Technology

STARMUS Launches the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior at The Kennedy Center

Published

1 year ago

April 2, 2025

Gitanjali Rao Honoured as the inaugural Recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior STARMUS cofounders, Garik Israelian and Brian May, introduce the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category to Inspire Young Innovators (LINK)STARMUS Celebrates Its US Debut at The Kennedy Center with Panel Discussions, Performances, the Junior Medal Announcement, the Presentation of STARMUS La Palma, and the US Première of the STARMUS VI Film (LINK)

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — STARMUS Festival proudly announced the launch of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category during the STARMUS x Earth To Space launch event last night at The Kennedy Center. Gitanjali Rao was named the first recipient of this prestigious award. This new category of this prestigious award created by the late Professor Stephen Hawking and STARMUS Festival, represents his last legacy to promote science communication among the younger generation.

Introducing the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category

The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, established in 2015, honoured individuals who excelled in bridging the gap between science and the public through various disciplines such as music, arts, and cinema. The Junior Category aimed to recognize and encourage young innovators who demonstrated exceptional talent and dedication to science communication. Like the Stephen Hawking Medal, the Junior Medal will recognize such dedication through the categories of music, cinema, or literature.

In its inaugural year, the STARMUS Advisory Board selected a profile that perfectly embodies the type of inspiring young individual deserving of this prestigious recognition. Commencing in 2026, the full nominations process will be open to educational centres worldwide, including universities and secondary schools. These institutions will be invited to nominate their most outstanding students, aged 14 to 20, as candidates.

Winners will be awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal and will have the unique opportunity to enrol in a 4 to 6-week internship at a selected science or arts institution, sponsored by STARMUS and the Stephen Hawking Medal partners. During this internship, they will work on their own scientific communications project, which will be published by STARMUS and the Stephen Hawking Medal collaborators and endorsed by a past winner of the Medal.

STARMUS will announce soon the world-class institutions and centres that will collaborate with the Junior Medal Category.

Gitanjali Rao: The First Recipient

Gitanjali Rao, an American inventor, author, and STEM advocate, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior. Rao, known for her groundbreaking inventions and contributions to science at a young age, embodied the spirit of innovation and curiosity that Professor Hawking championed. She was named TIME’s first “Kid of the Year” in 2020 for her work in science and technology. Gitanjali is also the inventor of “Epione”—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and “Kindly”—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing, which is now a UNICEF “Digital Public Good” service available worldwide.

“Being the first recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior is an absolute honour, but it also comes with a massive responsibility,” said Rao. “I recognize that I am a trailblazer for thousands of young people beyond me who also have the passion to make a difference in our communities, especially girls of colour.”

Garik Israelian, STARMUS co-founder and Director, celebrated this huge step for the Stephen Hawking Medal in approaching younger generations with the Junior Category. “Stephen always shared that he became interested in science being inspired by his professor Dikran Tahta, who opened his eyes to mathematics and changed his life. Since the esteemed STARMUS Advisory Board and Professor Hawking created this Medal in 2015, we all shared the same dream: to inspire the younger generations, serving as a motivational bridge with science through recognizing exceptional contributions in science communications. We’ve awarded such iconic figures of our time such as Jane Goodall, Hans Zimmer, Christopher Nolan, Buzz Aldrin, David Attenborough, Brian May, The Big Bang Theory, Brian Eno among many other internationally renowned figures of science, space, music, and the film industry. It was a natural step for the medal to create a dedicated category for emerging talents who will actually be responsible for the future.”

“The STARMUS Advisory Board chose Gitanjali Rao as the first recipient because of her exceptional talent, dedication to science communication, and her inspiring role as a young innovator” added Professor Israelian. “The Medal reflects not only Stephen Hawking’s amazing dedication to science communication but also the STARMUS spirit. As our dearest Jane Goodall -founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and STARMUS Board member- said, ‘STARMUS brings together people who can link head with heart’.'”

Brian May, Queen lead guitarist and STARMUS cofounder, celebrated the launch of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior with these words: “We believe this is going to make a difference in the future by encouraging young minds, young artists, young scientists, and young communicators. We hope that the next generation will be inspired to bring art and science even closer together and make this world a better place.”

Celebrating STARMUS’ US Debut at The Kennedy Center

This announcement was made at the STARMUS x Earth To Space event, a two-day program held as part of the Earth To Space Festival at the prestigious Kennedy Center. The event, being held on April 1-2, 2025, featured an impressive lineup of Nobel Prize-winning scientists, astronauts, and explorers, including former NASA astronauts Nicole Stott and Frank Lee Culbertson Jr., Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne and artist Lia Halloran, world-renowned best-selling author Mario Livio, President of the US National Academy of Sciences Marcia McNutt, renowned astrophysicist Eva Villaver, quantum mind reader David Zambuka and SETI pioneer Jill Tarter.

