Zakir Hussein (born July 10, 1989) is an Canadian programmer, Internet entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO), and co-founder of the Advertising, Digital Media website www.enerknight.com .Rundle College alumnus Zakir Hussein attended the University of Calgary intent on studying geology but developed a keen interest in the environment. In his parent’s basement Hussein began researching renewable energy and concentrated on experimenting how to recycle waste oils.He left university and launched Organo Energy in 2009, focusing on the collection of waste animal fats and grease from restaurants, along with used cardboard and Styrofoam.It was a tough slog for a while. He leased a cheap warehouse in Acme and drove his truck and its dirty cargo there on a regular basis until he found a better proposition in Vista Heights. The business grew and today its bins are outside many restaurants where kitchen staff deposit waste oils that are gathered up free of charge by Organo’s EcoDine drivers.At the plant, the oils are separated, refined and picked up for use in biofuel production.It is mandatory for kitchens to clean grease traps and the Grease Squad division of the company does this at a discounted rate. After graduating from University of British Columbia, Zakir’s sister, Azra, took over as president and CEO of Organo. The change has given Zakir time to get further educated. A Harvard University faculty member heard of his efforts in environmental management and invited him to speak to his students. As a result, the busy Hussein is now flying regularly to Boston to study}}. A few decades ago, becoming a CEO before your thirties was unheard of. Nowadays, with mentors like Facebook\’s Mark Zuckerberg and Groupon\’s Andrew Mason being huge successes in their twenties — the same age as many university graduates — many students are considering creating a job over finding one.
Zakir Hussein, 22, is one such student. In March, he won the 2012 regional championship for Western Canada in the Student Entrepreneur National Competition, organized by Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship.\”I realized, I could be an employee, or I could be my own boss and share my vision with the world,\” says Hussein, a student at the University of Calgary who is majoring in both petroleum geology and environmental management. There’s a long tradition of entrepreneurs starting businesses in their parents’ basement. Zakir I. Hussein is part of that tradition.He grew algae in his folks’ basement and then developed a technology, using the family barbecue, to extract the energy from the algae and convert it into a biofuel. He then started a clean-energy company to develop that technology even further. Following the traditional arc of this story, Hussein would have dropped out of school to follow his dream. But, instead, the technology was interesting enough that Harvard University essentially poached him from the University of Calgary and allowed him to run the business in Calgary, while getting his degree in environmental management and sustainability. Hussein is a world traveler with a purpose: he is passionate in his quest to understand cultures, religions, art, architecture and musical traditions. He has travelled to some far-flung places steeped in ancient stories, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and all over East Africa. His passion and appreciation of pluralism, along with his rigorous understanding of religious and cultural diversity, blends in interesting ways with his deep understanding of software development.
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