BLOG
Hardware That’s Solving Human Problems
WRITTEN BY RORY JOHNSTON, MARKETING DIRECTOR AT MISTYWEST
The world is under pressure—from above and below, rural and urban, human and environmental.
To meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the next five years, automation isn’t optional—it’s inevitable. But that doesn’t mean replacing people with robots. It means building human-centered systems that step in where hands fall short. The result? Scalable tech solutions tackling rising emissions, aging infrastructure, and a workforce stretched to its limits.
In Part 1 of MistyWest’s series on this year’s HardTech Award winners, we introduced you to five individuals who are powering a sustainable future with hardware. In Part 2, meet five more winners who are blending robotics, AI, and materials science to create hardware technologies that don’t just scale—they protect, empower, and adapt to the messy realities of our planet.
Exyn Technologies’ Nexys drone in action underground
Evan Brink: pushing the boundaries of autonomous aerial robotics
Abandoned WWII-era mines. Fragile archaeological sites. Steaming geothermal cavities.
These underground spaces might seem worlds apart, but they share a few things in common: they’re valuable, volatile, and nearly impossible to navigate safely. Whether the goal is to extract critical minerals, preserve cultural heritage, or unlock renewable energy, getting into these environments—and back out with usable data—is no small feat.
The future of exploring hazardous, GPS-denied spaces lies in advanced autonomous robotics—and at the heart of subterranean mapping is Evan Brink, a Senior Mechatronics Engineer who builds hardware and sensor systems for Exyn Technologies.
Colourized data point cloud generated by the Nexys drone
Exyn’s flagship innovation, ExynAI, is the world’s first Level 4 autonomy software—capable of navigating a robotic platform and mapping inaccessible underground terrain without requiring a human pilot or defined waypoints. Deployed with the Nexys sensor platform that mounts to drones or can be carried by hand, Exyn’s tools are turning chaotic underground spaces into rich 3D data environments without putting a single person at risk.
Evan’s engineering makes this autonomy possible. From the hardware that senses the world to the systems that help robots think on their own, his work is quietly rewriting the playbook on industrial exploration.
The fully self-sustainable and autonomous smart house from haus.me
Max Gerbut: building a blueprint for sustainable living
Despite what Extreme Makeover: Home Edition had you believing, building a home is a slow and costly headache—and it’s wildly out of sync with the pace and pressures of modern life. Construction delays, labor shortages, and tangled permitting processes can stretch timelines for eons. And if you’re trying to build in a flood zone, a wildfire-prone region, or a remote area with no infrastructure? Good luck.
Max Gerbut has spent the last two decades building companies at the intersection of sustainability, energy efficiency, and high-tech construction—and with haus.me, he’s reimagining the future of housing (literally) from the ground up. His company specializes in prefab, solar-powered smart homes that are fully furnished, off-grid capable, and delivered ready to live in.
A glimpse inside the haus.me facility. Source: Linkedin
“At Haus.me, we believe the future of housing must be radically sustainable, fast to deploy, and fully independent of outdated infrastructure,” says Max. “We designed a simple and resilient way to live and enjoy our beautiful planet in any of its locations.”
Take the mOne: a 400 ft² transportable home that can be installed on any level surface—no foundation or hookups required. Starting at $160,000 USD, that’s a better deal than a Vancouver condo the same size—and infinitely more flexible and sustainable!
From emergency response housing to government-backed green building initiatives, Max’s vision is tailor-made for a world facing climate uncertainty and housing scarcity. These aren’t just tiny homes—according to Max, “this is the revolution in housing that we all need.”
The mushroom harvesting robot from 4AG Robotics
Robbie Edwards: leading fungi’s future in AgTech
Mushroom harvesting is one of agriculture’s final frontiers: labor-intensive, lightning-fast, and maddeningly delicate. These pillowy soft, temperamental crops grow in dimly lit, high-humidity environments and need to be picked with the precision of a surgeon. With labor shortages intensifying and global mushroom demand soaring, growers are facing a problem that’s as frustrating as it is expensive.
