Forbes Magazine has unveiled its 30 under 30 Class of 2026, the 15th year of the list that recognizes young leaders poised to become America’s next generation of business leaders. A pair of recent Brown University School of Engineering alumni, John Huddleston ’21 and Anand Lalwani ’18, were among the leaders named to the list from more than 10,000 applicants and covering 20 different industries.
Huddleston was honored in the category of Transportation & Aerospace. He is the co-founder of Albacore Inc., a defense and commercial manufacturing company that develops long-range, autonomous underwater vehicles to deter maritime invasions, unlock our understanding of the maritime environment, and defend our coasts. Currently, Albacore is building eight-foot-long autonomous submersibles to be used for coastal and oceanic defense that can patrol over 1,000 miles. The company has raised more than $6.5 million from backers including Y Combinator, Outlander VC, Liquid 2, D3, and Brave Capital.
Huddleston concentrated in mechanical engineering while at Brown, also serving as a teaching assistant in the school’s introduction to engineering course. He was elected as Vice President of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. Prior to starting Albacore Inc., Huddleston was completing his MBA at Wharton.
Lalwani is the founder of Cardinal Robotics, a company begun in response to the risk of COVID-19 exposures for staff and janitors at Stanford Hospital. Listed in the Manufacturing and Industry category, Cardinal Robotics makes autonomous cleaning robots that can vacuum, scrub, clean windows and perform other tasks that have historically required human labor. Cardinal Finance, the capital arm of Cardinal Robotics, now has an $800M fund to finance robotic companies and is on track to hire 1,000+ disabled veterans to become robot technicians.
Lalwani is currently on faculty at Stanford, teaching the graduate course Product Management for Electrical Engineers and Computer Scientists.
As an undergraduate at Brown, Lalwani concentrated in engineering physics, and was an active member of Brown Space Engineering, leading the Power Team. The power team also included David Lu ’20 (chemistry) and Jack Roswell ’21 (electrical engineering), both prior Forbes 30 under 30 awardees. Within days of Lalwani’s graduation, equi-SAT launched to the International Space Station, and was deemed the most economical cube satellite launched to date that was completely designed and fabricated by students. Lalwani graduated with honors, was a member of Tau Beta Pi, and conducted research throughout his four years of undergraduate study under Professor Rashid Zia, ranging from particle physics to material science for growth of organic solar cells to photonics and automation. He earned a master’s in electrical and electronics engineering from Stanford in 2020 and a Ph.D. in engineering, also from Stanford, in 2022.
Other industries where Forbes reporters judged the top upcoming talent included Sports, Music, Media, AI, Finance, Social Media, Retail and E-Commerce, Energy & Green Tech, Healthcare, Art & Style, Hollywood & Entertainment, Education, Social Impact, Games, Food & Drink, Science, Marketing & Advertising, and Venture Capital. Engineering alumna Theresia Gouw ’90 served as a judge for the Venture Capital selections. She is the founding partner at Acrew Capital, an early stage venture firm. Acrew investments have included Arthur.AI, At-Bay, Cato Networks, Chime and Protect.AI. The firm manages approximately $1.5 billion in assets. Gouw has over 20 years in the tech industry, has been recognized several times on the Midas List.
Seven other Brown alumni also earned spots on the 2026 30 under 30 list, including Paul Lee ’18, Jonathan Huang ’20, Clementine Quittner ’19, Alexander “Xander” Carlson ’20, Dana Biechele-Speziale AM’20 PhD’93, Mengzhou Hu ScM’21, and Katie Vasquez ’20.
Recent Brown engineering affiliated alumni named as Forbes 30 under 30s include Cliff Weitzman ’16 (independent concentration, 2017 list for Education); Christina Bailey-Hytholt Ph.D. ’20 (biomedical engineering, 2022 list for Science); Jack Roswell ’21 (electrical engineering, 2023 list for Social Impact); Cel Welch Ph.D. ’24 (biomedical engineering, 2023 list for Science); Alex Zhuk ’21 (electrical engineering, 2023 list for Social Impact); and Emma Abele ’20 (mechanical engineering, 2025 list for Tech/AI).