The

HardTech

Awards

Formerly known as The Misties Awards

Recognizing the people who have launched intelligent and connected devices at scale.

The HardTech Awards are searching for the engineers, designers and visionaries who are quietly shaping our future through commercialized hardware innovation.

Check out the 2026 Semi-Finalists

Nominate someone who...

Nominate someone who…

Has deployed commercial hardware products at scale over their career.

Is working to make the world a better place, as measured by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Is inspiring others with really cool and groundbreaking tech.

Nominations close March 15.

Shortlist will be announced the first week of April.

Thanks for your HardTech Award nomination.

If selected as a finalist, we will be following up through the email address provided by March 18th, 2026 to provide more details.

2026 HardTech Awards Semi-Finalists

Euan Abraham

Chief Hardware & Manufacturing Officer at Serve Robotics

Wyatt Watson

Vice President, Ops and Sales at GlobalWafers America

Brendon Bielat

Chief Product Officer at Onward Robotics

Behzad Peykari

Chief Innovation Officer at Human In Motion Robotics

Sampriti Bhattacharyya

Founder of Navier

Gary Bradski

Chief Science Officer at Bonsai Robotics

The Top 20 Winners will be announced May 13

Join MistyWest and SolidWorks for the HardTech Awards Ceremony—your ‘home for hardware’ during during Web Summit Vancouver.

REQUEST TO ATTEND

Who are the judges?

2026 HardTech Award Winners

Significantly reducing power consumption of consumer displays with the world’s smallest and most efficient full-color micro-LED displays and the world’s most efficient optical interconnect architecture for AI data centers.

Iman Jeddi

Senior Vice President of Intuitive

Shaping the global expansion of advanced surgical robotics by leading the development and scaling of Intuitive’s da Vinci surgical system and overseeing the ecosystem behind the FDA-cleared da Vinci 5.

Gary Bradski

Chief Science Officer at Bonsai Robotics

Advancing AI-driven autonomous agriculture systems that operate in real-world conditions without reliance on GPS or connectivity.

Guadalupe Murga

Co-Founder of SYLVARUM

Pioneering the first industrial continuous-flow non-thermal plasma system for broadacre crops, and advancing residue-free, high-throughput systems to drive a shift toward more sustainable, climate-resilient food production at global scale.

Sampriti Bhattacharyya

Founder of Navier

Advancing zero-emission marine transport through the commercialization of electric hydrofoil boats, dramatically improving range and energy efficiency and laying the foundation for sustainable coastal transportation worldwide.

Dr. Gleb Akselrod

Founder of Lumotive

Deploying the world’s first software-defined LiDAR chip in industrial automation, robotics, and automotive sensing, whose metasurface architecture may become foundational to how machines perceive the physical world.

Emmanuel Glen

Co-Founder of AWL-Electricity

Developing one of Canada’s most promising long-range wireless power technologies, now being deployed across robotics and mobility platforms to enable new generations of automation, smart factories, vehicles, and consumer devices.

Praveen Kumar Tippani

Senior Director of EnergyX

Leading the mechanical and operational breakthroughs driving the EV revolution, scaling lithium extraction technology that increases recovery rates from 30% to 90% while enabling a far more sustainable and efficient approach to lithium sourcing.

Scott Johnston

Co-Founder of Lumafield

Democratizing industrial CT scanning by moving complex X-ray inspection from specialized labs to the engineer’s bench, eliminating massive cost and complexity barriers and fundamentally accelerating product development.

Xiaoran Wang

Co-Founder of AGIGA AI

Helping shape one of the world’s most widely used AI platforms before transitioning to build accessibility-first smart glasses for blind and low-vision users, now used by over a thousand customers and helping define a new generation of inclusive connected devices.

Ryan Gariepy

VP Robotics at Rockwell Automation

Deploying robots in hundreds of research institutions worldwide, accelerating autonomy development across academia and industry and establishing Canada as a credible robotics nation.

Rajeev Badyal

VP of Technology at Amazon

Helping shape modern computing and communications through a career spanning breakthrough products including the optical mouse, thermal inkjet printing, and next-generation internet satellite systems.

Anna Gudmundson

CEO of Sensate

Leading the commercialization of award-winning wellness hardware that combines engineering and neuroscience to help users reduce stress, improve sleep, and build resilience at global scale through measurable biometric impact.

Greg Browne

Director of R&D at Stryker

Leading the development of integrated surgical and emergency care systems used worldwide, combining engineering and clinical insight to advance safer, more connected operating room technologies at global scale.

Colin O’Neil

Co-Founder of Voxelis AI

Building AI-powered airborne sensing systems that give firefighting teams real-time visibility into wildfire behavior, helping improve emergency response coordination and strengthening climate resilience as fires grow more frequent and severe worldwide.

