Child prodigy aims to be an astronaut, invent cure for cancer

BY: Patrick Beech

He is among the youngest to be invited to join the Dalyell Scholars Programme at the University of Sydney.

Fifteen-year-old prodigy Rayyann Haron Alqadry is the pride of the nation after scoring in the top one per cent of the world on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).

While most of his peers are preparing for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, home-schooled Rayyann is set to start his undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney in February.

He is looking to go for a double-degree majoring in physics and computer science.

The Dalyell Scholars programme is an elite university entrance path for high achievers and has a very strict entry point where candidates have to obtain at least a score of 98 out of the full 99.95 points to achieve the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

His mother, Shariffah Hazwany Alqadry, 47, said she and her husband, David Haron, 50, who runs a homeschool, first recognised his gift when, at the age of two, he began assembling jigsaw puzzles designed for six-year-olds.

When he was 13 years old, Rayyann received an offer from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

However, taking into consideration his young age and the Covid-19 pandemic, his parents decided to put it on hold.

Outside of his studies, he is no different than any other 15-year-old boy who enjoys playing games such as Dungeon and Dragons.

Rayyann has diverse hobbies, including playing the piano and mastering taekwondo, where he holds a black belt.

His ambition was to be an astronaut while also "part-timing as a biochemist to invent a cure for cancer".