Call her Dr. Whiz Kid

At 14, Alia Sabur's a doctoral candidate, but her parents try to give her a balanced life.
By KAREN HELLER
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Alia Sabur, in a slick black bob and ivory boots, her fingernails frosted blue, looks 14. As "uhmm" and "like" dusts her conversation, she sounds 14. And as she fidgets in a chair talking about her love of instant messaging friends, she acts 14.
Which is precisely what she is: A charming, poised 14-year-old engineering doctoral candidate at Drexel University, said to be the youngest female doctoral student in the nation.
"I'm studying nanophotonics," Alia said.
Nanopho-what?
Alia patiently describes her field of study to a severely science-impaired adult. "It's the study and creation of electronic devices using optics at the nanoscale," she said. "My area of interest is using fiber-optic cable to pass light through them and create hollow beams, like cones but hollow, and inside them you can trap atoms. The only way we have now is expensive, unreliable and hard to get. I'm trying to change that."
Actually, Alia discovered an alternative method in college, back when she was 12.
"We're going to help her apply for patents," said Drexel's dean of engineering, Selcuk Guceri.
Alia, who received a generous fellowship, began her doctoral program this month and, along with parents Julie and Mark Sabur, plans to move here from Long Island once they find a house, preferably near the campus in University City.
Multitalented
When Alia does something, she tends to do it extraordinarily well.
She went from fourth grade to college. "There was really no other option," she said. "I could go to college, do nothing, or rot in fifth grade."
She has a black belt in karate. Four years ago, she picked up the clarinet. Today, she studies with Philadelphia Orchestra principal Ricardo Morales, who accepts one out of 40 applicants. Two weeks ago, she played an impromptu concert at Guceri's home with acclaimed pianist Lang Lang. "It was really fun," Alia said.
Alia began reading when she was 8 months old and now devours 100 pages in an hour.
Her senior year at Stony Brook University of the State University of New York, Alia mistakenly arrived two hours late for a 2 1/2-hour test in applied mathematics.
She finished in 15 minutes and received an A.
"I don't have a photographic memory, you see," she said. "I just have this ability to process information, and then once I understand it, I remember it. It goes into the right files."
As Guceri puts it, "She has a very unusual ability for comprehension. She looks at a physical phenomenon and can relate it to other areas. It's a complete picture of understanding."
In addition to course work, Alia will work in a lab and possibly teach a few courses.
Delicate approach
Morales said, "She has so many talents. I think it's important for her to be in a world that's encouraging, that doesn't put up barriers. Between the age of 14 and 20, she is going to have so many changes in her life. I want to be one of the guardians who helps her develop ... and helps her find her own niche."
Had Alia's abilities been in sports, like Tiger Woods, or solely in music, like Lang Lang, she might not seem such an oddity, said Guceri. "People accept that more readily, but with science and technology it's the same brain functioning, allowing somebody to excel much more rapidly."
At a Vietnamese restaurant for a recent lunch, Alia fidgets as she plays with her rice noodles. "We go shopping and talk about movies," said her mother, who, like any mother, is protective and proud, even as her daughter's abilities long ago outstripped her own.
"I am the architect of her life, and I've been careful not to push or overload her, to let Alia be who she is," said Julie Sabur, 47. "But homework stops at 6 p.m. I make sure she has three to four hours of downtime at home."
Hobbies
Alia does origami. She works on her Web site, aliasabur.com. She listens to U2 and Matchbox 20 and watches "funny, pointless movies." She reads fantasy books -- her favorites are Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising Sequence" -- and hanging with friends at the mall. Her biggest issue with her mother? Bedtime.
Last fall, after college graduation, Alia didn't go to school at all. She studied clarinet, and played with friends. "This is an unnatural place to be," her mother said. "We've fought so hard to keep her with friends the same age."
Her parents have tried to give their only child a balanced life. "Our most important priority was that Alia have a normal and happy childhood," said her mother, a former television reporter. (Her father, a retired electrical engineer, is reticent about publicity.) "I've talked to experts and sought other parents, but it wasn't really all that helpful. Everyone's experience is quite different. Alia was just a different model."
By the time Alia was 7, Julie Sabur realized she could no longer help her daughter with math and science. It was the first of many such moments.
When Alia's 18, possibly with her doctoral degree and -- if she has her way -- also a professional musician, she'll fit in more with her chronological peers, even if they're only in college, and not appear so much the exception.
Like most kids, Alia is a work in progress. She's just on a faster schedule.