Behzad Peykari

Chief Innovation Officer at Human In Motion Robotics

Leading the development and commercialization of one of the world’s first self-balancing rehabilitation exoskeletons, advancing human-centered robotics and embodied AI to help people with neurological impairments regain mobility, independence, and dignity.

Tye Brady

Chief Technologist at Amazon Robotics

Guiding the future of autonomous systems through leadership in aerospace and industrial robotics, from NASA guidance systems to one of the world’s largest robotics deployments at Amazon, while helping build the next generation of robotics talent.

Ed Bryner

CTO of Gecko Robotics

Leading the technology behind climbing inspection robots and AI-driven digital twins deployed across naval fleets, energy infrastructure, and industrial facilities, helping modernize how critical infrastructure is monitored, maintained, and kept operational at scale.

Syed Rafi Sifath Palal

Co-Founder of E Lab Bangladesh

Engineering resilient IoT systems for the Global South, from peer-to-peer rural solar networks to agricultural sensing and smart water infrastructure, with technologies already improving energy access, farming outcomes, and clean water resilience for underserved communities.

Aadeel Akhtar

Founder of PSYONIC

Developing advanced bionic hands that combine robotics, embedded systems, and neuroscience to restore touch and dexterity for prosthetic users while also powering next-generation robotic systems used by leading technology companies worldwide.

Toby Ricco

Founder of BIMOTAL

Bio

Josh Kornfeld

Founder of Tactile

Bio

Changing the world takes more than just software.

Since 2022

The HardTech Awards have successfully recognized over 80 hardware leaders, rapidly becoming the largest recognition platform in intelligent and connected hardware development.

Built on a strong foundation

Our network of judges, sponsors, and nominators come from backgrounds as product owners, founders, engineering leads, venture capitalists, and technologists.

This isn’t just an award

We’re an ecosystem of recognition, collaboration, and long-term industry impact—here to inspire the next wave of world-changers in commercialized hardware innovation.

Request to attend the HardTech Awards Ceremony on May 13

NOMINATE A JUDGE

Thanks for your submission!

If selected to be a judge, we will be following up through the email address provided.

2026 Judges

Jeff Thornburg

CEO of Portal Space Systems

Cole Ashman

Founder of Pila

Vitaly Golomb

Managing Partner at Mavka Capital

Amish Patel

Founder & Managing Director at Conduit Venture Labs

Angela Liao

Manufacturing Partnership Manager @ Google

Sabrina Sasaki

Managing Partner at Monozukuri Ventures

Shaun Abrahamson

Managing Partner at Third Sphere

Paulina Szyzdek

Investment Principal at E12 Ventures

Thyaga Nandagopal

Head of Emerging Technologies at Samsung Research America

Richard Wurden

Co-founder of Aigen

Jeremy Patt

CTO of Summit Nanotech

Director of Co-Innovation at Microsoft

Linda Megerdichian

Digital Hardware Design Engineer at Extron Electronics

Head of DevRel at Arduino

Avi Rosenthal

Partner at bluesalve partners

Thibault Lerailler

Founder & CEO of Punctuate Design

Les Karpas

Global Head of Physical AI at NVIDIA

Stephanie Willerth

CEO of Axolotl Biosciences

Karthik Shivaram

Lead Engineer at Apple Inc.

Jordan Ruderman

Principal Test Engineer at GM

Pierre-Louis Soulié

Founder of Fable Engineering

Sarah Applebaum

Partner at Pangaea Ventures

Nick Lynch

Dept. Manager of Warehouse Automation at Opex Corporation

Todd Holmdahl

VP of Microsoft Quantum

Kevin Damoa

Co-Founder & CEO of Glīd Technologies

Matt Mickelson

Principal Systems Engineer at Amazon

Daniel Oberhaus

Founder of Haus

Jay Miseli

Co-Founder and CEO of Red Thread X

Paige Raynes

Sr Director of Product & Solutions at Peratech

Billy Daniels

Director of Product @ Wearlinq

HardTech Award winners are…

Commercializing advanced air quality monitoring products.

Transforming climate disaster response and risk management with autonomous stratospheric robots.

Making brain-computer interface technologies.

Driving innovations in space exploration, internet access, robotics, and energy that are reshaping life on Earth.

Building drone-based reforestation tech that delivers fast, intelligent, and regenerative tree planting.

Commercializing the application of muon tomography.

Enabling anyone to collect environmental data anywhere on the planet.

Developing technology for heart-implantable circulatory ventricular assist devices.

Explore past years to see the full list of winners and their achievements.

2025

2024

2023

2022

“Some of the best ideas come from solving your own problems first.”

