Here's the latest and third group of Fierce Sensors Rising Stars for 2026! The program honors people driving advancements in technology who push boundaries and shape the future of electronics with their creativity, expertise and impact. Two prior groups were announced each Monday starting Feb. 16, available here and here.
They will be honored at Sensors Converge May 6. Sensors Converge runs May 5-7 in Santa Clara, CA.
Anthea Sargeaunt
CEO
2S Water Inc.
Canada
Anthea Sargeaunt, CEO of 2S Water, deserves a Fierce Sensors Rising Star designation for her exceptional technical leadership in commercializing a breakthrough sensing platform that addresses critical data gaps in industries vital to the global energy transition.
Critical sectors like critical mineral extraction and advanced manufacturing produce complex water streams laden with dissolved heavy metals. Traditional monitoring relies on infrequent grab samples analyzed off-site, delivering delayed data that hinders real-time control, heightens environmental risks, and reduces operational efficiency.
Anthea has successfully industrialized the AquaValid Sensor, based on Solution Cathode Glow Discharge (SCGD) atomic emission spectroscopy—a robust advance over existing inline technologies that often fail in harsh, high-matrix environments. The sensor provides instantaneous, quantitative multi-element data, even in challenging conditions.
What sets her work apart is the integration of edge intelligence: the system operates as a fully automated, rugged embedded device with custom machine learning for continuous self-calibration, enhanced signal processing, and reliable on-site results. This delivers high-fidelity, well-tagged datasets ideal for closed-loop control and training advanced AI models.
The impact is twofold—enabling proactive environmental compliance by rapidly detecting toxins like lead and cadmium to prevent non-compliant releases, while driving efficiency through optimized chemistry, reduced resource use, equipment protection, and higher recovery rates.
By bridging lab innovation to field-deployable, ML-enhanced technology targeted at sustainability-critical applications—with broader potential in semiconductors and water-intensive processes—Anthea stands out as a true pioneer in next-generation sensing.
Anirudh Sharma
Lead, Spatial AI @ Edge
Amazon Lab 126
USA
Anirudh Sharma merits designation as a Fierce Sensors Rising Star for his leadership in spatial AI and edge sensing technologies that enable intuitive human-device interactions and proactive environmental protection.
At Amazon Lab126, Koul leads the Spatial AI initiative, developing compact AI models for always-on, multimodal sensing. His work integrates cameras, audio, CNN-based perception, vision-language models, and fusion pipelines optimized for low-cost edge hardware, powering natural, context-aware responses in devices like Fire TV and Ring.
He also contributes to WYWA.ai, a non-profit AI lab uniting experts from CMU, MIT Media Lab, NVIDIA, and Amazon to create distributed edge networks that detect wildfires at ignition through "see" and "smell" capabilities. This shifts wildfire management from reactive to proactive containment.
With over 18 years in AI—including founding Microsoft's Seeing AI app, NASA Frontier Development Lab leadership, and O'Reilly's Practical Deep Learning authorship—Koul has earned honors like Geospatial World 50 Rising Stars, TEDx/UN speaking, and MIT Solve recognition. His edge AI innovations drive sustainable, impactful sensing advancements.
Mohamed M. Sabry
Founder and CTO
EMASS, a Nanoveu business
Singapore
Mohamed M. Sabry is named a Fierce Sensors Rising Star for his pioneering leadership in ultra-low-power edge AI and embedded intelligence, advancing efficient, always-on sensing for real-world applications.
As Founder and CTO of EMASS (a Nanoveu subsidiary), Sabry tackles the critical challenge of running reliable AI at the edge under stringent power and latency limits—essential for wearables, industrial monitoring, robotics, and autonomous systems. His "Atoms-to-Apps" philosophy integrates silicon design, architecture, and algorithms holistically, yielding ultra-efficient system-on-chip (SoC) solutions like the 16nm ECS-DoT, recently taped out for always-on edge AI. These architectures minimize data movement bottlenecks through expanded on-chip memory, tight memory-compute coupling, and fine-grained power management, enabling real-time inference without heavy off-chip reliance.
Sabry's credentials include a PhD from EPFL, postdoctoral work at Stanford University in low-power systems and computer architecture, and his current role as Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, where he mentors emerging talent and bridges academia with industry.
He also fosters global expertise, collaborating with Cairo's Center for Nanoelectronics and Devices and supporting Egypt's tech ecosystem through initiatives like the DTS Alliance.
By shifting edge intelligence from experimental to scalable, energy-efficient deployment, Sabry drives the future of sensor-driven systems with tangible impact and practicality.
Raymond King
CEO
ASC.com
USA
Raymond King merits recognition as a Rising Star for his innovative leadership in smart textile sensors, transforming everyday fabrics into flexible, multi-modal sensing platforms with broad real-world potential.
As co-founder and CEO of Applied Sensor Co. (ASC), King drives the development of pressure, temperature, humidity, and other sensors embedded directly into textiles—enabling unobtrusive, scalable solutions for home automation, IoT, wearables, and beyond. His products, including smart bedding mats and floor sensors (e.g., TrampleTek Blue), demonstrate strong product-market traction, moving from concept to commercial offerings like OEM/white-label programs.
With a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah and nearly a decade at Meta researching wearable technologies and human-machine interfaces (including electromyography for metaverse inputs), King combines deep technical expertise in sensor design and robotics with proven entrepreneurial execution.
His forward-thinking vision positions textile-infused sensors as foundational for converging IoT, smart homes, and health applications. As a dynamic, under-40 founder, King exemplifies the fresh perspective and long-term impact ideal for rising leaders in sensing innovation.