Awais is the founder and CEO of Pixxel, a space technology company building a constellation of the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral earth imaging satellites. Awais conceptualized and founded Pixxel in 2019 while still pursuing undergraduate studies at a university in India to build a global space technology startup that could help bring the benefits of space down to earth and build a health monitor for the planet.

Awais completed his master’s degree in mathematics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, India. Awais was one of the founding members and engineering lead at Hyperloop India, a national team that was a finalist at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2017 and built India’s first Hyperloop pod prototype. While still wrapping up his undergraduate degree, Awais and the team entered the SpaceX Hyperloop competition and became the only winning team from India, resulting in an invite to the SpaceX HQ to build, demonstrate and race the Hyperloop vehicle. This experience sparked Awais’s decision to devote his career to space innovation, launching Pixxel with his cofounder Kshitij Khandelwal in 2019.

Awais is the recipient of numerous awards such as MIT 35 innovators under 35, Forbes 30 under 30, Fortune 40 under 40 and globally recognized as one of the commercial space imaging world’s youngest and most successful entrepreneurs. He has also raised over $70M for Pixxel resulting in the launch of the world’s first few commercial hyperspectral imaging satellites.