Award Announcement

XPRIZE Wildfire Hands Out $4.55M for Detection, Autonomous Suppression Tech

New York – September 23, 2026 -- XPRIZE awarded $4.55 million to innovators across two tracks of its $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition, recognizing breakthroughs in space-based detection and autonomous suppression technologies during a ceremony at the New York City Fire Museum.

Space-based detection track distributes $1.05 million across five teams

SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance took first place with $500,000 for integrating SAR and optical satellite data to characterize fires and model spread. Team Snuffed earned $250,000 for a probabilistic data-fusion framework built for firefighter usability. MyRadar, DeepFire and Mayday.AI each received $100,000 special recognition awards for commercial viability, operational fire-spread alerts, and repurposed volcanic-ash detection algorithms applied to smoke plumes, respectively.

ASA Names School Psychologist 2027 National Staffing Employee of the Year

Alexandria – September 17, 2026 -- The American Staffing Association (ASA) named Dr. Aline Milfort, a licensed school psychologist with National Recruiting Consultants (NRC), its 2027 National Staffing Employee of the Year, kicking off National Staffing Employee Week, Sept. 14-20.

ASA recognizes millions of temporary and contract workers placed annually across U.S. staffing agencies

The award, sponsored by StaffPro 3, a division of PMC Insurance Group, spotlights Dr. Milfort's work serving 10 campuses across North Houston, Texas. Since joining NRC in 2023 after earning her doctor of psychology degree in 2022, she has provided special education support through a contract role with Aldine Independent School District.

Globee Awards Opens 18th Annual AI Innovation Nominations

San Francisco – September 15, 2026 -- The Globee® Awards has opened nominations for the 18th Annual Globee® Awards for Innovation, also known as the Golden Bridge Awards®, seeking organizations and professionals that have applied artificial intelligence to produce measurable business results.

Program targets AI achievements across enterprise functions

The awards accept submissions covering generative AI, AI agents, enterprise AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation, alongside sector-specific applications in healthcare, cybersecurity, financial services, manufacturing, and research. Categories also extend to customer experience, data and analytics, accessibility, employee enablement, decision support, and product and service innovation.