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A new 3-A SSI award, the HyGEN Excellence Awards, will give the industry an opportunity to celebrate rising stars under 40.
The award is meant to provide career-defining recognition for young professionals who advance food safety through innovative hygienic design practices worldwide. These awards spotlight talented individuals whose work is already ensuring safer food systems globally. Recipients will be pioneering new approaches, implementing breakthrough solutions, and mentoring the next generation.
“The 2026 inaugural award recipients will make history as the first class to enter what is sure to become an elite network of food safety innovators and leaders,” says Meri Beth Wojtaszek, 3-A SSI Executive Director.
As many as 40 awards will be given annually across six professional categories:
3-A SSI will honor the 2026 class of HyGEN Excellence Awards recipients at the 3-A SSI Summit on Hygienic Design, May 4 to 7, 2026, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare.
Do you know someone who deserves recognition? This is yourchance to nominate the innovators and leaders who will shape the future of our industry. (Yes, you can even nominate yourself!)
Nominations are open to professionals under 40 working across all sectors of food safety and hygienic design worldwide. The nomination process is open now. It closes February 27, 2026.
Check out our professional photographer's pics from the 3-A SSI 2026 Summit on Hygienic Design.
What's the link between Led Zeppelin and raw flour? Well, it's Kansas State University (KSU) graduate student Suhan Bheemaiah Balyatanda. She received the 2026 Dr. Ron Schmidt Student Travel Award and also was a member of the KSU first-place Student Hygienic Design Competition team.
The inaugural class of HyGEN Excellence Award winners shows us the future of the "Gold Standard" is in very good hands.
3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) has selected 11 exceptional students to receive a 2026 Dr. Ron Schmidt Student Travel Award.
