Pakistan The World Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional Arfa Karim (1995-2012) (2012-2)

 

Arfa Karim Randhawa (2 February 1995 – 14 January 2012) was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy, who in 2004 at the age of nine years became a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), the youngest in the world until 2008. She was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in the USA. A science park in Lahore was named after her, the Arfa Software Technology Park

Arfa was born to a family from the village of Chak No 4JB Ram Dewali in Faisalabad, Punjab. After returning to Pakistan from a visit to Microsoft headquarters, Arfa gave numerous television and newspaper interviews. On 2 August 2005, Arfa Karim was presented the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz on the occasion of 113th birth anniversary of Fatima Jinnah.  She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in August 2005 from the President of Pakistan.  Arfa Karim is also the recipient of the President's Award for Pride of Performance, a civil award usually granted to people who have shown excellence in their respective fields over a long period of time. She is the youngest recipient of this award. In recognition of her achievement Arfa was made brand ambassador for Pakistan Telecommunication Company’s 3G Wireless Broadband service named EVO in January 2010.

In 2011, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim was studying at the Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A-levels. On 22 December 2011 she suffered a cardiac arrest after an epileptic seizure that damaged her brain, and was admitted to Lahore's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in critical condition.

On 9 January 2012, Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, contacted Arfa's parents and directed his doctors to adopt "every kind of measure" for her treatment. Gates set up a special panel of international doctors who remained in contact with her local doctors through teleconference. The panel received details about her illness and provided assistance in diagnosis and treatment.  Local doctors dismissed the option of moving Arfa to another hospital owing to her being on a ventilator and in critical condition.  Members of Arfa's family have lauded Bill Gates for offering to bear her treatment expenses.

On 13 January 2012, Arfa Karim started to improve and some parts of her brain showed signs of improvement. Her father, Amjad Karim Randhawa, said Microsoft had raised the possibility of flying Arfa to the US for care.

On 14 January 2012, 16-year-old Arfa Karim died at 9:50 PM (Pakistan Standard Time) at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore. Her funeral prayer was offered in Cavalry Ground Lahore at 10 AM on 15 January 2012, and later at Faisalabad the same day. The funeral was attended by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif. She was buried at her ancestral village in Faisalabad.

On 15 January 2012, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that the name of Lahore Technology Park would be changed to Arfa Software Technology Park.