ISLAMABAD:The 10th death anniversary of the world’s youngest Microsoft certified professional Arfa Karim is being observed today (Friday).
Born on February 2, 1995, Arfa Karim became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of nine. In 2004, at the age of nine, Arfa Karim became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). She had her name in the Guinness Book of World Record and kept the title until 2008.
Arfa Karim represented Pakistan on various international forums including the TechEd Developers Conference in the Spanish city of Barcelona in 2006. In 2005, she was invited by Bill Gates to visit Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Washington in the United States.
Sitting down for a personal meeting with Bill Gates, Arfa Karim asked the Microsoft founder why the company doesn’t hire people of her age. The question was not so unreasonable under the circumstances. A science park in Lahore, the Arfa Software Technology Park, was named after her.
On January 15, 2012, the Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharif announced a name change of Software Technology Park to Arfa Software Technology Park. Her native hometown was also renamed after her to pay tribute to the child prodigy. The village of Ram Dewali is now named after Arfa Karim. Arfa Karim passed away on this day (January 14) in 2012 in Lahore at the age of 16.