Elon Musk hires ‘profoundly gifted’ 14-year-old to work on satellite team at SpaceX

Elon Musk’s aerospace aspirations are set to be aided by “the youngest employed software engineer on the planet”.

Kairan Quazi, 14, landed a prestigious position on the space exploration company’s satellite team shortly before his upcoming graduation from Santa Clara University.

The virtuoso teenager could speak full sentences at just two and complete complex math equations at six, but admitted his school years were difficult because his peers couldn’t keep up.

“It was physically painful for me to sit in classrooms trapped, existentially bored, for hours and months – and eventually years – and not learn at the level I had physically, intellectually and emotionally need,” he said. SFChronicle.

The prodigy is ready to work with the Star Link engineering team, bringing satellite internet technology to rural areas

His age aside, Quazi’s budding career at SpaceX alone would be enough to place him in the upper echelons of his industry, with less than one percent of applicants accepted by the tech giant.

His early accomplishments were honored earlier this month by the Santa Clara City Council, where he tried to assuage concerns about his youth.

“For people who I think are worried about my childhood being destroyed, I’m really here to tell you that’s just not true,” he said.

Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor responded that she felt “a bit of an underachiever” compared to the prodigy, as she dubbed him “the youngest employed software engineer on the planet… the planet!”

He has been called a “profoundly gifted” youngster with an almost superhuman level of intellect. Asked about his IQ, Kairan admitted he didn’t know, but claims that “the doctor told me I had reached the maximum”.

Spending her childhood hovering above other children, the young wonder was soon enrolled in a school for gifted youngsters, but said it still didn’t meet her intellectual needs.

Quazi (left) impressed throughout his childhood and even claims a doctor told him he ‘maxed’ his IQ. He is pictured with California Governor Gavin Newsom (right)

While other employers were put off by Quazi’s age, he says Elon Musk’s SpaceX (pictured) was excited about his promise

After graduating from community college and graduating, Kairan was ready to put his brain to the test, but he said he quickly realized that mentioning his age didn’t help. impressed employers.

That was until he interviewed for SpaceX, who he said really liked him being so young.

But in previous years, he felt frustrated because his intellect extended far beyond his classmates. Feeling there was “nothing noble or dignified” about his upbringing, Quazi sought to step things up, but found it impossible to focus on easy classes.

His mother said he embarked on a ‘primary school mutineer’ phase, where he argued with his teachers and would rather be sent to the principal’s office than sit in classrooms .

However, Brain said he never saw the grades as “a good representation of the whole person”, a view shared by his parents who he says “never really cared about the grades”.

Her mother Jullia Quazi recalled several telling moments from her childhood that offered insight into her promising intelligence.

She claimed he would often be found “arguing with his preschool teachers about the constitutional requirements to be President of the United States.”

In a third-grade lesson, he confronted his professor about how it would be possible to discuss supply and demand without addressing US trade policy in China, Jullia said.

She recalled that he was so offended by the slowness of his gifted school’s curriculum that he told his teachers “they would find him in the computer room looking for jobs on the CIA website.” .

“Our approach hasn’t been censorship or ratings-focused,” her mother said. “If we walked into a library or Barnes & Noble and he grabbed a book, he might have it.”

Kairan (centre) pictured with his parents Mustahid (right) and Jullia (left), who said the prodigy started showing his genius when he was just two years old

Quazi’s search for CIA jobs as a frustrated youth turned to technology when he tested college calculus, and his parents realized he was a brilliant mathematician.

But it was more than his predilection for equations that caught people’s attention – with his pediatrician once alerting his parents to his exceptional emotional intelligence.

This was evident even at the age of two, when the toddler was “walking around showing up” at social events, his mother said.

“He would find a seat with the adults and try to insert himself into the conversation,” she added.

After years of trying to feed his “boundless curiosity,” he thrived at Santa Clara University, dazzling his classmates and professors.

“My brain is able to process and synthesize information much faster,” he said when asked by SFChronicle how he was able to reach dizzying heights at such a young age.

“I can read a textbook once and have a deep understanding,” he said.

Although he seems to excel at everything, Quazi said two specific talents elude him. “I still love playing tennis and the piano…but I’m pretty bad at both,” he said.

Quazi dazzled his classmates and teachers throughout his childhood, allowing him to recently graduate from college when he was just 14 years old.

He claims he has a superhuman ability to “read a textbook once and have a deep understanding”

Now, after earning a degree in computer science and engineering, Quazi’s attempts to cash in on his intelligence have seen him land one of the most lucrative roles in his field.

But his job search hasn’t always gone to plan, with the 13-year-old being rejected from every company he applied to when he went through his CV last fall.

Kairan says he constantly faces what he calls “adultism”, including a recent incident which saw his LinkedIn profile removed from the platform because he was under 16.

“It’s the illogical, primitive nonsense that I constantly come across,” he said in a furious response on Instagram.

“I can be qualified enough to land one of the most coveted engineering jobs in the world, but not qualified enough to have access to a professional social media platform?”