Enter Robbie Edwards. As VP of Product Engineering at 4AG Robotics (pronounced forage), Robbie is tackling one of the trickiest automation puzzles in agriculture with machines that pick, trim, and pack mushrooms with precision—even in tight, low-light growing environments.
“We’ve succeeded by keeping our engineers close to our customers and on-site with the mushroom harvesting robots operating on farms,” says Robbie. “This has let us efficiently close the product feedback loop, solve problems and iterate quickly.”
More than just solving labor shortages, Robbie is helping build a platform that could reshape the future of food production. 4AG’s fungi farming technology represents a scalable solution for a $60B industry—and a glimpse at what’s next for soft crop automation worldwide.
Thalo Labs is helping reduce the environmental impact of HVAC emissions.
Brendan Hermalyn: cool air and a clean conscience
Whether you’re cranking the AC during a heatwave or heating your place like a Scandinavian sauna, keeping indoor temps comfortable is a basic human necessity. But let’s face it—it’s anything but green.
Yes, we’re talking about the silent energy hog in the room: your HVAC. Heating and cooling systems are the unsung villains of climate change, responsible for a massive chunk of urban emissions that often go unchecked.
While most climate tech startups focus on tailpipes or pitch distant carbon offsets, Dr. Brendan Hermalyn is zeroing in on the real elephant in the building: HVAC systems. As the founder of Thalo Labs, he’s bringing a hardware-first approach to decarbonization with AI-powered sensors that are easy to install, affordable to scale, and built for impact.
The HVAC Copilot can solve issues before they disrupt operations. Source: Thalo Labs
“After years of building systems for space missions at NASA,” says Brendan, “it’s incredibly rewarding to take the same engineering mindset and technologies and apply it here on earth to every boiler and heat pump, in every building on every block.”
And there’s numbers to back it up: in just 3 years, Thalo’s HVAC optimization platform has reduced or removed >80,000 tons of CO2 equivalent from entering and staying in the atmosphere.
With cities on track to house nearly 70% of the global population by 2050, Brendan isn’t just making decarbonization possible, but practical—and doing it without sacrificing comfort, cost, or jobs.
HyRECM forges carbon fibers with a complementary composite material with signal allowing properties
Firas Khalifeh: the lighter path forward
Despite being built for the future, most connected devices are stuck in the past. Aluminum might look sleek, but heavy metals block signals and guzzle energy. Design compromises have resulted in clunky devices that have had no major aesthetic updates since the first iPhone launched in 2007.
Firas Khalifeh is here to change that. As Founder and CEO of Carbon Mobile, he’s pioneered HyRECM®️—the first and only patented tech that lets carbon fiber replace metal in connected hardware. It’s lighter, stronger, greener, and signal-friendly—everything metal wishes it could be.
And he’s already shipping the proof: from the lightest smartphone ever (certified by T-Mobile EU) to cutting-edge gaming gear with Qualcomm US, Firas is showing the world that next-gen hardware doesn’t need to be built with yesterday’s materials. Swapping metals for carbon fiber in connected devices isn’t just a design flex, but a sustainability win paving the way for modular, repairable, and more circular electronics—offering a clear path toward lower-impact consumer tech.
It’s not about the next big ‘thing’
HardTech Award winners aren’t chasing hype—they’re delivering real-world impact through commercialized hardware innovation. The problems they’re solving can’t be fixed by software alone. In fact, they’re exactly where hardtech thrives: in the overlooked, the uncomfortable, and the deeply human.
The future isn’t built in a lab—it’s built in the field. Because the goal isn’t just smarter machines. It’s a world where people are safer, systems are saner, and progress doesn’t leave anyone behind.
We’re halfway through our Top 20 HardTech Award winners of 2025. Stay tuned for Part 3.
Get involved with the 2026 HardTech Awards
Whether it’s nominating, sponsoring, or judging, we want your support in making the HardTech Awards the largest recognition platform in intelligent and connected hardware development.
Fill out our very quick form and MistyWest will be in touch.