@JTT_ffortier
Since the company reported it as a royalty, you should report it as a royalty. The IRS computers will expect to find it on Schedule E. If you put it somewhere else the computers won't match it to the 1099-MISC. That will result in a notice from the IRS saying that you failed to report it, which will require correspondence between you and the IRS to straighten it out.
Your tax will be the same, whether you report it on Schedule E or Schedule 1. In fact, the Schedule E income ends up on line 5 of Schedule 1. The bottom line will be the same whether the income is on line 5 or line 8j.
"Activity not engaged in for profit income" means hobby income. The award you received is not income from a hobby.
