Award Announcement

ATLANTA – October 29, 2026 -- Riskonnect, a risk management software provider with more than 2,700 customers across six continents, has named the winners of its 2026 Konnect Awards, honoring customers across multiple industries for how they manage risk.

Awards span four categories tied to Riskonnect's core values

Winners were recognized in four categories: Pioneer, Focus, Spark and Community. Pioneer covers customers that explore new ways to deliver value. Focus covers those pursuing continuous improvement. Spark covers those that energize and inspire others. Community covers those that collaborate and share their talents. Riskonnect also honored additional organizations as new members of its customer community.

The honorees include both longtime partners and organizations new to the vendor.

Richmond – October 17, 2026 -- The American Bankers Association has given Blue Ridge Bank Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Risk Officer Rebecca "Becky" Schauer Robertson its Distinguished Service award for Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).

Robertson's 30-year career spans traditional and fintech banking

Robertson has built expertise in risk strategy, financial crimes compliance and regulatory remediation across both traditional and fintech banking environments.

She helped found ABA's AML and Fraud certification and school

Robertson served on the founding boards of the Certified AML and Fraud Professional certification and the ABA AML and Fraud School. She also helped design the school's original curriculum, recruited faculty and developed educational content. She remains one of its most highly regarded instructors.

St. Paul – October 15, 2026 -- 3M and Discovery Education named 8th grader Raji Doshi of Farmington, Connecticut, the winner of the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge, awarding her a $25,000 cash prize and the title of "America's Top Young Scientist." Doshi, who attends Stanford Online High School, won with a natural algae-and-aragonite system designed to counter ocean acidification.

Doshi beat nine other finalists in final events at 3M headquarters

Doshi competed through the summer against nine other finalists, ages 11 to 14. She secured the win during final Challenge events at 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct. 12 and 13, 2026.

Greenbush, Minnesota – October 14, 2026 -- Altoz's TFX 766 i Tracked Zero Turn Mower has won three industry honors: a Landscape Business Twenty for 2026 New Product Award, a Pro Tool Innovation Award in the Riding/Zero Turn Lawn Mowers category and a Green Industry Pros 2026 Editor's Choice Award in Mowing & Maintenance.

The Landscape Business Twenty Awards cover new products for commercial landscape and irrigation markets. The Pro Tool Innovation Awards honor advances in design, technology and performance. The Green Industry Pros awards recognize products that save landscape professionals time, money and labor.

Fort Lauderdale – October 13, 2026 -- Dream Vacations won five 2026 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, three Gold and two Silver, for its work in advisor education, AI adoption, search visibility and business growth.

Agent Directory, destination training and CLIA credits take three Gold awards

The franchise won Gold in Web Marketing/Advertising for its Agent Directory. The platform is integrated with TravelLeaders.com and optimized for both traditional and AI-powered search. It is designed to help advisors improve online visibility and connect with high-intent travelers.

A second Gold, in Business Strategy, went to its destination certification programs covering Alaska, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Columbus – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) named 11 channel partners as 2025 North America Partner Award recipients, with World Wide Technology (WWT) taking the top Partner of the Year honor for year-over-year growth and continued investment in joint AI strategy. Winners were selected on 2025 results, growth trajectory and customer impact.

WWT wins top award on AI factory deployments

WWT's successful AI factory deployments and the integration of Vertiv technologies into its Advanced Technology Center accelerated AI solution innovation and deepened customer engagement, according to Vertiv. Alex Johnson, Vice President, North America Channel Sales, said demand for "high-density, AI-ready environments" is growing and partners are helping customers deploy scalable infrastructure faster.

Fort Lauderdale – October 13, 2026 -- A Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture team has won the £10,000 2026 GROHE Water Prize for terracotta facade tiles that capture fog up to 400% more efficiently than standard flat surfaces.

The award, presented by GROHE for the World Architecture Festival (WAF), went to the project "Bio-inspired Architectural Terracotta for Sustainable Water Harvesting." The team is led by Associate Professor and Lead Researcher Laura Garófalo. WAF is scheduled for November 18-20 in Fort Lauderdale.

Modular terracotta tiles pair water-attracting peaks with water-repelling channels

The system combines ceramic craftsmanship with digital fabrication and surface physics. Its design draws on leaf venation and the Namib Desert beetle. Each tile combines hydrophilic clay peaks with hydrophobic glazed channels. The project targets community water self-sufficiency in arid, fog-prone regions.

LONDON – October 13, 2026 -- Chris Graham, founder of London-based real estate consultancy Graham Associates, has won the Industry Icon award at the inaugural Global Branded Residence Awards, decided by public vote.

Award honours lasting contribution to branded residences sector

The Industry Icon category recognises an individual whose work has shaped the branded residences sector, influenced its development and raised industry standards. Graham's win reflects two decades in luxury real estate and his role in the sector's growth.

Graham authored two of the sector's leading reports

Graham founded Graham Associates, a real estate marketing consultancy, in 2008. He is the author of 'Branded Residences: An Overview', now in its 6th edition, and 'The Branded Residences Compendium', a listing of more than 250 brands active in the market. He is also a regular industry commentator and speaker.

New York – September 24, 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.

Alexandria – September 18, 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.