Technology
Maryland Organizations Invest in Growth, Education, and Community
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2 years agoon
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The Maryland Marketing Partnership, which helps drive Maryland’s branding and marketing efforts to attract businesses, create jobs, and grow the state’s economy, today shared a summary of the latest news from companies and organizations that invest in the partnership.
BALTIMORE, May 23, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Maryland Marketing Partnership, which helps drive Maryland’s branding and marketing efforts to attract businesses, create jobs, and grow the state’s economy, today shared a summary of the latest news from companies and organizations that invest in the partnership.
“With the state’s strategic location, modern infrastructure, and leading industries, Maryland has so much to offer businesses and individuals alike,” said Maryland Department of Commerce Secretary Kevin Anderson. “Our Partnership organizations are proof of this and we encourage businesses of all sizes to explore the many advantages of locating in Maryland.”
BGE, based in Baltimore and Maryland’s largest natural gas and electric utility, is upgrading 260,000 streetlights with smart technology to improve public safety and outage response. Over 45,000 smart lighting controls (also known as smart nodes) have been installed on BGE-maintained street and private area lights to date. Deployment areas for 2024-2025 include northern Baltimore City and Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties. “BGE is currently recognized as an industry pioneer for smart lighting,” says Eric Barger, manager of new business overseeing this program. “In addition to the deployment of intelligent field technology, we remain innovative in the ways we capture, manage, and monitor data using our smart lighting operations software, all of which provides a better lighting solution and experience for our customers.”
Peterson Companies, a longtime Maryland business, announced Rio, Gaithersburg’s most celebrated shopping and dining destination, is now home to IKEA. The second location in the Peterson Companies portfolio opened in March and is among a handful of their new “Plan & Order Point with Pick-up” concepts open nationwide. Additionally, Locally Crafted, once a temporary storefront at Rio, has reopened in a new long-term space. The local women-owned business offers an impressive collection of artisan and hand-crafted goods created by local makers from in and around Maryland.
St. John Properties, Inc., based in Baltimore and one of the nation’s largest and most successful privately held commercial real estate firms, received the prestigious 2024 NAIOP Maryland Awards of Excellence for two projects. St. John Properties celebrated a renewal with Precision for Medicine to expand at Riverside Tech Park, occupying over 116,000 square feet of the Frederick, MD facilities. Additionally, they welcome Chipotle Mexican Grill, Charleys Cheesesteaks and Wings, Hibachi Express and TropQ Pizzato restaurants to Cromwell Business Park, a 165-acre mixed-use business community.
SECU, Maryland’s largest state-chartered credit union, recognized the barrier high four-year university tuition creates for community college students wanting to earn their bachelor’s degree. SECU MD Foundation is awarding $10,000 scholarships to 12 students enrolled at any Maryland community college who are transferring to a University System of Maryland university for the 2024-2025 academic year. Students currently enrolled at a University System of Maryland school who recently transferred within the last 18 months are also eligible to apply. Apply for a $10,000 SECU MD Foundation Scholarship by May 31.
Bozzuto, based in Greenbelt, ranked 11th in the 2024 The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) 50 largest apartment managers list. This acknowledgment came after the successful expansion of more than 100,000 apartment homes. Additionally, Bozzuto acquired Gables 12 Twenty-One in Rosslyn, its first acquisition in 15 years through the Strategic Multifamily Fund. Renamed The Alcott, the 132-unit boutique community acquisition supports Bozzuto’s larger effort to acquire more high-quality, stabilized assets across the East Coast.
United Therapeutics Corporation (UT) announced another first-ever success with the transplant of a UThymoKidneyTM, produced by UT, into a living person on April 12, 2024. Performed by surgeons at NYU Langone Health, this is the third xenotransplant using UT’s xeno organs, following two successful UHeartTM transplants at the University of Maryland Medicine in 2022 and 2023. It marks another positive step forward in the company’s aim to help address the shortage of tolerable, transplantable organs for all who need them.
Cloudforce, based in National Harbor, completed its 15,000-square-foot office expansion. It also continues to impact higher education, empowering educators nationwide to harness AI in the cloud effortlessly. Teaming up with Microsoft, Cloudforce sponsored hackathons. Cloudforce held a free 5-day Bootcamp on AI to prepare local jobseekers for success; and presented at the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium (MEEC), Blacks at Microsoft Minority Day, and the 2024 Microsoft MWBE Innovation Forum. Founder Husein Sharaf was keynote speaker at the Mid-Atlantic Cybersecurity Capabilities and Careers Symposia (MA3CS) hosted by Prince George’s Community College. Celebrations included its third Washington Business Journal Best Places to Work award, and FSC’s First 2024 Small Business of the Year Award.
TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced the appointment of the Equitech Growth Commission, federal earmarked funding for the Federal Lab Leveraging Innovation to Products (FLLIP) Pilot Program, and a successful exit of portfolio company Allovue, Inc. The organization continues to invest in Maryland-based startup companies through its Social Impact Funds, evergreen Venture Funds, and Seed Funds. These Funds have most recently invested in companies like Keep Company, Astek Diagnostics, Aquatic Circle, Aloe Therapeutics, IPGen, LASARRUS, Innate Technologies, Sonogen Medical, Dockshare, and Minnowtech. Additionally, they released new episodes of TEDCO Talks featuring Secretary of Commerce, Kevin Anderson, and BDC CEO, Colin Tarbert.
Route One Apparel, based in Towson, continues to expand its offerings – especially for local sports fans – through new collaborations and wholesale partnerships. Last month, the online retailer launched the “Brightside x Route One Home Run Collection” with Brightside Boutique, which is selling out quickly, and is now preparing to unveil its new “Boh-timore Baseball” line featuring National Bohemian. In addition to online at RouteOneApparel.com, shoppers can find large displays of Route One Apparel’s sports gear at local retailers EC Pops, King of Bling and Poor Boys. Route One Apparel’s University of Maryland collection, along with other Maryland-pride products, can also now be found at Shop Made in MD in College Park.
Warehouse Cinemas, based in Frederick and developed by HighRock, recently hosted its annual Trailer Fest at all three of its Maryland locations. The event series sold out and brought over 700 participants together to celebrate upcoming releases through exclusive trailer screenings, special guest appearances, and interactive activities.
About Maryland Marketing Partnership
The Maryland Marketing Partnership, founded in statute as the Maryland Public-Private Partnership Marketing Corporation, develops branding strategy for the state, markets the state’s assets, and encourages the location and growth of new businesses in Maryland.
Media Contact
Ellina Buettner, Abel Communications for Maryland Marketing Partnership, 4104195945, ellina@abelcommunications.com, https://marylandmarketingpartnership.com/
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/maryland-organizations-invest-in-growth-education-and-community-302154718.html
SOURCE Maryland Marketing Partnership
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Best AI Design Tools (2026): CapCut Named a Top Choice for Creating Images and Marketing Assets by Software Experts
Published
54 minutes agoon
July 18, 2026By
NEW YORK, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Software Experts has recognized CapCut as a top choice among AI design tools for 2026, citing its AI Design Studio as a standout resource for creating images and marketing assets. The recognition points to the platform’s combination of automated layout generation, image editing, and campaign focused features built for marketers, e-commerce sellers, and content creators.
Best AI Design Tools
CapCut AI Design Studio – a web based design workspace that uses AI to help users create ads, product visuals, and branded content without prior design experience.
Core Capabilities of the AI Design Studio
The AI Design Studio is built around a conversational, infinite canvas that allows users to work with an AI design agent in real time. Instead of starting from a blank template, users type a prompt, upload reference images, and receive layout options generated automatically.
The latest version, Design 2.0, brings references, drafts, assets, and edits into a single workspace. Features include pencil prompting for visual editing, smart layer split for separating subjects and backgrounds, and a One More function that generates new creative directions from an existing design. Users can circle, brush, or mark up an image directly to guide how the AI adjusts a design, rather than relying only on written prompts.
An inspiration hub with built in assets and license free images is also part of the workspace, helping users start projects without sourcing outside materials. Layers for text, subjects, and backgrounds remain editable throughout the process, which allows for adjustments without regenerating an entire design from scratch.
Applications for E-Commerce and Marketing Teams
The AI Design Studio supports several common business use cases, including product content creation, trend based design remixing, and clothing visualization for fashion brands. These features are designed to reduce the time spent on repetitive production tasks, particularly for teams that need to update visuals frequently.
For e-commerce sellers, the tool can generate product main images, banners, and packaging designs from a single uploaded photo, and supports batch replacement across shared backgrounds. A seller managing multiple product lines can apply the same background and layout across different items with one click, rather than recreating each asset individually.
Fashion brands can use the AI clothing try-on feature to visualize how garments appear on different models, helping with catalog updates during seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday. Marketing and social teams can generate assets in multiple styles and resize them automatically for different platforms, which helps maintain consistency across channels without manual reformatting. The trend remixing feature also allows brands to reference the structure of a popular design while keeping the content original to their own products.
