It may have taken Humam Shwaikh an extra year to complete his double bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and computing technology, but without that added time, he says, he might not have discovered his new passion for entrepreneurship and wouldn’t now have multiple startups under his belt.
“I didn’t always get good grades. I won’t lie about that,” he says, laughing. “But I wouldn’t be in my third startup right now if I had not failed a course in second year.”
“In third year, I took a summer course called Entrepreneurship for Engineers,” says Humam. “I met a few people there and we started a company together.”
Humam and his teammates wanted to convert go-carts to run on hydrogen. But the company hit a wall when it couldn’t find efficient storage solutions for the hydrogen.
He got the entrepreneurship bug again in spring 2019. He and some friends launched a new startup called Upwind, which uses data to help manufacturers predict and understand supply chains.
The company was created through Startup Garage, a four-month pre-accelerator led by the University of Ottawa’s Entrepreneurship Hub, which fosters and supports entrepreneurship. This program offers student- and recent alumni-led ventures the opportunity to accelerate their business by providing funding, a workspace, mentorship and training.
Getting down to business
“While doing market research for Upwind, we discovered the potential for developing services in different markets,” he says. “(Humam and his partners) chose to split up to join two existing startups already offering these services, Ventrify and Outlaunch.”
While Outlaunch aims to connect employers with vetted talent for product development, Ventrify “brings ideas to life,” says Humam, who is now the Ventrify’s acting chief technology officer.
“Ventrify, which is located in Edmonton, can start from a drawing on a napkin, take it through design, testing and development, all the way to mass production,” says the young entrepreneur, who hopes to expand the business and hit a million dollars in revenue before the end of the year.
In his work, Humam must connect the dots between the hardware, mechanics and software aspects of the business.
“That double-degree sure comes in handy in my position,” he admits.
An avid maker
While completing his degree at uOttawa, Humam was also an avid maker, who worked as a supervisor and machinist at the Faculty of Engineering’s Manufacturing Training Centre (MTC) and at the Brunsfield Centre.
“I took care of the machines, helped train several hundred students on the equipment and did project management for Makerlab.”
“To future students, I would say that If you’re ever doing extracurriculars just to have them on your resumé, you’re probably doing it wrong. Do things that you are passionate about and that drive you. Learn from these experiences and don’t shut any doors.”