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Cochlear announces 2024 winners of annual scholarships

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The Graeme Clark, Anders Tjellström and Vocational Scholarships recognize exemplary leaders throughout the hearing loss community

LONE TREE, Colo., Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Eight outstanding Cochlear™ Nucleus® Implant, Cochlear Baha® System and Cochlear Osia® System recipients have been announced as the winners of the 2024 annual Cochlear Academic Scholarships. From founding nonprofit organizations to performing in musicals, to telling underrepresented stories through visual art, and much more, each of the recipients have extraordinary stories on top of their perseverance through hearing loss.

The scholarships recognize Cochlear recipients in the United States and Canada who uphold the Cochlear ideals of leadership, humanity, and demonstrate high academic achievement.

“This year we received more than 180 submissions from our accomplished recipients. Each and every applicant has an impressive story of overcoming challenges while contributing to their communities in their own way. We are honored to be just a part of their amazing journeys,” René Courtney, Vice President & General Manager, Recipient Services, Cochlear Americas, and head of the Academic Scholarships Program, said.

In its 22nd year, the Graeme Clark Scholarship is named after Professor Graeme Clark who invented the multi-channel cochlear implant and is awarded to academically exceptional Cochlear Nucleus Implant recipients. The 2024 Graeme Clark Scholarship winners are:

Julianne Hill Blackburn, (Samford University) from Homewood, AL. Inspired by her experiences with deafness and her cochlear implants, she is currently studying for a Master of Science in Physician Assistant (PA) Studies hoping to both improve patients’ lives and to teach others how to advocate for themselves as a PA the way she has been supported.Christopher Lee, (Washington University, St. Louis), from Edmond, OK. A talented musician, Lee is majoring in psychology and minoring in anthropology while also doing hearing science/language research with the psychology department during his spare time.Mackenzie Martin, (NYU Grossman School of Medicine), from Lexington, MA. Passionate about addressing health challenges within our society, she is pursuing a medical degree drawing upon her own experience as a patient, advocate, volunteer, and investigator to help improve patients’ quality of life.Aaron Reynoso, (Northwestern University), from Glendale Heights, IL. He is studying chemical engineering, with the goal of one day conducting research for improving treatments with medication, along with a minoring in biotechnology.

“It is because of Cochlear that I have become determined in my mission of helping others through medical research, and with this scholarship, I can learn with no barriers in my way to carry out my mission, to hopefully find new medical discoveries like the one made by Graeme Clark that has allowed me to live my life in both the hearing world and the deaf world,” Aaron Reynoso, Cochlear Nucleus implant recipient and Graeme Clark Scholarship recipient said.

In its 13th year, the Anders Tjellström Scholarship is named after Dr. Anders Tjellström, who in collaboration with others created the first bone conduction hearing implant and has worked tirelessly to restore hearing to people around the world. The 2024 Anders Tjellström Scholarship winners are:

Schantelle Alonzo, Baha System recipient, (School of Visual Arts), from Chicago, IL. Born with atresia/microtia she is inspired by the power of art and has decided to pursue an animation degree with a mission to share stories of underrepresented people.Timothy Bilik, Osia System recipient, (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), from Milford, NH. Shortly after his Osia System activation, he started engineering school where he is thriving and enjoying the challenges of studying computer engineering.Elana Rose Lapetina, Baha System recipient, (East Carolina University), from Norfolk, VA. Featured in the Netflix™ documentary “Pharrell Williams’ Voices of Fire” she is taking her vocal and theatrical talent to the next level studying theater and theatrical arts.

“I heard sounds I had never perceived: a public bus stopping, a plane in the distance, clarity in conversations and music. It was an emotional and euphoric experience to gain the full capacity of my hearing. To this day, I am immensely grateful for the advancements of medical technology and hearing restoration,” Elana Rose Lapetina said about her Baha Sound Processer.

Now in its second year, the scholarships include the Cochlear Americas Vocational Scholarship, for students attending technical, vocational or trade schools. The 2024 Cochlear Americas Vocational Scholarship winner is:

Max Grefe, (Academies of Loudoun, The Monroe Advanced Technical Academy), from Chantilly, VA. He is studying occupational studies in culinary arts and business administration in food business management and is not only passionate about cooking but also being a part of and helping the deaf community.

“After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, I plan to pursue opening my own restaurant or become a private chef. I’d like to inspire other deaf and hard of hearing people to get in the kitchen and learn to cook and create. It would be amazing to have a Deaf staff to grow and support,” Max Grefe, winner of the Cochlear Vocational Scholarship said.

