Laurent Simons
Laurent Simons
Laurent Simons is a 9-year-old Belgian-Dutch boy who was set to graduate from the Eindhoven University of Technology at the end of 2019 with a degree in electrical engineering. On December 9, 2019 Laurent's parents removed him from the University after being informed that he would not make the proposed deadline.[2] [1] [11]
Early Life
Simons was born in Belgium and is currently living in the Netherlands. [5]
Education
He completed his high school education in a year before attending the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Simons was on track to complete a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering by the end of 2019. [5]
Simons is inspired by Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla, he plans to research artificial organs, and ultimately develop an entire artificial body in his own laboratory. [5]
He planned to be the youngest person to graduate from a college in 2019.
Controversy
On Monday, December 9, 2019 an article was published on the European news website Het Parool reporting that Laurent's parents had withdrawn him from the university.
Laurent's father, Alexander stated to the Belgian media,[10]
"Monday morning, after a conversation with the rector, we decided that Laurent would stop in Eindhoven immediately,"
After hearing the news that their son would not be graduating on the target date of December 29, 2019, the parents decided to drop Laurent's classes and withdraw him from the school.
Eindhoven University of Technology had informed Laurent's mother and father that the pupil had to take many more exams and that it wouldn't be possible for Laurent to finish his studies by his tenth birthday. The university also suggested moving the graduation date to 2020, allowing Laurent more time to develop his talents. On the benefits of their graduation date proposal, Eindhoven posted an official statement on the unversity's website, reading,[9]
“That is still, in all respects, a phenomenally fast schedule.
In our opinion, this timeframe offers Laurent the opportunity to develop to a sufficient extent the skills that belong to the final phase of the training, such as insight, creativity and critical analysis, without excessive pressure on this 9-year-old student.
We believe that a faster timetable is not feasible, and is unfavorable for Laurent's academic development."
The university has left Laurent an open invitation back to their program to study, just at a more 'reasonable pace'.
In an interview with CNN published on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, Alexander Simons stated that his son Laurent had received an invitation from a university in the United States to further his education and work towards his doctoral degree. Alexander said,[13]
"Sometimes you have to make choices.
If he lets it go, you never know if he will get that opportunity again."
Plagiarism
There is word that Laurent had submitted a paper without listing the literary citations prior and that the university had accused him of plagiarizing. Eindhoven had not responded to the accusations, though Alexander Simons has commented on the subject.[10]