Meet The Teen – A UCLA Grad – Who Helps NASA Develop Surveillance Technology

17-year-old Moshe Kai Cavalin from San Gabriel, California, is an extraordinary genius who happens to be a teenager. Still, the teen prodigy insists that he’s more ordinary than people think.

Take a closer look at his impressive feats:

At 4 months, Moshe pointed to a jet in the sky and said the Chinese word for airplane, his first word. He began reading and solving math problems when he was just 3-year-old. Moshe entered the East Los Angeles College when he was 8 – the youngest college student in the United States – and graduated two years later with a 4.0 GPA. By 9, Moshe was writing what would become a bestselling autobiography, titled “We Can Do”, to convey his belief in hard work as a path to accomplishment. At 15, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

He just published his second book, drawing on his experience being bullied and stories he’s heard from others. This year, he started online classes to get a master’s in cyber security through the Boston area’s Brandeis University but that has been put on hold as Moshe got a job – to help NASA develop surveillance technology for airplanes and drones! His daily work at NASA includes running simulations of airplanes and drones that are headed for collision, and then finding ways to route them to safety.

Moshe Kai Cavalin (17) sudah mengembang tanggung jawab besar dari NASA. Bagaimana sosok anak “luar biasa” tersebut? https://t.co/fhMcECaxcd

— Nat Geo Indonesia (@NGIndonesia) November 9, 2015

The bestselling author has a trove of trophies from martial arts tournaments. He plays the piano, and plans to have his airplane pilot’s license by the year’s end. After he finishes his master’s from Brandeis, Moshe hopes to get a master’s in business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later, he wants to start his own cyber security company. For now, he’s counting down the days until his 18th birthday, when he’ll be able to get a full driver’s license under California law.

Moshe credits his parents – with a mother from Taiwan and a father from Brazil – for his eclectic interests.

“My case isn’t that special. It’s just a combination of parenting and motivation and inspiration. I tend to not compare myself that often to other people. I just try to do the best I can… One word I don’t take too kindly is genius. Genius is just kind of taking it too far.”

Ricardo Arteaga, his boss and mentor at NASA, says Moshe was perfect for a project that combines math, computers and aircraft technology.

“I needed an intern who knew software and knew mathematical algorithms. And I also needed a pilot who could fly it on a Cessna… He’s really sharp in mathematics. What we’re trying to bring out more is his intuitive skills.”

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