Academic scholarship winners will receive $2,000 per year for up to four years at an accredited college or university, providing $8,000 to each student. Vocational scholarship winners receive $2,000 per year for up to two years. This adds up to $60,000 in total scholarship funds given by Cochlear Americas for this year’s winners. Since 2002, Cochlear Americas has awarded $1,024,000 to 128 college students.

About the Scholarships
A total of 188 applications were received this year. An esteemed panel of judges helped review and select the scholarship winners:

Erika Gagnon, Au.D., CCC-A

Clinical Assistant Professor, Audiology Manager, Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC

Michelle Kraskin, Au.D., CCC-A

Assistant Director, Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Weill Cornell Medicine

Kathy Newbern, Med., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT

Speech Language Pathologist & Auditory-Verbal Therapist, Atlanta Speech School

Leslie Rosenthal, Au.D., CCC-A

Director, Speech and Audiology, Department of Otolaryngology, LIJ Hearing and Speech Center

Gabrielle S. Watson, Au.D., CCC-A

Clinical Audiologist, Michigan Medicine Cochlear Implant Program, Hearing Rehabilitation Center, Department of Otolaryngology

For more information about the scholarships, visit Cochlear.com/us/Scholarship.

About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)
People have always been Cochlear’s inspiration, ever since Professor Graeme Clark set out to create the first multi-channel cochlear implant after seeing his father struggle with hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has provided more than 750,000 devices in more than 180 countries, helping people of all ages around the world to hear. As the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, Cochlear connects people with life’s opportunities, and welcomes them to the world’s largest hearing implant community.

Cochlear has a global workforce of around 4,800 people, with a passion for progress, who strive to meet the needs of people living with hearing loss. The company continually innovates to anticipate future needs, investing more than AUD$2.7 billion to date in research and development to push the boundaries of technology and help more people hear.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cochlear-announces-2024-winners-of-annual-scholarships-302066617.html

SOURCE Cochlear Americas

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Marquis Who’s Who Honors Rupin Chothani for Engineering Leadership

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UNIONDALE, N.Y., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marquis Who’s Who honors Rupin Chothani for his leadership in engineering and project management. With more than two decades of professional experience to his credit, Mr. Chothani leverages a unique expertise in fire and petrochemical solutions to find success in his field. As project manager, project engineer and proposal manager at Technip Energies N.V., Mr. Chothani ensures effective results.

Drawn to Engineering

Coming from a family of engineers, Mr. Chothani was naturally drawn to the profession. This inclination was reinforced by comprehensive aptitude and attitude tests administered at the age of 14, which highlighted his strengths in engineering and architecture. Ultimately, this direction reinforced his determination to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering.

By 2003, Mr. Chothani earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mumbai. After a brief role as a junior manufacturing engineer at Artech Cooling Tower Pvt. Ltd., he completed a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bridgeport in 2006. In addition to these degrees, Mr. Chothani later achieved AutoCAD certification.

Following his graduation in 2006, Mr. Chothani joined CB&I Lummus / ABB Lummus Heat Transfer (now Lummus Technology) as a thermal engineer. Though his work at Lummus Technology lasted only three years, Mr. Chothani was greatly influenced by mentor figures at the company. These mentors, including Ken Catala, Peter Harvard, Chin Dang and Miller Alanath Carter, provided essential guidance.

Building a Family

In December 2008, Mr. Chothani married his wife, Cathy. Along with his son and daughter, his family has contributed richly to his success in engineering and they continue to inspire him to excel. In addition to their support, Mr. Chothani recognizes that there is no alternative to hard work and dedicated learning.

From Lummus Technology to Technip Energies N.V.

Following his work at Lummus Technology, Mr. Chothani worked with Maco Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. By 2011, he joined Complete Heat Transfer Solutions – Environ Energy Systems as a thermal and mechanical engineer. By 2013, Mr. Chothani became a part of Technip Energies N.V. as a furnace mechanical engineer. By 2023, he added to this role and became a project manager, project engineer and proposal manager at the company.

In his current role at Technip Energies N.V., Mr. Chothani is responsible for a variety of essential duties. He manages and executes on engineering projects for ethylene cracking furnaces and heaters, and oversees proprietary technologies. Additionally, he actively coordinates with procurement, logistics, mechanical engineering and process engineering teams to ensure effective results.

