Meet Indian genius, who cracked IIT-JEE at 12, became India’s youngest IITian, completed PhD at 24, got job at Apple, he is now…

IIT JEE is one of the world’s toughest exams. Many students start preparing right after their Class 10 results, aiming for admission into the prestigious IITs, which often leads to high-paying jobs with top companies. Becoming an IIT graduate takes years of sacrifice, hard work, and discipline. That’s why it’s surprising when someone leaves IIT to follow a different passion. One such person is Satyam, a child prodigy who cracked the IIT JEE at just 12, becoming the youngest ever IITian. This article shares his inspiring success story.

Satyam Kumar, a young genius from Bakhorapur, a small village in the Bhojpur district of Bihar, India, cracked the IIT-JEE, one of the most difficult admission exams in the nation, with an All-India Rank (AIR) of 8137 at the age of 12, while kids his age were still learning basic arithmetic in middle school.

The child prodigy, however, was not satisfied with his performance and retook the test in 2013, improving his score to 670 and becoming the youngest IITian in the history of the nation.

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Satyam Kumar was born on July 20, 1999, into a farming family in Bakhorapur, a small village in the Bhojpur district of Bihar, India. From an early age, he showcased his academic brilliance. A family acquaintance saw his extraordinary intelligence and persuaded Kumar's father to enroll him at a tutoring center in Kota, Rajasthan, so the youngster could get ready for the IIT-JEE exam.

When Satyam Kumar became the youngest IITian in history in 2012, he made history by passing the IIT-JEE on his first attempt with an AIR of 8137. In 2013, the brilliant child took the test once more and achieved an impressive score of 292 out of 360, improving his rank to 670. At the time, he was only thirteen. Satyam surpassed the previous record-holder, 14-year-old Sahak Kaushik, who had accomplished the feat in 2010.

India’s youngest IITian

Satyam Kumar got admission to the esteemed IIT Kanpur after he aced the IIT-JEE, where he graduated with a BTech-MTech Dual Degree in Electrical Engineering. Kumar finished his doctorate at the University of Texas in Texas, USA, when he was 24 years old.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Satyam Kumar is currently employed at Texas Instruments as a Machine Learning Systems Research Engineer after having previously interned as a Machine Learning Intern at Apple.

Satyam got a PhD at the University of Texas at Austin after a distinguished academic and professional career.  He is continuing his path of creativity and brilliance at the university as a Graduate Research Assistant, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The story of Satyam Kumar is one of remarkable tenacity and intelligence. He has demonstrated that ability, when cultivated, has no bounds, taking him from a small Bihar town to the world's technological and research arena. Many young brains continue to find inspiration in his journey.

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