The 10 Youngest Tech Prodigies Right Now

While most of us spent our youth watching TV, playing video games, and exploring the Web, a small group of wonder children were being groomed to become society’s elite minds in the engineering, medical, and technology fields. Take a look at Mark Zuckerberg who, before creating Facebook, established an IM service for his dad’s dentist office around age 12. Then there’s the late Aaron Swartz, the co-founder of Reddit and Internet activist who co-wrote the first RSS specification at just 14 years old.

And now there's a new generation of juvenile geniuses . We're talking about adolescents and teenagers that are obtaining programming certifications, creating mobile apps, and mastering nuclear physics before reaching puberty. From medical science wonders to tablet creators, these are the youngest tech prodigies itching to take the industry by storm.

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Age: 9

Pakistan’s brightest youth got his first taste of computers at the age of 4 and began training for exams when he was seven. With father Shah Thobani serving as CEO of Thobson Technologies, Shafay was given access to a 1,000-square-foot training facility featuring desktops, routers, and other specialized hardware. He's become the youngest person to ever qualify as a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist after scoring 91 percent on the exam. A stringent study schedule of eight hours a day for 13 months will earn you that score.

Age: 9

This fourth grader from Willow Elementary school recently cracked the Microsoft Certification Technology Specialist exams and earned his certification with ease. In order to achieve this feat, Kalyan spent 18 months studying and programming up to eight hours a day. According to his father: “He [Pranav] is capable of solving problems in differential calculus and integral calculus. His efficiency in mathematics helped him write programs". Kalyan resides in California and has accepted a job offer to work at a Bank of America in Los Angeles.

Age: 11

Since 2008, Shiv Sakhuja has been the creator, developer, and owner of ControlYourMac.com—a website that specializes in providing answers and user-friendly solutions for Mac and iDevice users. The idea was conceived when the Indian pre-teen began assisting his father’s friends with Mac queries. From there he read up on how to create a website, learning HTML and web design. Now with the site being a huge success, he’s gone on to build several mobile apps such as kwik games and kwik mailing.

Age: 14

Most 14-year-olds struggle getting through middle school. Not this computer genius. In fact, he's already in college and set to graduate with a master's degree by 17. Rather than indulge in social media and online gaming, Gonzalez focuses his efforts on making iOS apps. He's also fluent in over a dozen programming languages. Watch his profile piece from ThnkrTV's PRODIGIES series and see why he's one of the hottest tech free agents out there.

Age: 14

Oehmler discovered a free Apple developer program and went on to create his own iPhone app titled iTennis. Now he’s apparently moved onto more advanced gaming hardware, experimenting with the Microsoft Kinect with which he claims to have already built “an invisible drum set” thanks to Microsoft's developer kit. The whiz kid mentioned how the motion-sensor technology on the Kinect could be utilized by doctor's to analyze X-rays in the near future. Could this be a hint at his next project?

Age: 15

Studies show that pancreatic cancer is the fourth most deadly cancer in the U.S. That could possible change thanks to the groundbreaking strides made in the medical field by this Maryland high schooler. After being told by numerous scientists his method would never work, Andraka defied the odds by creating a dip-stick sensor that detects pancreatic cancer at its earliest stage with a 90 percent accuracy rate. #LifeChanger.

Age: 15

At five years old, Iqbal was already a computer programmer. By the time he reached the age of 12, Iqbal had four world records under his belt: Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (age 9); Youngest Certified Wireless Network Administrator (age 9); Youngest Certified Web Professional Associate (age 10); and Youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (age 12). The IT specialist hopes to advance even further in the computer industry and has already received offers from several U.S. tech companies.

Age: 16

The self-taught teenager never had the luxury of taking engineering classes in his home country of Sierra Leone. Yet at 13 years-old, Doe was able to create batteries and generators out of spare parts and resources from trashcans, which he used to power his own community radio station and family home. All with the help of some scrap metal, baking soda, and acid. Doe remains the youngest person in history to be invited to MIT’s Visiting Practitioner’s Program for international development.

Age: 16

Wilson’s infatuation with nuclear energy and power was evident at the age of 10. Though it was over the past four years where he really advanced in the field, winning a dozen of awards at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and becoming the youngest person to ever achieve nuclear fusion. Thaks to funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Energy, Wilson already assembled a device capable of detecting nuclear material in cargo containers that’s being field tested at this very moment. His recent prototype creates radioactive isotopes in a small device and could play a huge role in how and where cancer treatments are administered.

Age: 17

Let us introduce you to the youngest tablet PC creator. The tech prodigy from Hyderabad, India, has assembled a device named the AVE that boasts some impressive specs: 7-inch display, 1.2GHz processor, 8GB of internal memory, and a MicroSD card slot. On top of running the Android Gingerbread OS, it also weighs a meager 260 grams and bears features that Reddy claims can compete with today’s top tablet brands. Google should be knocking on his doorstep sometime soon.