Plans for the Future

Moving forward, Mr. Chothani hopes to advance his project management skills, particularly within the firejet industry. At the same time, he aims to share his knowledge of the industry with the next generation of professionals. Outside of his professional ambitions, Mr. Chothani intends to prepare his children to find success, inspiring them and their peers with hands-on experiments and full-day events.

About Marquis Who’s Who®:

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

Marquis Who’s Who
Uniondale, NY
(844) 394 – 6946
info@marquiswhoswho.com
www.marquiswhoswho.com

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COALITION OF INDEPENDENT INTERNET PROVIDERS ASKS CRTC TO FIX ERRORS IN WHOLESALE FIBRE RATES

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Coalition of competitive ISPs say current fibre rates make competition impossible and threatens to harm millions of Canadian consumers

CHATHAM, ON, July 23, 2026 /CNW/ — A coalition of independent internet service providers (the Coalition) led by TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TekSavvy) today applied to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review and vary Telecom Order 2026-77, which set final wholesale rates for fibre internet services. In that decision, the CRTC approved wholesale rates for fibre internet services that are higher than the retail prices charged by the large carriers. This makes competition impossible, as independent providers are forced to either sell at a loss or set prices above the large carriers, leaving millions of Canadian consumers without competitive options for essential internet services.

The application identifies key errors that led the CRTC to approve severely inflated final wholesale rates, which make it economically impossible for independent providers to compete. The Coalition argues that the CRTC’s incorrect rates negate the very purpose of Canada’s wholesale framework, which is to foster competition in retail broadband markets. Specifically, the Coalition asks the CRTC to make three key changes to Telecom Order 2026-77:

Eliminate one cost factor that is inconsistent with the CRTC’s established costing principles, which artificially increased fibre wholesale rates by an estimated 25% to 30% (the Adjustment Factor).Reduce another element of the costing that is inflated above reasonable levels: The Coalition calls on the CRTC to reduce the markup applied to wholesale fibre services from 30% to 15%, reflecting declining costs, operational efficiencies, and the need to support competition.Correct technical errors relating to certain wholesale fibre speed descriptions.

“Canadians were promised greater competition for fibre internet services, but these rates make competition impossible.” said Andy Kaplan-Myrth, TekSavvy’s Vice President of Regulatory and Carrier Affairs. “The CRTC must correct these errors to ensure its wholesale rates promote broadband competition that challenges the market power of monopoly incumbents, lowers prices, and increases consumer choice.”

About the Coalition

The Coalition consists of competitive telecommunications providers and industry associations advocating for fair wholesale access to fibre networks and a competitive broadband marketplace that delivers affordable, high-quality Internet services to Canadians, including: TekSavvy Solutions Inc., BC Broadband Association (“BCBA”), Canada-Wide Internet Service Providers Association (“CanWISP”), Fibernetics Inc., ISP Telecom Inc., National Capital FreeNet Inc., Novus Entertainment Inc. and Purple Cow Internet Inc.

About TekSavvy Solution Inc.

Based in Chatham, Ontario, TekSavvy is Canada’s largest independent telecom service company. TekSavvy has been proudly delivering award-winning services and fighting for consumers’ rights for nearly 30 years. TekSavvy is committed to providing quality competitive choice and closing Canada’s digital divide.

SOURCE TekSavvy Solutions Inc.

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Monk Launches Voice Collections, Bringing AI Phone Calls and Callbacks to Accounts Receivable

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Monk’s collections agent, Julia, can now place outbound collection calls and answer inbound AR questions from a dedicated business number, so finance teams can use the channel that collects best without adding headcount.

Multimedia: Watch Voice Collections in action: https://youtu.be/w09PoN1yACE 

NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Monk, the AI-native accounts receivable platform, today launched Voice Collections. Its collections agent, Julia, can now place outbound collection calls and answer inbound customer questions about invoices and payments from a dedicated phone number for each organization. The feature brings the phone, long the most effective collections channel and the hardest one to scale, into Monk’s Intelligent Collections.

Roughly $10 trillion sits in unpaid invoices worldwide, and the average invoice now takes 59 days to clear (Allianz). Most accounts receivable runs on email, and most of it waits. More than half of B2B invoices in the United States are overdue at any given time, and 92% of businesses are typically paid after their due date (Chaser, 2026). Phone calls recover overdue invoices two to three times better than email (Dunwise), yet 91% of finance teams still rely on email as their main follow-up channel and only 56% use the phone, because calling every overdue account by hand does not scale and a single human dunning call can cost $12 to $18 (HighRadius).

