Fierce Sensors proudly announces five more Rising Stars in the 2026 class: Ashley Huffman, Neeraj Pramodkumar, Klajdi Lumani, Sean Andrews and Uladzislau Bayouski. Congratulations to all!
Rising Stars are chosen for making advancements in technology by pushing boundaries with their creativity, expertise and impact. The entire group will be honored at Sensors Converge, May 5-7, Santa Clara Convention Center, California.
Ashley Huffman
Director, Strategic Partnerships
TITAN Haptics
Canada
Ashley Huffman is director of strategic partnerships at TITAN Haptics in Canada, where she drives collaborations and market advancement for advanced haptic actuation technologies. She plays a pivotal role in transitioning cutting-edge haptics from niche applications to mainstream adoption in gaming, XR (extended reality), wearables, and consumer electronics.
Ashley excels at translating complex technical concepts—spanning haptics, sensing, embedded systems, and user experience—into actionable product strategies. She serves as a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 teams, guiding signal pipelines, integration, and innovative sensing-driven interactions that accelerate prototypes, reference designs, and industry pilots.
Beyond her corporate impact, Ashley is a prominent thought leader in the haptics community. As founder of the "All Things Haptics" newsletter (a key resource on Substack and LinkedIn), she delivers insights on trends, research, patents, and events, synthesizing technical, UX, and market perspectives. She co-founded and hosts the Haptics Club podcast, fostering connections among researchers, engineers, and practitioners through discussions, academic partnerships, and standards engagement.
Known for her collaborative leadership, Ashley bridges hardware, firmware, software, and strategy while supporting teams in challenging integrations and cross-functional alignment. Her curiosity, responsibility, and ecosystem-building efforts position her as an emerging force shaping user-centric, interoperable haptics and sensing for the future.
Neeraj Pramodkumar
Senior Product Manager
Qualcomm
USA
Neeraj Pramodkumar is a senior product manager at Qualcomm, where he spearheads AI initiatives and ecosystem partnerships for the Snapdragon Wearables platforms, shaping the next generation of intelligent wearable devices. With more than a decade of experience in embedded software development, AI/ML program management, and product leadership, he has driven projects that have impacted over 1 billion connected devices worldwide.
Most recently, Neeraj led the creation of cutting-edge Edge-AI solutions for Qualcomm's award-winning Snapdragon-powered CoPilot+ PCs, significantly advancing on-device AI inference capabilities. Previously, as a Staff Engineer, he successfully commercialized sophisticated 5G software products that achieved widespread, large-scale deployment.
He holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. His blend of deep technical expertise and strategic business acumen positions him as a key influencer in advancing AI-driven technologies across wearables, PCs, and connectivity ecosystems.
Klajdi Lumani
Global Product Manager, Sensors
Molex
USA
Klajdi Lumani is a global product manager for sensors at Molex in the USA. He brings a decade of expertise in the automotive sector, covering electrical engineering, product validation, system architecture, and business development.
In his current role, Klajdi drives business growth and product strategy for advanced in-cabin sensing technologies, including accelerometer- and radar-based solutions. He has led global partnerships with OEMs and tech collaborators to commercialize innovations in child presence detection, seat belt reminders, occupant monitoring, road noise cancellation, and vehicle health monitoring—enhancing vehicle safety, comfort, and intelligence.
His distinctive career path, blending hands-on technical work with customer-oriented leadership, makes him a key bridge between cutting-edge engineering and practical market implementation. Klajdi holds multiple degrees in Electrical Engineering and Business, including an Executive MBA from Oakland University. Passionate about the future of mobility, he combines deep technical knowledge with strategic insight to advance the sensor landscape.
Sean Andrews
Vice President, Technology
Obsidian Sensors
USA
Dr. Sean Andrews serves as vice president of technology at Obsidian Sensors in the USA, leading fabrication, manufacturing process engineering, and innovative materials development for next-generation thermal imaging solutions.
Obsidian Sensors, spun out from Qualcomm in 2017, pioneers the Large Area MEMS Platform (LAMP), which fabricates microbolometers on glass substrates using cost-effective flat-panel display manufacturing processes. This approach delivers unprecedented scale and affordability, replacing expensive silicon-based methods traditionally tied to defense applications. Production occurs at facilities like Innolux's Gen 3.5 in Taiwan and Japan Display Incorporated's Gen 4.5 in Japan, with mass production ramping following a $33M funding round in 2024 to enable broad commercial and defense adoption.
Leveraging his rigorous chemistry background from high-impact research at UC Berkeley and Stanford, Andrews has driven key advancements. His crowning achievement is Thermolyte, a revolutionary sensing material that matches vanadium oxide's performance in temperature coefficient of resistance and noise while quadrupling the damage threshold temperature (>350°C vs. ~100°C). This eliminates "sun burn" vulnerabilities in microbolometers, enabling robust operation under harsh conditions like direct sunlight exposure and more flexible fabrication. Thermolyte is integrating into manufacturing workflows and positions Obsidian to set a new industry standard for durable, high-performance uncooled thermal imaging.
Uladzislau Bayouski
Senior Director, Engineering
EPAM Systems Inc.
USA
Uladzislau Bayouski is senior director of engineering at EPAM Systems Inc. in the USA, where he applies his expertise in software engineering and IoT to lead innovative projects and teams.
Beyond his corporate role, Uladzislau is a driving force behind the IoT Forge community (iotforge.io and YouTube @IoTForge), which he co-founded and actively grows as a collaborative hub for knowledge sharing, prototyping, and IoT awareness. The community fosters inclusivity, welcoming engineers, hobbyists, students, and beginners to explore sensors, microcontrollers, robotics, smart devices, and real-world applications through workshops, hands-on demos, discussion forums, tutorials, and recorded sessions.
A key focus is accessibility: Uladzislau promotes free, simple, open-source, and low-cost learning resources—avoiding expensive hardware or specialized tools—to demystify complex concepts and empower practical experimentation.
He places special emphasis on engaging children and young learners, offering fun, playful activities to spark early curiosity in engineering, hardware, and innovation, helping build foundational skills for future inventors.
Through consistent outreach, content creation, and peer encouragement, Uladzislau transforms passive learners into active contributors, enabling organic community growth and inspiring participants to pursue IoT careers or projects that enhance everyday life in areas like agriculture, health, and Industry 4.0.
His passion for equitable, community-driven education makes IoT approachable and impactful for diverse audiences.