Design Automation Powered by Seedream 5.0
For marketing posters and layout heavy assets, the AI Design Studio incorporates the Seedream 5.0 model, which is ranked first on Artificial Analysis’ Text-to-Image Leaderboard. The model is used to arrange visual elements, generate multiple layout variations, and handle typesetting automatically based on uploaded product images.
This approach is intended to reduce the manual work involved in formatting marketing materials. Uploading one or more product photos allows the system to generate several layout options, positioning text, imagery, and other elements without requiring manual placement. Once a layout is generated, users can continue refining it with stickers, filters, or additional effects within the same workspace.
The process is designed to move from prompt to a finished, ready to use asset without requiring separate design software. For teams producing large volumes of seasonal or promotional content, this can reduce the number of tools involved in a single campaign.
Why AI Design Tools Matter for Small Teams
AI design tools are becoming useful because many teams need more visual content than traditional workflows can comfortably support. The Software Experts review notes that marketers, creators, and small businesses often need product images, social graphics, banners, email headers, event posters, and campaign visuals on tight timelines.
For small teams, the main advantage is not simply automation. It is the ability to get to a workable draft faster. Starting from a blank canvas can slow down campaign production, especially when a team is managing several platforms or product lines. AI-assisted design tools can generate starting points, resize assets, suggest layouts, and help keep visuals consistent across channels.
Access and Getting Started
The AI Design Studio is accessible through CapCut desktop by selecting Design Agent from the main dashboard. Users enter a text prompt describing the desired output, optionally upload reference images, and review the generated results.
A typical workflow might involve uploading a reference photo and entering a detailed prompt describing a desired style, color palette, or setting. The AI then generates initial design options based on that input. The built in editor allows for further adjustments, including color changes, auto cutout, element removal, and text overlays, before the final image is downloaded in high resolution.
Software Experts noted that the AI Design Studio is suited to a range of users, from e-commerce sellers managing large catalogs to individual creators producing social media content, as well as marketing teams handling multiple campaigns at once. The tool is offered as part of CapCut’s existing platform, with pricing details available directly through CapCut.
Readers can find the full review at Software Experts.
About CapCut
CapCut is an AI-powered photo and video editing platform designed to make high-quality video creation accessible across devices. The platform supports creators, businesses, and everyday users with tools for video editing, AI video generation, captions, templates, audio, and visual editing. CapCut is available across mobile, web, desktop, and iPad experiences, helping users create, edit, and prepare video content for social media, marketing, education, and personal projects.
About Software Experts: Software Experts delivers in-depth news on the digital tools shaping today’s consumer experience. As an affiliate, Software Experts may earn commissions from sales generated using links provided.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-ai-design-tools-2026-capcut-named-a-top-choice-for-creating-images-and-marketing-assets-by-software-experts-302828625.html
SOURCE SoftwareExperts.org
Technology
Best AI Design Tools (2026): CapCut Named a Top Choice for Creating Images and Marketing Assets by Software Experts
Published
54 minutes agoon
July 18, 2026By
NEW YORK, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Software Experts has recognized CapCut as a top choice among AI design tools for 2026, citing its AI Design Studio as a standout resource for creating images and marketing assets. The recognition points to the platform’s combination of automated layout generation, image editing, and campaign focused features built for marketers, e-commerce sellers, and content creators.
Best AI Design Tools
CapCut AI Design Studio – a web based design workspace that uses AI to help users create ads, product visuals, and branded content without prior design experience.
Core Capabilities of the AI Design Studio
The AI Design Studio is built around a conversational, infinite canvas that allows users to work with an AI design agent in real time. Instead of starting from a blank template, users type a prompt, upload reference images, and receive layout options generated automatically.
The latest version, Design 2.0, brings references, drafts, assets, and edits into a single workspace. Features include pencil prompting for visual editing, smart layer split for separating subjects and backgrounds, and a One More function that generates new creative directions from an existing design. Users can circle, brush, or mark up an image directly to guide how the AI adjusts a design, rather than relying only on written prompts.
An inspiration hub with built in assets and license free images is also part of the workspace, helping users start projects without sourcing outside materials. Layers for text, subjects, and backgrounds remain editable throughout the process, which allows for adjustments without regenerating an entire design from scratch.
Applications for E-Commerce and Marketing Teams
The AI Design Studio supports several common business use cases, including product content creation, trend based design remixing, and clothing visualization for fashion brands. These features are designed to reduce the time spent on repetitive production tasks, particularly for teams that need to update visuals frequently.
