a passion for creativity. Going into high school I didn't exactly know what I wanted to be when I grew up, or what I would do in the next four years of my life. However, one single experience lead to an unexpected spiral of events that changed my life forever. It was when I attempted to write my own program for my graphing calculator that I first stumbled upon the world of programming. Without fearing the steep learning curve, I dared to teach myself how to code and spent months developing my first game. I later showcased it on the Internet, and driven by the positive feedback from its users I constantly improved it with newer versions. The game was soon being played by students all across the world, and suddenly typing all those lines of code on a calculator's keypad seemed more than worth it. On the second semester of freshman year, I was introduced to computer programming in an introductory course at school, which opened up an endless set of opportunities and kick-started the next three years of my life. All of a sudden I could write programs for not just my graphing calculator, but also computers. I had a tremendous amount of ideas and started to create everything that I could possibly imagine. As I expanded my knowledge, seemingly unachievable objectives suddenly became feasible, giving me an amazing feeling that words could not even begin to describe.

Starting sophomore year, I began developing applications for mobile devices. The first few apps that I published were merely for testing the waters to decide if I should continue creating more. With every new app that I released, I observed higher download numbers, earned higher ratings, and received more encouragement from users. I later released "Floating Stickies," an app that allowed users to quickly access sticky notes from anywhere. The notes could then be docked to the side and accessed again with a simple tap. To my own surprise, the app went viral and the download numbers soared. This trend continued with the release of my next few apps that also resulted in the same impressive outcomes as before. For the first time, I got a larger bite of success than just a lick on the tip of my tongue, with hundreds of thousands of people downloading my applications.

At this point in my life, I found my true passion and realized how much I could achieve if I simply had the desire to keep trying. I was absolutely baffled by how that initial spark of curiosity with the graphing calculator had such a tremendous impact on the rest of my life. These realizations were later solidified by more lessons that I learned along the way. For example, when faced with a tough challenge at work I was told to attempt what I did not know first, and then do what I already knew how to. Referring to StudentRND, a popular place for students to innovate, my employer explained to me that there is a reason it is called "RND." The R stands for research, and research goes hand in hand with development. I realized then that no matter what problem I am faced with, I must always be willing to learn. On another occasion, a speaker I met at a programming competition once said "if you do stuff, stuff happens," and it immediately rang true with me. I realized then that I must continue to not be afraid of failure, always be curious, and never stop creating. That said, I dream relentlessly of someday changing the world or at least leaving a positive dent in the universe before I am gone -- and no matter where I go, I will always keep trying.