In this episode of the Sunny Ray Show, host Sunny Ray interviews Antonio Forenza, the Italian-born engineer and co-founder of neurotech company Aware. Forenza holds over 300 patents and spent two decades at the frontier of wireless technology before turning to the human brain. He earned his PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, worked at Samsung and Freescale, and helped pioneer MIMO technology that underlies modern 4G and 5G networks, including a decade spent on P-Cell technology at Rearden and Artemis Networks. The conversation traces his path from building homes with his grandfather in Italy to inventing wireless infrastructure to eventually building an EEG ear wearable that tracks brainwaves and emotional states. Forenza opens up about personal burnout, physical symptoms of chronic stress, and how meditation and an Apple Watch inspired him to create Aware, a device he describes as an operating system for the mind. The discussion blends deep technical detail with reflections on science, spirituality, and self discovery.
A 300-patent wireless pioneer explains how burnout, meditation, and his Apple Watch inspired an EEG wearable for the brain.
What is Aware building and what problem does it solve?
Awearables uses EEG technology behind the ear to continuously track brainwaves and map them to emotional states like stress and focus. When the app detects stress, it nudges you with a soothing vibration to prompt breathing exercises or mindfulness practices, helping recalibrate your nervous system in real time, similar to how an Oura Ring or Whoop continuously monitors biomarkers.
How does the device learn to recognize when someone is stressed?
We start from general models that apply to everyone, then the more you use the app, the more it trains on your own brainwaves, customizing the model specifically to you. It's similar to HRV zones, where men and women have different typical ranges, but each individual also has their own unique zones based on their physiology.
What was young Antonio like growing up in Italy?
I was a very curious person, always had an engineering mind to build stuff. I was very inspired by my grandfather, who was a builder and could construct homes from scratch. My first passion was becoming a civil engineer, but I gradually developed a passion for digital communications and mobile technology instead.
What did pursuing the P-Cell moonshot at Rearden teach you about conviction?
The first startup teaches you so much. It's hard to stick with something when you fail, but I think of how many rockets it took Elon Musk before he successfully landed a reusable rocket. It's about understanding feasibility, knowing it's not breaking the laws of physics, and committing to an iterative process of failure and learning until you make it work.
What led to your personal burnout and turn toward meditation?
I wasn't good at managing my life-work balance, and stress started having a massive physiological impact on me, including skin reactions and hair loss. That's when I hit bottom and realized I had to do something. I explored many meditation techniques until I found a teacher who was both a psychiatrist and meditation teacher, which resonated with my engineering mind.
How do you reconcile being a scientist with embracing spiritual practices like meditation?
Meditation is one of the oldest practices, about 2500 years old, and it's only in the last ten years that neuroscience has actually measured its effects on our nervous system. I came at it mainly from the science angle, though I was born and raised Catholic so spirituality is part of my DNA. It was really the combination of feeling calm after sessions and understanding the physiological science behind it.
How did an Apple Watch inspire the idea for Aware?
I got an Apple Watch to work on my physical wellness and started tracking calorie burn and staying in exercise zones. Coming out of a ten-day silent meditation retreat about three years ago, I asked myself what if there was something like the Apple Watch but for the mind, telling you when you're staying in a good mental zone. That's when I started researching EEG technology.
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