Mohamed Jasim C M | Finding His Space

Jasim never imagined he would become an engineer. Growing up in Tirur, Malappuram, he was more interested in understanding people than machines. Psychology fascinated him, and he had hoped to study it after school. But life took a different turn. He enrolled in Information Technology at MES Engineering College, Kuttippuram, not because it was his dream, but because it was the path available to him.

The beginning wasn't easy. He struggled academically and accumulated several backlogs during his first year. For many students, that could have become the defining story of their college life. For Jasim, it became the beginning of another story altogether. Instead of finding purpose inside classrooms, he found it in communities.

Campus clubs slowly became Jasim's real education. He immersed himself in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC), became an active leader in the National Service Scheme (NSS), participated in Kerala Startup Mission initiatives, and eventually joined the video design team of TinkerHub's campus community.

These weren't just extracurricular activities. They introduced him to people who were building ideas, solving problems, and creating opportunities for others. One of those people was Reema Shaji, who introduced TinkerHub activities through the IEDC. Later, the college hosted Mehar, one of TinkerHub's founders, opening another door into a community that would soon change Jasim's life.

At the same time, Jasim volunteered with Kerala Startup Mission and attended OpenNyAI- Agami Residency. There he met people like Abhiram NJ, who patiently shared ideas, experiences, and perspectives that extended far beyond technology.

"Meeting people who thought differently made me question what kind of life I wanted to live," Jasim recalls.

He realised he wasn't searching for a career alone. He was searching for meaning.

A Space That Felt Like Home

TinkerHub is a community of makers, tinkerers, and students who learn technology together by building, experimenting, and helping each other grow. A non-profit organisation with campus communities on 60+ campuses across Kerala, they also have a maker hackerspace in Kochi that is open 24/7 to everyone and free to use: TinkerSpace. 

By his final year, Jasim knew he wanted to contribute to TinkerHub somehow. He asked Reema whether he could volunteer or intern at TinkerSpace. Every weekend, he travelled there, helping wherever he could. Months later,  Mehar asked if he would like to join as a paid intern. Without a second thought, Jasim said yes. What began as an internship quickly became something much bigger.

"I realised this is my thing," he says.

Unlike a conventional workplace, TinkerSpace wasn't defined by desks or job titles. It was a place where students, professionals, founders, artists and dreamers crossed paths every day. Ideas flowed as freely as conversations. For someone who had always loved understanding people, it felt like finding the place he had been looking for all along.

Jasim eventually became the Space Manager at TinkerSpace. On paper, the role involved managing a community workspace. In reality, it meant understanding people.

The space operates around the clock, attracting different communities throughout the day. Job seekers arrive during office hours. Working professionals take over in the evenings. Students often fill the space late into the night, while another set of creators appears before sunrise.

Rather than imposing rules, Jasim chose observation. He spent countless sleepless nights simply watching how different groups interacted, what they needed, and what made them stay. Slowly, patterns emerged. There had never been a fixed formula for running the space. Together with the team, he began creating systems that encouraged people to return—not because they had to, but because they wanted to. 

His biggest responsibility wasn't organising events or maintaining infrastructure. It was introducing people to one another. Sometimes all a community needs is one meaningful introduction. Such a simple belief became central to how Jasim approached his work.

Building Order from Chaos

Looking back, Jasim recognises a pattern in his life. Whether it was organising activities in IEDC, leading student initiatives, or managing TinkerSpace, he found himself drawn to one thing: creating structure where none existed. He enjoys entering spaces that feel uncertain and helping them evolve into thriving communities. This instinct mirrors one of TinkerHub's own strengths.

Rather than focusing only on teaching technical skills, TinkerHub creates environments where people discover opportunities through collaboration, curiosity and peer learning. It believes innovation grows best inside communities built on trust and openness.

Jasim naturally fits into this philosophy. He doesn't measure success by the number of programmes organised or startups launched. He measures it by the conversations that begin because two strangers met at the right time.

One of the greatest gifts TinkerHub has given Jasim is exposure. Through the community, he has met an incredible variety of people. Some have spent decades mastering a single craft. Others have built careers in unexpected corners of the world.

During a recent visit to Himachal Pradesh, he met someone running an entire 3D printer farm far away from any city. Some might call such people unconventional or even crazy.  Jasim finds them inspiring.

"They make me realise there isn't just one way to live," he says.

His fascination with people—something that first drew him towards psychology—continues to shape how he sees the world. Every conversation teaches him something new. Every story expands his imagination of what life can become.

Passing It Forward

Community, for Jasim, only matters if knowledge keeps moving. This is the belief that has shaped many of the programmes he leads.

He has hosted KuttyMakers, introducing children between the ages of seven and seventeen to electronics, creativity and physical computing. He has also taught similar sessions in a school in the Himalayas.

Even after those workshops ended, he continued meeting the students through online catch-ups every two weeks. Consistency, he believes, matters more than one-time inspiration.

He often reflects on how much he himself discovered only because someone introduced him to the right community. Cloud computing. Artificial intelligence. ChatGPT. Many of these opportunities became visible to him only after joining TinkerHub. He wants today's children to encounter those possibilities much earlier than he did.

Today, Jasim is preparing for another new beginning. He is helping manage a new TinkerSpace in Kozhikode, that Meher and team have opened . Creating a space, he says, isn't the difficult part. Keeping it alive is. Unlike many innovation labs that remain underused behind locked doors, TinkerSpace aims to become an accessible meeting point where friendships form naturally, ideas take shape, and collaborations emerge without pressure. 

His hometown of Malappuram remains close to his heart. He often thinks about the inequality between regions. Young people in cities like Kochi have easier access to technology, networks and opportunities, while many talented students elsewhere remain unaware of what is possible. Expanding TinkerHub's presence beyond major cities is, for him, about more than opening another building. It is about making opportunities less dependent on geography.

Living an Interesting Life

Jasim rarely describes his work as a job. He simply enjoys showing up. He enjoys conversations with strangers, introducing future collaborators, watching friendships begin, and seeing ideas grow into something real.

His dream isn't limited to becoming a startup founder, though he hopes to build one someday. He wants to travel. He wants to keep learning from remarkable people. He wants to continue creating spaces where others discover possibilities they never knew existed.

At its heart, this aspiration reflects the very spirit of TinkerHub. Both believe that learning should be open, communities should be welcoming, and technology should ultimately improve people's lives and not just their careers.

Jasim arrived at TinkerHub searching for a place to contribute. Instead, he found something much bigger. He found a community that matched his curiosity, his compassion, and his belief that meaningful change often begins with something surprisingly simple: a conversation between two people who might never have met otherwise.