Kairan Quazi
কাইরান কাজী
Born27 January 2009 (2009-01-27) (age 14)
Pleasanton, California, U.S.
Alma materSanta Clara University
OccupationComputer engineering
EmployerSpaceX

Kairan Quazi (Bengali: কাইরান কাজী; born 27 January 2009[1]) is a Bangladeshi American software engineer at the American aerospace manufacturer company SpaceX.[2] At age 14, he graduated from the Santa Clara University School of Engineering in 2023, becoming the university's youngest ever graduate.[3] Simultaneously, he was recruited by SpaceX in June 2023 to become the youngest engineer at Starlink, the company's satellite internet team.[4][5] For his precocious educational achievements, he has been labelled "wonder kid".[6][7][8]

Early life and family

Kairan was born in the Pleasanton, California to Bangladeshi parents Mustahid Quazi and Jullia Quazi née Chowdhury.[9][10] He belongs to a family of Muslim Quazis from Manikganj.[11] In Bangladesh, his father was a chemical engineer and his mother a Wall Street executive.[5] Doctors assessed his intellectual and emotional intelligence at age 2 as "off the charts".[12] He first entered Mensa International, a program for individuals with a high IQ, and became a Davidson Institute Young Scholar.[13] Then he went to The Quarry Lane School for the rest of his elementary education.[14] When asked if he was a genius, he would divert the answer to his mother's remarks, saying: "Mom says she's the only genius in the house because it takes one to keep [their] house from falling apart!"[15] He added: "Mom also claims that IQ comes from the 'X' chromosome."[13]

College education

Recognising his precocity, Kairan was advised by his family doctor and school teachers to enroll in college while he was still in third grade.[16] He had already developed a passion for calculus and organic chemistry which the school could not offer in its curriculum.[10] His psychologist assessed him as "an outlier among outliers," and recommended that Kairan was ready for a college.[3] Dan Peters, psychologist and executive director of the Summit Center assessed him and suggested he join the Helios School, a private school for gifted children.[14] At age nine, in 2018, he simultaneously entered the Helios School and the Las Positas Community College, where he studied mathematics and chemistry,[10][17] and received his associates degree in science.[9][15] In 2018, he simultaneously completed California's high school equivalency exam, a requisite for full college enrolment.[3] At Las Positas, he became the youngest ever student and tutor,[1] and was a highly regarded STEM tutor.[4] In 2019, after applying for many interships, he was finally accepted by Lama Nachman, director of the Intelligent Systems Research Lab at Intel.[1] Kairan said his internship with Nachman "changed everything".[4][18]

In 2020, at age 11, Quazi transferred to Santa Clara University (SCU) and studied computer science and engineering.[9][19] In 2022, he completed an internship at a cyber intelligence firm, Blackbird.AI.[19][5] He was elected as a Senior Senator in the Associated Student Government of the university.[20] He officially graduated on 17 June 2023.[21] With a degree in software engineering, Kairan is the youngest student to ever graduate from Santa Clara University.[9]

Career

By February 2023, Kairan already received three employment offers.[20] In April 2023, Quazi announced on Instagram that he was ready for a major job interview.[4] Several companies rejected his applications, but SpaceX gave him the opportunity. His parents "prepared him for disappointment", as his mother took him to Seattle to face the interview.[3] The company announced his appointment on 13 June, posting on Twitter: "SpaceX hires the best, brightest and smartest engineers in the world, even a 14-year-old by the name of Kairan Quazi, who will start his new job on SpaceX's Starlink team on July 31."[22] He is set up to move to Redmond with his mother by the end of July 2023.[4][18]

When Kairan announced his new appointment in LinkedIn, saying, "Next stop: Space X! I will be joining the coolest company on the planet," the professional online platform soon deleted his account.[23] LinkedIn requires 16 years of age to use its service. It informed Kairan that he would be welcomed to join when he turned 16.[6][24] Kairan responded by remarking the situation "illogical, primitive nonsense" as he was already employed in a profession.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Naing, Thiha (16 October 2019). "LPC's youngest sophomore is more than a boy genius". The Express. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (13 June 2023). "A 14-year-old Santa Clara University graduate is SpaceX's newest hire". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Somasundaram, Praveena (23 June 2023). "He finished college at 14. Next up: A full-time gig at SpaceX". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Solis, Nathan (10 June 2023). "He's about to graduate college and join SpaceX as an engineer. He's 14". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Tech & Startup Desk (12 June 2023). "14-year old Bangladeshi-American boy joins SpaceX as youngest employee". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  6. 1 2 Cuthbertson, Anthony (16 June 2023). "LinkedIn bans 'wonder kid' SpaceX engineer, 14, hired by Elon Musk". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Elon Musk Hires 14-year-old 'Wonder Kid' to Work at SpaceX". The Times. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Randall, Ian (17 June 2023). "Elon Musk hires 14-year-old wonder kid to work on SpaceX satellite team". Daily Express US. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Khristopher J. (12 June 2023). "California child prodigy accepts software engineering job at SpaceX". CBS News. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Robertson, Michelle (23 January 2019). "Meet the East Bay 9-year-old who's in fourth grade and college". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "স্পেসএক্সে সবচেয়ে কম বয়সী কর্মী বাংলাদেশি বংশোদ্ভূত কাইরান". The Daily Star (in Bengali). 13 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Who is Kairan Quazi, the 14-year-old hired by Elon Musk's SpaceX?". First Post. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  13. 1 2 Quazi, Kairan (15 January 2019). "I'm Only 9, And I'm Already In College. Here's What Life Is Like For Me". HuffPost. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  14. 1 2 Alvero, Erika (6 August 2018). "Pleasanton 9-year-old heads to college". Pleasanton Weekly. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Meet Kairan Quazi, who is only nine, and already in college". www.braingainmag.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "Elon Musk's SpaceX hires 14-year-old Bangladeshi-American Kairan". The Business Standard. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  17. ↑ Cosgrove, Jennifer (16 January 2019). "'I'm a normal, happy kid': gifted 9-year-old writes about life at college". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Who is Kairan Quazi, the 14-year-old engineer hired by SpaceX's Starlink?". Deccan Herald. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  19. 1 2 Mann, Jyoti (10 June 2023). "Meet the newest employee at Elon Musk's SpaceX. He's 14". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  20. 1 2 Johnson, Annie (17 February 2023). "14 Year Old Kairan Quazi to Graduate with Bachelor's Degrees in Computer Science and Engineering". The Santa Clara. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  21. ↑ Shin, Lauren (20 June 2023). "14 year-old graduates from university to work for SpaceX". AsAmNews. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  22. ↑ Srivastava, Ritesh K. (12 June 2023). "Who Is Kairan Quazi, The 14-Year-Old Engineer Who Is All Set To Join Elon Musk's SpaceX?". Zee News. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  23. ↑ "'Primitive nonsense': LinkedIn removes account of 14-year-old SpaceX engineer. Here's why". The Indian Express. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  24. ↑ Quint, The (16 June 2023). "14-Year-Old Bangladeshi American Becomes SpaceX's Youngest Employee". TheQuint. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  25. ↑ Javaid, Arfa (14 June 2023). "LinkedIn deletes account of SpaceX's software engineer Kairan Quazi. Here's why". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
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