This 11-Year-Old Master’s Student in Mexico Has a Higher IQ Than Albert Einstein

Adhara Maite Pérez Sánchez is not your average 11-year-old girl. She’s currently getting her master’s degree in Mexico City.

Pérez, who has autism and Aspergers, has an IQ of 162 and two degrees in systems and industrial engineering.

With an IQ higher than that of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, the sky is just the launchpad of what she hopes to do in the future.

This 11-year-old master’s student wants to work for NASA

After she finishes graduate school, Pérez hopes to work with NASA as an engineer and become an astronaut one day. In the meantime, she collaborates with the Mexican Space Agency to encourage girls to study engineering through conversations about math and outer space.

According to an Instagram post from the Good News Movement, Pérez finished elementary school at age five. She then went through four years of high school by the time she was six.

Pérez currently studies at Mexico’s National Polytechnic Institute at the Zacatenco campus. She visited the United States after the University of Arizona’s President, Robert C. Robbins, invited her to study there. However, she continued her studies in Mexico before pursuing a position at NASA.

Pérez endured bullying and medical complications at a young age

Pérez was diagnosed with autism at three years old after her mother noticed an issue with her speech. After facing bullying from other students at her school and even teachers, she graduated from high school 12 years early. She now inspires children every day to pursue careers in math and science.

In an interview with Marie Claire México, her mother explained that Pérez suffered a seizure when she was seven years old and went into a coma for three days. Instead of pushing her past her limitations, her mother focused on her child’s mental health over school.

When Pérez met her doctor, she noticed pictures of Stephen Hawking on the wall. His intelligence and his ability to communicate with people non-verbally inspired her. Pérez immediately pursued a career in engineering and space exploration, leading her to study at multiple universities.

Now, significant organizations are asking her to come talk about space

Pérez recently spoke at this year’s Mexico Aerospace Fair to share more about her experience. Besides her studies, Pérez dedicates much of her time to discussing the importance of encouraging women to pursue careers in math and science.

Pérez appeared as a panelist in a conversation with the Women’s Congress of the Aerospace Industry.

Currently, she wants to discover more about Mars, a planet that fascinates her. One of Pérez’s biggest inspirations is Carmen Félix, a Mexican engineer currently developing a plan to launch a manned mission to Mars.

Félix is also a an advocate for inspiring women to pursue careers in engineering. She said that, despite her achievements, she still gets comments about how she’s too pretty to be an engineer. For her, putting a woman on Mars first is only fair since men were the first to walk on the Moon.