Attendees also enjoyed the spectacular ‘Explosive Universe’ concert by renowned musicians from the STARMUS All Stars, such as Derek Sherinian, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Tony Franklin, and Vinny Appice. This concert was a highlight of the event, showcasing the fusion of science and music that STARMUS is known for. The celebration of the beauty and mystery of the universe promised to be an unforgettable experience for all attendees.

STARMUS has announced its next edition, ‘STARMUS La Palma, The Island of Stars,’ featuring a short preview of the STARMUS La Palma documentary. This event will be held on the island of La Palma from April 25 to 28, 2025, with a focus on protecting the night skies in collaboration with the Starlight Foundation. The program will include STARMUS Talks with over 40 renowned speakers, such as Jane Goodall, Nobel Laureates, astronauts, and other scientific luminaries. The ‘Sonic Universe’ concert will showcase the STARMUS All Stars with special guest Glenn Hughes, Oscar and 15 Latin Grammy winner Jorge Drexler, and the Spanish pop-rock band Efecto Pasillo, among others. Additionally, there will be two STARMUS Camps and the educational project ‘Interscholar,’ aimed at engaging thousands of young students with science, music, and space.”

The event also included the US première of the STARMUS VI film, which showcases the most exciting moments of the 2022 STARMUS Festival in Armenia. This film perfectly captures the essence of STARMUS and the unique STARMUS experience, merging the gathering of the most brilliant minds and talented artists of our time with the local culture.

Linked Videos:

• This is STARMUS _ LINK

• The Stephen Hawking Medal _LINK

About STARMUS

Created by Garik Israelian PhD, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and Sir Brian May PhD, astrophysicist and the lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Queen, Starmus is a festival of science, art and music that features presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and prominent figures from various scientific disciplines and musical backgrounds. Starmus brings together Nobel laureates, eminent researchers, astronauts, thinkers and artists to share their knowledge and experiences, as we search for answers to the great questions of our time.

The STARMUS Advisory Board members are: Jane Goodall, Brian May (co-founder), Garik Israelian (Director and co-founder), Peter Gabriel, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Richard Dawkins, Chris Hadfield, Jill Tarter, Steven Chu, and David Eicher.

Home of the Stephen Hawking Medal

Stephen Hawking and Alexei Leonov, together with Brian May and Garik Israelian, worked to create the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 2015, which is awarded to individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to science communication. Previous Stephen Hawking Medal winners include Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, David Attenborough, Christopher Nolan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian May, Laurie Anderson, and the Apollo 11 documentary.

For more information visit Starmus.com

STARMUS Communications
Brezo Rodríguez — brezo@starmus.com / press@starmus.com / +34 678 255 196

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Technology

Greenzie releases 2025 Annual Safety Report, documenting multi-year safety performance at commercial scale

Published

2 hours ago

April 23, 2026

The data shows zero lost-time injuries, zero OSHA medical attentions and zero human near-misses across real-world operation

ATLANTA, April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Greenzie, the technology platform powering commercial autonomy across multiple OEMs, today shared multi-year safety data from real-world commercial operation, documenting more than 150,000 autonomous miles with zero lost-time injuries, zero OSHA medical attentions and zero human near-misses. The data is published in Greenzie’s 2025 Annual Safety Report, available at greenzie.com/safety.

The report is based on extensive operational data spanning more than 5.4 billion square feet of turf mowed, 68,000+ hours of autonomous mowing and more than 50,000 operator days, the equivalent of 265 mowing seasons.

“Greenzie is helping define safety in autonomous landscape operations, and transparency is a critical part of that,” said Steve Bush, chief operating officer of Greenzie. “These results show that commercial autonomy is operating safely at meaningful scale in the field. Transparency matters because as this category matures, real-world data helps build confidence in what responsible deployment looks like.”

The report’s findings are particularly significant in the context of the U.S. landscaping industry, which employs roughly 1.3 million workers and experiences a higher-than-average rate of workplace accidents compared to other fields. Greenzie’s multi-year operating data shows that autonomy is not theoretical; it is already being deployed consistently and performing safely at scale.

“Greenzie Powered Autonomy™ has been validated through years of sustained use in the field,” Bush said. “That level of real-world performance reinforces both the reliability of our platform and the broader readiness of commercial autonomy.”

Greenzie attributes this performance to a disciplined safety approach that includes robust perception, tested operating standards and continuous validation in real-world commercial environments.

For more information about Greenzie, visit greenzie.com.

