Search
Home
>
3-a sSI Blog
>
Meet the 11 Students Selected to Receive a 2026 Dr. Ron Schmidt Student Travel Award

Meet the 11 Students Selected to Receive a 2026 Dr. Ron Schmidt Student Travel Award

April 29, 2026
|
Read Time:
01:15
3-A News
Students
Summit 2026
Honors & Awards
Standards Referenced:
No items found.

The future of global food safety is being written in the labs and dairy plants of our leading universities. Today, we are proud to announce the 11 recipients of the 2026 Dr. Ron Schmidt Student Travel Award.

These exceptional students aren't just studying food science; they are solving real-world challenges. From investigating Listeria persistence in dairy plants to engineering nanotextured stainless steel surfaces, their work underscores the critical bridge between academic research and industry innovation.

Heading to the 2026 Summit

These winners will travel to the 3-A SSI 2026 Summit on Hygienic Design, May 4 to 7 at the Marriott Chicago O'Hare. This isn’t just a trip; it’s an immersive professional launchpad. They will:

  • Present original research during dedicated poster sessions.
  • Network with industry leaders, including equipment fabricators, food processors, and regulators.
  • Participate in Summit sessions covering equipment fabrication, inspection, and cleaning strategies.

“These extraordinary students are pursuing meaningful research that can help solve real-world food safety challenges,” says 3-A SSI Chair John Kuhnz.

The 2026 Award Recipients:

  • Sweta Deb (Cornell University)
  • Suhan Bheemaiah Balyatanda (Kansas State University)
  • Joshua Housley (Cornell University)
  • Abdulaziz Jallow (University of Delaware)
  • Kristen Shoemake (Texas Tech University)
  • Philip Junior Yeboah (University of Florida)
  • Monica Morales (Texas Tech University)
  • Vaishali Poswal (South Dakota State University)
  • Dharshika Sugumaran (Louisiana State University)
  • Sandhya Thapa (Tennessee State University)
  • Babak Faraji Gougerdchi (Virginia Tech)

This award pays tribute to the late Dr. Ronald H. Schmidt, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida and a co-founder of 3-A SSI, continuing his legacy of mentorship and excellence in food safety.

Congratulations to our 2026 winners! We look forward to seeing your presentations in Chicago.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet these students at the Summit! REGISTER NOW!

‍

Read More

Two Fall Webinars Remain: Register Once for Access to the Full Series

Register now for the final two sessions in the 3-A SSI 2026 Fall Webinar Series. (You'll get a link to see the first session too!)

10 Working Groups Are Reshaping 3-A Standards. Here's Where Each One Stands.

Five groups are kicking off, five are deep in technical review andone proposed update is already open for comment.

‍

EHEDG Showed Me How 3-A Can Put Its Standards and the Volunteers Behind Them in the Spotlight

At the EHEDG World Congress in Vienna, Austria, 3-A SSI Executive Director Meri Beth Wojtaszek saw how putting working groups and their volunteers front and center can energize a field. Here's what she brought home and how 3-A SSI plans to spotlight its updated standards at the 3-A SSI 2027 Summit on Hygienic Design.

PACK EXPO 2026: The Conversations That Stuck With Me

At PACK EXPO 2026, conversations at the 3-A SSI booth kept circling back to confidence, easy access to information and new ways to get involved. Here's how to put those takeaways to work before the year ends.

|
|