PIO, 9, is youngest MS certified techie

Pranav Kaly¬an, Photo by Deccan ChronicleNine-year-old Pranav Kaly­an of the US has become the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) in ASP and .NET.

“As a child, Pranav used to play with computers instead of toys. He started writing small programmes when he was only six. I was fascinated to see this and I started motivating him to take up Microsoft certification, which would add value to his current skills,” said an elated Kalyan Kumar, Pranav’s father who works at Bank of America in Los Angeles, on Tuesday.

The fourth grade student of Indian origin said that he aspires to become a scientist.

Asked about his inspiration, Pranav had a list of names — Manivannan, an engineer at SAGE, USA who introduced him to the world of computers at an early age of three, and Nadhiya, who recognised the kid’s talent in mathematics and motivated him to pursue certification.

It is not only these two who had motivated Pranav.

Satish had mentored him to do MCTS certification, besides Jonathan Woodbury and Jonathan Yn, Kalyan Kumar’s colleagues in Bank of America facilitated Pranav to achieve this feat.

Pranav had also participated in national-level Math Bee competition conducted by North South Foundation, USA when he was seven. He has been outstanding in extra-curricular activities too and has won interschool chess championships twice in a row.

K. Rajesh, a computer professional, termed Pranav’s talent as extraordinary. “For a computer professional ASP, .NET will not be much difficult but for a nine-year-old it’s a remarkable effort as the kid needs to have lot of logical and reasoning ability. Not everyone can get Microsoft certification, only those who can solve complex questions can do it,” he said.

deccanchronicle.com