Prodigious Murdock Elementary Student Develops an App for the iPhone

The word “prodigy” often gets loosely thrown around in trying to describe accomplishments by young people. But in the case of one 10-year-old at Murdock Elementary in unincorporated La Mesa, the term fits like a glove.

Neil Mashruwala is a fourth-grader from Spring Valley, and he holds a distinction that no one else on the planet can claim.

Neil is credited with being the youngest person to have created and developed an app for the iPhone. The app, a game called “Soccer Pachinko,” was launched about three months ago, when Neil was 9 at the time.

After being taught a game development software program by his 12-year-old cousin, Neil did a little tinkering, not really knowing what kind of game he wanted to make.

“I decided to make a game, and was just testing it out,” said Neil. “I added a picture of a soccer ball to the game, and it eventually became soccer pachinko.”

The goal of the game is simple. It’s similar to “Plinko” the popular game on the TV show “The Price is Right.” Players tap the screen to launch a ball, which cascades down a board with various pegs, shooting the balls in different directions. If the ball lands in the GOAL, the player earns points, and can advance to higher, more difficult levels.

The game also features various types of balls and backgrounds that can be earned, and offers different background music. The app sells in the iTunes App Store for $0.99.

So far, the app has more than 120 downloads in about three months, but one particular was extra special to Neil – that of his principal John Ashley, who bought the app the first day it was available.

“He told me, ‘This is the best day of my life, my principal bought my app,’ ” Ashley joked.

But Neil is more than just a child software developer; he’s an entrepreneur as well. He has always been fascinated by technology, especially smart phones. By doing online research and testing on his father’s iPhone, Neil has become an expert at fixing various problems on smart phones.

He set up his own business, markets his services on Craigslist, and already boasts more than 100 clients!

“I can fix iPhones, Androids, Windows and other phones, depending on the problem,” he said.

He starts by diagnosing the problem, and works at changing or rerouting the software in the phone. Neil’s father Nishu said that Neil is constantly doing research, discovering different problems that can occur and how to fix them.

“He used to start with my phone, when something would go wrong with it, and he would just work on it until is started working again,” said Nishu. “He has the knowledge of all the models, operating system of the phone, to any kind of feature in the phone. Whenever a new phone comes out in the market, he will try to get all the knowledge and try to learn all the features. He will compare with other phones and try to find out which is better.”

Last year, by working his side business on the weekends, Neil made about $1,800, some of which he used to buy his own computer, a Macbook Pro. Nishu told him that aside from the computer, any money he made would go toward his education, not to spend. Neil has set up his own savings account for his revenue.

It stands to reason that someone with Neil’s unusual and awe-inspiring intelligence is gifted in other ways as well. Neil’s mother Mona said that she knew very early on that Neil was going to have prodigious talents.

“When he was 18 months old, he was able to spell and search for things on the computer,” said Mona.  “In second grade, he read 375 books in a year and passed 372 AR (Accelerated Reader) tests. Reading has always been a big part of his life.”

She added that Neil won a chess tournament in 1st grade competing against mostly 5th graders.

So how does a teacher instruct a student who is smart enough to do something that only some of the most tech-savvy people in the world can do? It’s not without its challenges, admits his teacher Allison Austel.

“One of the things I challenged him to do was to create a Power Point presentation on how he made the app and present it to the class,” she said. “His fellow students are pretty amazed by him. But he really enjoys being a tutor to other students. He’s obviously our ‘go-to’ computer guy, but he enjoys helping with other subjects as well.”

Austel said that she never recalls Neil getting anything less than near-perfect marks on any assignment. She said a strong memory, great work ethic, and top-notch behavior are Neil’s best qualities.

Neil said he is in the process of developing more apps, through his website, SlimyGamesOnline.com.

“We have been learning about magnets in Ms. Austel’s class. This one is an educational app. It gives you quizzes on magnets and facts that people can learn,” he said.

Neil’s parents say that he has a natural curiosity, and never stops trying to learn.

“We used to play spelling games with him. I used to challenge him with math games when he was four,” said Nishu. “It got to the point where I never even check his homework. Because I know that what he does is almost always right.  We don’t have to ask him to do it.  Anything he wants to learn, he just learns it.”

The Mashruwala Family owns Premium Automotive Solutions, a licensed U-Haul dealership in La Mesa at 7643 University Ave. Nishu said that since he was 7-years-old, Neil will sometimes come to the dealership and help customers. He knows how to run the business, write contracts, fix mounts, and more.

“Often, we are so busy and we do almost 40 to 50 transactions in a day,” Nishu said. “During that time, he helps me making contracts, attending calls and our customers say that he talks like a professional. They admire him so much.”

Neil doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do for a career (and honestly, did you know when you were 10?). But he said that he’d like to continue to learn about coding and software design and development.

His parents are often in disbelief at the things their only child knows.

“I don’t know how he does it,” his Nishu said. “He was somehow able to change the operating system on my computer from Windows XP to Windows 7.”