— Eric Migicovsky, Founder of Pebble and HardTech Awards Judge

HardTech Award winners are...

Transforming climate disaster response and risk management with autonomous stratospheric robots.

Commercializing advanced air quality monitoring products.

Making brain-computer interface technologies.

Commercializing the application of muon tomography.

Driving innovations in space exploration, internet access, robotics, and energy that are reshaping life on Earth.

Building drone-based reforestation tech that delivers fast, intelligent, and regenerative tree planting.

Leading development of autonomous robots that tackle labor-strained food production.

Enabling anyone to collect environmental data anywhere on the planet.

Developing technology for heart-implantable circulatory ventricular assist devices.

Explore past years to see the full list of winners and their achievements.

2025

2024

2023

2022

“Some of the best ideas come from solving your own problems first.”

— Eric Migicovsky, Founder of Pebble and HardTech Awards Judge

Learn More

Powering a Sustainable Future with Hardware

Hardware That’s Solving Human Problems

HardTech for Health, Dignity and Care

Hardware that’s Building the Future—Right Now

2026 Sponsors

2025 Sponsors

PLATINUM

Developed by Dassault Systèmes, SolidWorks is a leading 3D CAD and CAE software application used by millions of engineers, designers, and manufacturers to create, simulate, and manage product data.

GOLD

From initial R&D and prototyping to proof of concept and MVP, Intent act as partners to their clients, helping them create innovative product concepts and make their vision a reality.

Founded more than 85 years ago in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Doane Grant Thornton LLP is a proudly Canadian accounting and business advisory firm with deep local roots and an international network.

Fictiv is a global manufacturing and supply chain company that enables organizations to scale globally without the typical barriers of cost, complexity, and risk.

SILVER

Nordic Semiconductor plays a key role in the realization of the wireless future. Their award-winning Bluetooth Low Energy solutions pioneered ultra-low power wireless, making them the global market leader.

Boast combines in-house human expertise with the latest AI capabilities to deliver a complete, maximized and defensible R&D tax credit claim.

NGen is the industry-led, not-for-profit organization that leads Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for Advanced Manufacturing.

The

HardTech

Awards

Formerly known as The Misties Awards

Recognizing the people who have launched intelligent and connected devices at scale.

Recognizing the people who have launched intelligent and connected devices at scale.

Check out the 2026 Semi-Finalists

Nominate someone who...

Nominate someone who…

Section 0: Nominator’s Details

Section 1: Nominee’s Details

Thanks for your HardTech Award nomination.

2026 HardTech Awards Semi-Finalists

Founder of Navier

The Top 20 Winners will be announced May 13

Who are the judges?

2026 HardTech Award Winners

Ed Bryner

Toby Ricco

Josh Kornfeld

Changing the world takes more than just software.

Changing the world takes more than just software.

Since 2022

Built on a strong foundation

This isn’t just an award

NOMINATE A JUDGE

JUDGE CRITERIA

Thanks for your submission!

2026 Judges

2026 Judges

Jeff Thornburg

CEO of Portal Space Systems

Cole Ashman

Founder of Pila

Vitaly Golomb

Managing Partner at Mavka Capital

Amish Patel

Founder & Managing Director at Conduit Venture Labs

Managing Partner at Monozukuri Ventures

Shaun Abrahamson

Managing Partner at Third Sphere

Paulina Szyzdek

Investment Principal at E12 Ventures

Thyaga Nandagopal

Head of Emerging Technologies at Samsung Research America

Richard Wurden

Co-founder of Aigen

Jeremy Patt

CTO of Summit Nanotech

Chris Massot

Director of Co-Innovation at Microsoft

Linda Megerdichian

​​​​Digital Hardware Design Engineer at Extron Electronics

Adam Benzion

Head of DevRel at Arduino

Partner at bluesalve partners

Lead Engineer at Apple Inc.

Principal Test Engineer at GM

Partner at Pangaea Ventures

Dept. Manager of Warehouse Automation at Opex Corporation

VP of Microsoft Quantum

Co-Founder & CEO of Glīd Technologies

Founder of Haus

Co-Founder and CEO of Red Thread X

Sr Director of Product & Solutions at Peratech

Director of Product @ Wearlinq

HardTech Award winners are…

Explore past years to see the full list of winners and their achievements.

“Some of the best ideas come from solving your own problems first.”

HardTech Award winners are...

Explore past years to see the full list of winners and their achievements.

“Some of the best ideas come from solving your own problems first.”

Learn More

Learn More

2026 Sponsors

2025 Sponsors

PLATINUM

GOLD

From initial R&D and prototyping to proof of concept and MVP, Intent act as partners to their clients, helping them create innovative product concepts and make their vision a reality.

Digital Hardware Design Engineer at Extron Electronics