Nima Shahabshahmir: Future Fungi/Photographer
When he’s not hanging some of his spectacular photography in a gallery, Nima ShahabShahmir is out there saving the world from itself. Originally from Tehran, Iran, Nima moved to Lewisburg 10 years ago, eventually graduating from Greenbrier East High School and New River Community and Technical College before enrolling in the Information Systems program at West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
Today, he is the CEO and founder of Future Fungi, LLC, which aims to replace the use of plastics with mycelium-based products—basically stuff made out of mushrooms.
“The company’s vision and research started with a search for an eco-friendly and innovative way to solve the single usage of the plastic pollution problem,” he explains. “I wanted to find a natural friendly solution which would reduce our dependence on plastic based material and instead, utilize the sustainable based products capable of bio-degrading.”
Nima says his experiences with plants and mushrooms while wild mushroom hunting in West Virginia helped him see mycelium (roots of mushroom) as a form of natural substance to grow products. “It’s basically like 3D printing with nature!”
Future Fungi is working with a Colorado-based 3D printer to work out the kinks of printing with natural cellular material. In the meantime, Nima’s passion for photography continues to drive his artistic vision.
“I see photography as a gate to many avant-garde possibilities,” he says. “Capturing a moment in time, and admiring the scene, has taught me to look around constantly, conceptualize the photo before camera clicks and the picture is recorded.”
Nima’s work has been hung at The Tamarack, Carnegie Hall, and Lee Street Studios to name a few.
As if that’s not enough for the young scientist/artist, he keeps pushing himself into more exciting opportunities, currently working on NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium funded Computer Science research on Augmented Reality (AR) technologies.
“With the help of my advisor at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, I am developing mobile applications with the goal of using this technology to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education in the state of West Virginia. I plan to continue the results of this research into a program that could hopefully be used in the classrooms. It’s important for students to imagine science topics in order to fully grasp the idea, I believe that introducing such technologies with traditional education will create an interactive classroom experience.”
Nima’s work can be found at www.nimashsh.com.