Fierce Sensors proudly announces five more Rising Stars in the 2026 class: Shermin Arab, Taylor Gage, Tony Alegria, William Glennon and Weier Wan.
Rising Stars are chosen for pushing advances in technology with their creativity, expertise and impact. The entire group will be honored at Sensors Converge, May 5-7, Santa Clara Convention Center, California.
Shermin Arab
Senior Manager
Samsung
USA
Shermin Arab, Senior Manager at Samsung Electronics, is a standout talent whose end-to-end expertise in semiconductor materials, integrated photonics, advanced packaging, and sensing platforms makes her a compelling Fierce Sensors Rising Star.
With a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California (recognized as a Ming Hsieh Scholar), dual M.S. degrees in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering, and experience as a USC lecturer, Shermin combines rigorous academic depth with industry execution. Her career spans pioneering roles at Mojo Vision, where she built a Class 1000 cleanroom from scratch and developed the world’s smallest micro-LED display for AR smart contact lenses; at Meta Reality Labs, where she led cross-functional teams of 30+ engineers to deliver next-generation eye-tracking architectures and on-glass sensor integration for lightweight AR/VR systems; at Apple, advancing silicon photonics for high-sensitivity biosensors; and at PsiQuantum, introducing novel materials for scalable optical modulators.
At Samsung, she currently directs multiple R&D programs in hyperspectral imaging, holographic displays, foveated robotic vision, and photonics-based biomarker sensing, driving prototypes to manufacturable consumer products while advising on strategic investments.
A prolific innovator with multiple patents, high-impact publications, keynotes (including on XR display technologies), and leadership as General Chair for the 2025 IEEE Symposium on Reliability for Electronics and Photonics Packaging, Shermin consistently translates cutting-edge science into transformative sensing and imaging solutions across consumer, health, AR/VR, and industrial applications.
Her rare blend of technical mastery, visionary leadership, and ability to scale breakthrough technologies positions her as a rising leader shaping the future of sensors and photonics.
Taylor Gage
Automotive ADAS Systems Engineer
Texas Instruments
USA
Taylor Gage, Automotive ADAS Systems Engineer at Texas Instruments, is a standout talent driving the future of vehicle safety and autonomy. At 28, he has spent more than five years on TI’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems team, empowering automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to achieve their SAE autonomy targets through advanced external sensing technologies, including cameras, radar, and LiDAR.
Taylor plays a pivotal role in defining next-generation ADAS platforms. From early vehicle architecture decisions and comprehensive system-level analysis to sensor solution design, he ensures optimal performance, scalability, power efficiency, and functional safety. His work directly influences vehicles on roads from Chicago to Shanghai.
A trusted expert in rigorous validation, Taylor leads critical testing — including ISO 10605 electrostatic discharge (ESD) immunity — and authored the publication “Optimizing FPD-Link ADAS Designs for System Level ESD Immunity.”
Through deep technical expertise, systems thinking, and a passion for real-world impact, Taylor Gage exemplifies the Fierce Sensors Rising Star: a young engineer shaping safer, smarter autonomous vehicles that will transform transportation and save lives.
Tony Alegria
Product Marketing Engineer
STMicroelectronics
USA
Tony Alegria is a Product Marketing Engineer at STMicroelectronics in Silicon Valley, where he drives the market positioning and promotion of cutting-edge imaging technologies, including Time-of-Flight (ToF) 3D sensing and CMOS imaging solutions for mass-market applications.
With a Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing and a strong technical curiosity, Tony translates complex semiconductor innovations into value propositions for customers, ecosystem partners, and global distribution channels. He bridges engineering, product strategy, and go-to-market execution, accelerating the adoption of spatial sensing technologies across consumer electronics and industrial markets.
Originally from France, Tony represents a dynamic new generation of semiconductor professionals operating at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and effective storytelling. His passion lies in the convergence of advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, and human-machine interaction.
Recognized for his ability to simplify sophisticated technologies and clearly communicate their real-world impact, Tony actively supports technical demonstrations, partner engagement, and market education initiatives. He is committed to making intelligent sensing systems more accessible and transformative across industries.
William Glennon
Software Engineer
GridVisibility, Inc.
USA
William Glennon is a software engineer at GridVisibility, Inc., where he has become a driving force in transforming massive streams of high-fidelity power grid sensor data into intuitive, actionable insights.
Specializing in interactive visualizations of continuous point-on-wave waveforms from hundreds of synchronized sensors, William designed and built a novel, user-centric platform that allows utilities and researchers to effortlessly view, analyze, identify events, and extract real-world value from raw waveform data — all within a simple web browser. His elegant, flexible interface delivers spatial context and seamless workflow integration with just a few clicks, turning complex data chaos into clear, impactful visualizations.
A computer science graduate who previously lacked motivation because he “never found a compelling problem to solve,” William discovered his purpose at GridVisibility one year ago. He elevated a basic waveform viewer into a powerful, adaptive platform now used by organizations including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
William exemplifies a Rising Star for his talent paired with genuine curiosity, deep listening to users, and a drive to create meaningful technology that advances the modern grid and supports critical AI infrastructure.
Weier Wan
Chief Technology Officer
Aizip
USA
Weier Wan, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Aizip, is a visionary leader at the forefront of edge AI and intelligent sensing systems. With a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, he possesses full-stack expertise spanning sensor data pipelines, algorithm optimization, software toolchains, and AI hardware design.
At Aizip, Wan has built production-grade edge AI models deployed by global leaders including Sony, Arm, Analog Devices, Bosch, Qualcomm, and Renesas — powering over two million AI-enabled devices per month. He emphasizes robust real-world performance on noisy, variable sensor data, developing advanced testing and validation methods that deliver truly reliable, production-ready solutions rather than mere demos.
His innovations include SARAD-T (2023 Best of Sensors Award winner) for on-device predictive maintenance with Analog Devices, the CES 2025 Innovation Award-winning Watatumi fish-farm monitoring system with SoftBank, and Gizmo voice AI agents (Fast Company 2025 Innovation by Design Honoree).
A prolific researcher, Wan’s landmark 2022 Nature paper on the world’s first large-scale compute-in-memory RRAM AI chip set new benchmarks in energy-efficient edge inference and has been cited over 720 times.
Wan exemplifies the Fierce Sensors Rising Star: bridging cutting-edge research and scalable deployment to make intelligent sensing practical, efficient, and transformative across consumer, industrial, and IoT applications.