Voice Collections gives teams that coverage. Julia can call on the accounts a playbook flags for phone follow-up, and answer when a customer calls the same number back to ask about an invoice, a payment, or a bank detail. Businesses that follow up on 100% of overdue invoices are 76% more likely to be paid within a week (Chaser), and a voice agent is what makes full coverage possible.

Monk’s collections agent is already proven on the accounts it handles by email. Across Monk’s first 100 customers, Julia reaches customers with a 24% higher response rate than standard dunning and resolves 88.2% of collections with zero human intervention. Voice extends that reach to the phone.

“For years the assumption was that customers would not talk to an AI on the phone,” said George Kurdin, Founder and CEO of Monk. “The evidence now points the other way. People engage with a good voice agent, and in AR the phone was always the channel that collected best. We built Voice Collections so finance teams can finally use it at the scale email gave them.”

That assumption is worth retiring. In a University of Chicago Booth field study of roughly 70,000 interviews, people interviewed by a voice AI agent were 12% more likely to receive an offer, 18% more likely to start, and 17% more likely to still be there after 30 days, and 80% chose the voice AI over a human when given the choice. The setting was recruiting rather than collections, but the finding travels: given a capable voice agent, people lean in rather than hang up. A call also does something email cannot, which is secure a verbal promise to pay in the moment.

Built for finance, with the phone agents kept with strict guardrails

Voice in finance has to be constrained, and Monk designed Voice Collections around that from the start. The agent is read-only on the phone. It answers questions, confirms details, and routes the next step. It will not rewrite an invoice, change a payment status, or accept a sensitive payment change by voice.

The agent is also reference-based. If a caller asks about an invoice, Julia asks for both the company name and the invoice number before looking anything up, and it will not search broadly from a single detail. Every inbound and outbound call is kept in the collection record alongside the email history, so a callback is part of the same thread the team already sees, and anything that needs judgment escalates to a person.

“Voice in finance has to be careful by design,” said Joe Zhou, Co-Founder and CTO of Monk. “Julia will not browse across accounts or move money over the phone. A caller has to bring the company name and invoice number before it confirms anything, and every call lands in the record. In finance a 1% mistake is still unacceptable, so we built for that first and added the reach second.”

Teams run autonomous collections on Monk

Monk runs collections for finance teams at companies like Unify, Pump, Siro, and Elate, and Voice Collections extends what those teams already do by email onto the phone.

“We chose Monk to help automate our collections, a process previously demanding several hours a week of manual, one-off outreach,” said Will Stewart, Head of Finance and BizOps at Unify. “Today, our Monk agent is always running in the background and I have a single dashboard to manage AR from.”

At Pump, which manages volume across more than 1,500 customers, Monk has helped collect over $10 million in recent months.

Voice AI is now infrastructure

The timing reflects how far voice AI has come. It has moved from demo to infrastructure: Vapi has processed more than 1 billion calls, Bland handles over 3.5 million calls a week, and ElevenLabs raised a $500 million round at an $11 billion valuation in early 2026. Monk builds Voice Collections on that foundation and adds the part finance actually needs, which is the AR context, the controls, and the audit trail.

Voice Collections is available now as an opt-in feature. Monk configures the dedicated number and call behavior with each organization before turning it on in Collections. See it in action: https://youtu.be/w09PoN1yACE.

About Monk

Monk is the AI-native accounts receivable platform that helps finance teams turn revenue into cash. Its agent, Julia, runs collections, cash application, and forecasting as one connected system. Monk resolves 88.2% of collections with zero human intervention, reaches customers with a 24% higher response rate than standard dunning, reduces DSO by more than 40%, automatically matches 80% of incoming payments with a full audit trail, and gives finance teams back roughly 26 hours a month. Teams onboard in under a week and see results in their first month. More than $1.5 billion in receivables is managed on the platform, including for customers like Profound and ElevenLabs. Monk has raised $25 million and is based in New York.

Media contact
Kendall Warson
kendall@monk.com
+1 415-827-6585

Sources: Chaser 2026 Accounts Receivable research; Dunwise dunning research; HighRadius collection call cost analysis; University of Chicago Booth field study on AI in recruiting; voice AI figures compiled by Enterprise DNA; Federal Reserve data; Allianz Worldwide DSO survey.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monk-launches-voice-collections-bringing-ai-phone-calls-and-callbacks-to-accounts-receivable-302833768.html

SOURCE Monk

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