These were top papers at the last SNUG Boston.

First Place - Clifford Cummings - Sunburst Design, Inc.
  System Verilog Implicit Port Enhancements for Design & Verification
 
  Second Place - Jonathan Bromley - Doulos Ltd.
  Creating Stimulus & Stimulating Creativity: the VMM Scenario Generator

  Third Place - Wilson Snyder - SiCortex, Inc.
  The Ten Edits I Make Against Most IP

  Technical Committee Award - John Vargas - Unisys
  When Floorplans Attack: How to Balance Routing, Timing and Area