About Greenzie

Founded in 2018, Greenzie is the technology platform powering commercial autonomy. Created to solve the landscape industry’s labor and productivity challenges, Greenzie works with leading equipment manufacturers to deliver the software, navigation and safety systems that enable mowing and other outdoor power equipment to operate autonomously in real-world commercial environments. Today, Greenzie’s platform is running on hundreds of machines in active use, helping manufacturers bring autonomy to market and allowing operators to get more done with limited labor—moving autonomy from early experimentation to everyday operations. For more information, visit greenzie.com.

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SOURCE Greenzie

Technology

CGI renews global SAP S/4HANA operations and SAP BTP operations certifications, reinforcing its consistent, quality delivery at scale

Published

2 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Stock Market Symbols
GIB.A (TSX)
GIB (NYSE)
cgi.com/newsroom

MONTRÉAL, April 23, 2026 /CNW/ – CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, announced that it has achieved the following recertifications for its global operation capabilities:

SAP S/4HANA operations and works with RISE with SAP SAP BTP operations and works with RISE with SAP

These recertifications highlight CGI’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality managed SAP services and operations across regions, including services aligned with RISE with SAP. CGI’s SAP-based services help clients reduce operational risk, improve performance and efficiency and scale transformation with greater predictability. This also builds on CGI’s SAP alliance relationship momentum, including its recent AWS SAP Competency Partner status which highlights CGI’s expertise in modernizing mission-critical SAP workloads with AI-enabled cloud solutions.

“Running SAP at enterprise scale requires a partner with proven capabilities, delivery discipline and the ability to innovate securely, including through the integration of AI to deliver tangible outcomes,” said Didier Thérond, President, CGI France operations, and Global Executive Sponsor for CGI’s partnership with SAP. “These global recertifications reinforce CGI’s end-to-end SAP capabilities, including AI-enabled services, helping clients operate mission-critical systems with confidence and advance their modernization and cloud strategies.”

“CGI remains a trusted partner in our SAP Operations Partner program, consistently demonstrating a structured and disciplined approach to certification,” said Rudolf Scheipers, VP, Head of SAP Operations Partner Certification, SAP Partner Innovation Lifecycle Services. “These recertifications highlight the company’s mature operating model and commitment to the high standards we expect globally, ensuring clients running SAP environments can rely on consistent, secure, and efficient operations.”

CGI’s global alliance strategy features partnerships with more than 150 technology companies and supports its local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network. Through its SAP alliance, CGI helps organizations accelerate innovation, deploy and manage SAP solutions globally, and deliver industry-specific business outcomes with rapid, scalable, and AI-enabled cloud and ERP services.

About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 94,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2025 reported revenue is CA$15.91 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.

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SOURCE CGI Inc.

Technology

Scholastic Corporation Announces Final Results of Modified Dutch Auction Tender Offer

Published

2 hours ago

April 23, 2026

NEW YORK, April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scholastic Corporation (the “Company” or “Scholastic”) (Nasdaq: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced the final results of its “modified Dutch Auction” tender offer for shares of its common stock, which expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 20, 2026.

Based on the final count by Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary for the tender offer, a total of 2,834,018 shares of Scholastic’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (each share of Scholastic’s common stock, a “Share,” and collectively, “Shares”), were properly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or below the purchase price of $40.00 per Share, including 989,343 Shares that were tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery.

Scholastic has accepted for purchase a total of 2,834,018 Shares through the tender offer at a price of $40.00 per Share, for an aggregate cost of $113,360,720.00, excluding fees and expenses relating to the tender offer. The total of 2,834,018 Shares that Scholastic has accepted for purchase represents approximately 13.7% of the total number of Shares outstanding as of April 19, 2026.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as the dealer manager for the tender offer. Georgeson LLC served as the information agent. Holders of common stock who have questions or need information about the tender offer may call Georgeson LLC at (866) 539-9980 (toll free). Banks and brokers may call Georgeson at (866) 539-9980 or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at (877) 371-5947 (toll free).

About Scholastic

For more than 100 years, Scholastic Corporation (Nasdaq: SCHL) has been meeting children where they are – at school, at home and in their communities – by creating quality content and experiences, all beginning with literacy. Scholastic delivers stories, characters, and learning moments that empower all kids to become lifelong readers and learners through bestselling children’s books, literacy- and knowledge-building resources for schools including classroom magazines, and award-winning, entertaining children’s media. As the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online, and with a global reach into more than 135 countries, Scholastic encourages the personal and intellectual growth of all children, while nurturing a lifelong relationship with reading, themselves, and the world around them. Learn more at www.scholastic.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including the conditions of the children’s book and educational materials markets generally and acceptance of the Company’s products within those markets, and other risks and factors identified from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated.

SCHL: Financial

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SOURCE Scholastic Corporation