For e-commerce sellers, the tool can generate product main images, banners, and packaging designs from a single uploaded photo, and supports batch replacement across shared backgrounds. A seller managing multiple product lines can apply the same background and layout across different items with one click, rather than recreating each asset individually.
Fashion brands can use the AI clothing try-on feature to visualize how garments appear on different models, helping with catalog updates during seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday. Marketing and social teams can generate assets in multiple styles and resize them automatically for different platforms, which helps maintain consistency across channels without manual reformatting. The trend remixing feature also allows brands to reference the structure of a popular design while keeping the content original to their own products.
Design Automation Powered by Seedream 5.0
For marketing posters and layout heavy assets, the AI Design Studio incorporates the Seedream 5.0 model, which is ranked first on Artificial Analysis’ Text-to-Image Leaderboard. The model is used to arrange visual elements, generate multiple layout variations, and handle typesetting automatically based on uploaded product images.
This approach is intended to reduce the manual work involved in formatting marketing materials. Uploading one or more product photos allows the system to generate several layout options, positioning text, imagery, and other elements without requiring manual placement. Once a layout is generated, users can continue refining it with stickers, filters, or additional effects within the same workspace.
The process is designed to move from prompt to a finished, ready to use asset without requiring separate design software. For teams producing large volumes of seasonal or promotional content, this can reduce the number of tools involved in a single campaign.
Why AI Design Tools Matter for Small Teams
AI design tools are becoming useful because many teams need more visual content than traditional workflows can comfortably support. The Software Experts review notes that marketers, creators, and small businesses often need product images, social graphics, banners, email headers, event posters, and campaign visuals on tight timelines.
For small teams, the main advantage is not simply automation. It is the ability to get to a workable draft faster. Starting from a blank canvas can slow down campaign production, especially when a team is managing several platforms or product lines. AI-assisted design tools can generate starting points, resize assets, suggest layouts, and help keep visuals consistent across channels.
Access and Getting Started
The AI Design Studio is accessible through CapCut desktop by selecting Design Agent from the main dashboard. Users enter a text prompt describing the desired output, optionally upload reference images, and review the generated results.
A typical workflow might involve uploading a reference photo and entering a detailed prompt describing a desired style, color palette, or setting. The AI then generates initial design options based on that input. The built in editor allows for further adjustments, including color changes, auto cutout, element removal, and text overlays, before the final image is downloaded in high resolution.
Software Experts noted that the AI Design Studio is suited to a range of users, from e-commerce sellers managing large catalogs to individual creators producing social media content, as well as marketing teams handling multiple campaigns at once. The tool is offered as part of CapCut’s existing platform, with pricing details available directly through CapCut.
Readers can find the full review at Software Experts.
About CapCut
CapCut is an AI-powered photo and video editing platform designed to make high-quality video creation accessible across devices. The platform supports creators, businesses, and everyday users with tools for video editing, AI video generation, captions, templates, audio, and visual editing. CapCut is available across mobile, web, desktop, and iPad experiences, helping users create, edit, and prepare video content for social media, marketing, education, and personal projects.
About Software Experts: Software Experts delivers in-depth news on the digital tools shaping today’s consumer experience. As an affiliate, Software Experts may earn commissions from sales generated using links provided.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-ai-design-tools-2026-capcut-named-a-top-choice-for-creating-images-and-marketing-assets-by-software-experts-302828625.html
SOURCE SoftwareExperts.org
Technology
Samsung Selects Chandigarh University Student as ‘Punjab AI State Topper’
Published
2 hours agoon
July 18, 2026By
CU Student Devesh Panwar Wins Rs 1 Lakh Award for Developing AI-Based Document Search System
CHANDIGARH, India, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) student of Chandigarh University, Devesh Panwar, has been named the “Punjab State Topper” in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) under the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) AI Program organised by Samsung in collaboration with Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) and training partner Focal Skill Development (Focalyt) to equip Indian youth with industry-relevant in-demand skills in AI, loT, Big Data, and Coding & Programming, preparing them for future careers.
A final-year student of Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) at University Institute of Computing (UIC) of Chandigarh University, Devesh Panwar also won a cash award of Rs 1 lakh along with a laptop, and exclusive Samsung rewards for achieving this remarkable milestone under the Samsung Innovation Campus AI Program.
“Being named ‘AI State Topper’ was a moment of profound pride and validation for me. Hard work, intense technical training and a passion for AI culminated in the immense honor of the Punjab State Topper title. Besides getting access to state-of-the-art tools to fuel my future research and development endeavor, I gained world-class knowledge during the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) AI Program. It helped me in gaining hands-on experience and applied AI to solve real-world challenges, especially in aeronautical and technical domains,”
During Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) AI Program, Devesh and his team worked on innovative AI capstone project which was presented before the jury panel as part of the final assessment.
“Our team developed the advanced AI-powered system AI Research Agent, a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) platform designed for intelligent querying of private document collections. Organizations, researchers, legal professionals, and HR teams often work with large collections of documents. Traditional search methods rely heavily on keyword matching and require significant manual effort to locate relevant information. The project was developed to address the limitations of traditional document search systems, which often struggle with contextual understanding, retrieval accuracy, learning adaptability, and response speed,” said Devesh.
“The developed system demonstrated significant improvements over traditional document retrieval approaches with faster response generation with integration of modern AI techniques, full-stack development, database systems, and intelligent automation into a single practical solution. By combining modern RAG architecture with innovative retrieval and reasoning mechanisms, this system provides a fast, intelligent, and user-friendly solution for knowledge discovery and resume evaluation. This project not only enhanced our technical expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Full-Stack Development but also strengthened our problem-solving, teamwork, and professional communication skills. It stands as a significant achievement of our Samsung Innovation Campus 2025 journey and reflects our commitment to building impactful AI solutions for real-world challenges,” he added.
Congratulating Devesh Panwar for being named “Punjab State Topper” AI under the Samsung Innovation Campus Samsung Innovation Program, Deepinder Singh Sandhu, Senior Managing Director, Chandigarh University, said, “Devesh’s achievement reflects Chandigarh University’s focus on experiential learning and industry-academia collaboration. Through the Samsung Innovation Campus AI Program, CU students gain practical exposure to AI and building solutions for real-world challenges. This accomplishment reflects not only Devesh’s commitment to excellence but also the growing culture of innovation and industry-oriented learning at Chandigarh University,”.
“Since its inception, Chandigarh University has set benchmarks for world-class education with its dynamic hands-on experiential learning model, industry-aligned programs, dynamic fraternity, state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and impeccable placements. Samsung Innovation Program is also part of our initiatives to develop a future-ready talent pool equipped with advanced capabilities in AI, loT, Big Data, and Coding and Programming. By bridging the gap between theoretical learning and real-world application, this collaboration helps in providing CU’s computer science and computing students exposure to cutting-edge and emerging technologies. CU’s this partnership with Samsung is focused on building future-ready talent equipped with industry-relevant skills in AI and emerging technologies,” Sandhu said.
He said Chandigarh University’s Institute of Computing (UIC) prepares students for a successful career in computing, to create and disseminate computing knowledge and technology. “Chandigarh University carries a vision of crafting next-gen IT professionals who can take up industry challenges effectively and our Institute of Computing (UIC) prepares students for a successful career in computing, to create and disseminate computing knowledge and technology. UIC’s hands-on approach paves the way for a smooth transition to the workforce after graduation. Our students are equipped with the best knowledge, skills and passion to succeed in any number of computing careers. CU’s Institute of Computing renders cutting-edge education ranging from the expertise in traditional software development -to- modern computing technologies. Fully-equipped industry-sponsored labs, industry-aligned curriculum, and accreditations and validations by top companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Google Android, Red Hat etc. give our students an exclusive edge over others,” the Chandigarh University CMD said.
Sandhu said the latest edition of QS World University Rankings has yet again reaffirmed Chandigarh University global standing as a top educational institution. “Continuing its remarkable rise among the world’s leading higher education institutions, Chandigarh University (CU) has made impressive strides in the latest edition of prestigious QS World University Rankings 2027 by securing an overall world rank of 526, an increase of 49 ranks as compared to 575th rank in QS’ 2026 Rankings. This is for the fifth consecutive year that Chandigarh University’s global rankings have witnessed an impressive surge with CU’s world rank going up by an impressive 274 ranks — from the 800th rank in 2023 to 526th in 2027’s Rankings,”.
“As per the latest QS World University Rankings, with All India Rank of 13 among all universities in the country as compared to 16th rank in 2026’s rankings, Chandigarh University now ranks among the top 1% of universities in India and the top 2% of universities in the World, underscoring its growing reputation as a leading institution of higher learning, both in India and globally,” he added.
About Chandigarh University
Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC.
Website address: https://www.cuchd.in/
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/samsung-selects-chandigarh-university-student-as-punjab-ai-state-topper-302828991.html
Best AI Design Tools (2026): CapCut Named a Top Choice for Creating Images and Marketing Assets by Software Experts
Best AI Design Tools (2026): CapCut Named a Top Choice for Creating Images and Marketing Assets by Software Experts
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