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University of Maryland Names Wendy Powers Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

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COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Maryland has named Wendy Powers as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, effective July 1, 2025. As Dean, Powers will build on the college’s more than 150-year history to promote a culture of impactful scholarship and student success, advancing opportunities for interdisciplinary research and educational partnerships that support the university’s land-grant mission.

Powers will work with faculty, staff and students across the college to advance its strategic commitments to serve the public good, steward a healthy planet, feed and nourish communities and build a sustainable tomorrow, serving the state of Maryland and beyond. As dean, Powers will also serve as director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and University of Maryland Extension (UME). With four major program areas—Agriculture and Food Systems; Environment, Natural Resources and Sea Grant; 4-H Youth Development; and Family and Consumer Sciences—UME provides Maryland residents grassroots-level support in their communities, on their fields and in their homes. UME has offices in every Maryland county and Baltimore City, and four research and education centers across the state.

“Dr. Powers possesses an exceptional track record in leading agricultural colleges to achieve remarkable success in fulfilling their core mission of serving communities,” said Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice. “I am confident that her leadership will bring similar success to the University of Maryland, propelling the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources into its next phase of excellence.”

Powers joins UMD from Washington State University (WSU), where she serves as the inaugural Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. In this role, Powers leads the college’s 13 departments and schools, serving more than 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students, and the WSU Extension, which has more than 40 offices and four research and extension centers across the state.

“I am thrilled to join the University of Maryland, one of the most prestigious land-grant research universities in the nation, to build upon more than a century of work to serve the public good,” said Powers. “I look forward to collaborating with communities on campus and beyond to build new and innovative opportunities for students, faculty and staff to the benefit of the people of Maryland and around the world.”

As Dean, Powers led the development of a new vision for the college in support of its land-grant mission, emphasizing the university’s role in building a more resilient state and highlighting the college’s societal impacts. During her time at WSU, the college has consistently secured more than $20 million annually in gifts and foundation funds, and exceeded $100 million in grant expenditures for the first time. The college also grew its national ranking from No. 15 to No. 12.

Prior to WSU, Powers served as associate vice president for the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of California, where she led academic, research and outreach programs, overseeing county-based cooperative extension outreach, 12 statewide programs and institutes, and nine research and extension centers across California.

Powers began her career at Iowa State University as an assistant professor and extension specialist. She then joined Michigan State University as a full professor in the departments of Animal Science, and Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, extension specialist, and director of environmental stewardship for animal agriculture in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She was the first director of the Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute for Michigan State University Extension.

She has served in national leadership positions throughout her career, in professional societies, and on technical committees to develop policy guidance. Her scholarship is centered around reducing environmental impacts of the livestock industry. 

Powers holds a B.S. in animal science from Cornell University, and an M.S. in dairy science and Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Florida.

About the University of Maryland
The University of Maryland (UMD) is the state’s flagship university and a leading public research institution, propelled by a $1.3 billion joint research enterprise. Located four miles from Washington, D.C., the university is dedicated to addressing the grand challenges of our time and is the nation’s first Do Good campus. It is driven by a diverse and proudly inclusive community of more than 50,000 fearless Terrapins. UMD is a top producer of Fulbright scholars and offers an unparalleled student experience with more than 300 academic programs, 25 living-learning programs and 400 study abroad programs. Spurred by a culture of innovation and creativity, UMD faculty are global leaders in their field and include Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and members of the national academies. For more information about the University of Maryland, visit umd.edu.

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SOURCE University of Maryland

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SuperIT AI Agents Launch in North America With Free Tier To Fix IT Incidents Without Runbooks

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Australian startup brings its self-service platform to North American MSPs ahead of IT Nation Connect. MSPs can have an AI agent working on real tickets within an hour of sign-up, with paid plans starting at US$99 a month.

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — SuperIT, an Australian AI startup whose AI agents investigate and fix end-user IT issues directly on managed devices, today launched its platform for North American managed service providers (MSPs) and IT teams on a self-service basis, as part of global availability. A new free tier with no expiry includes unlimited AI ticket triage and monthly credits for other AI features, and paid plans start at US$99 a month. MSPs and IT teams can sign up at https://superit.ai, connect their ticketing system and have an AI agent working real tickets within the first hour, with no sales call or contract.

“SuperIT investigates problems it hasn’t seen before and fixes them on the device, within limits each MSP sets.” (Sale)

The launch, ahead of IT Nation Connect in Orlando (Nov. 4–6), moves SuperIT from early access with MSPs in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. to general availability worldwide, with North America the company’s focus market.

“This is a new era for IT and MSP software, where products win on technical merit, not contract lock-in. The days of signing a one- to three-year contract just to try a product are over,” said Christopher Sale, CEO and co-founder of SuperIT. “We believe SuperIT is the best AI agent in its class, so we’re making it free to use with no time limit and letting MSPs judge it on their own tickets. Most AI in IT support stops at triage or a pre-written script. SuperIT investigates problems it hasn’t seen before and fixes them on the device, within limits each MSP sets.”

Fixing, not just triage and suggestions

Many AI tools for MSPs classify and assign tickets, suggest knowledge articles or run predefined scripts. SuperIT does those things, and is built to go further: to diagnose and resolve unfamiliar issues without a pre-written workflow. Two proprietary technologies make that possible:

– Digital Twin. An evolving model of each customer’s IT environment, built from managed-device telemetry and third-party integrations. Each new issue is investigated with that context rather than from scratch.

– SuperIT Endpoint Agent. Runs on managed devices to gather diagnostics, analyze configuration and system behavior, run commands through controlled PowerShell execution, apply fixes and verify the issue is resolved.

Each MSP decides how independently SuperIT works. Within those limits it resolves issues on its own. Outside them, it works with an engineer to plan, approve and carry out the fix. Early customers use SuperIT for triage and first response, routine service desk workflows, technical investigation, and unfamiliar L1–L3 incidents. SuperIT helps with recurring tasks like new user onboarding and offboarding, all the way to the most complex once-off server performance troubleshooting or network incidents, and everything in between.

Early results

In early evaluations across the technician conversations reviewed with SuperIT’s early MSP partners, the technician’s goal was fully or partly achieved in 91.1%, and 74.1% were assessed as clearly useful or decisive, such as finding key information, running diagnostics or performing the fix. Fields written by SuperIT’s AI triage were still unchanged at review in 99% of cases for ticket type, 96% for subtype, 93% for priority and 91% for item.

Usage grew quickly ahead of the launch. Between July and September 2026, the number of customers MSPs have deployed SuperIT to grew 71%, tickets synced more than doubled, and monthly autonomous agent runs more than doubled, including a nearly tenfold increase in ticket investigations. Monthly recurring revenue grew more than sixfold from August to September.

“We’ve tested many ticket remediation solutions, and only SuperIT passed our accuracy tests. It’s also very easy to use,” said Sam Gridley, CEO of Hawaii-based MSP Intech Hawaii.

Availability and pricing

SuperIT’s free tier has no trial expiry. It includes unlimited AI ticket triage, with fair-use limits, and monthly credits (enough for light AI usage), with access to all platform features. Paid plans run from US$99 to US$9,900 a month, month to month contracts, with more credits on larger plans. Tiers are available for IT teams of all sizes, including custom plans for larger MSPs and IT departments with enterprise requirements. Guided onboarding and assisted proofs of concept remain available.

“MSPs shouldn’t have to sit through sales demos, sign long contracts or commit to big minimums just to find out whether an AI tool like SuperIT works in their environment,” said Sale. “Start free, prove it on real tickets and scale when you’re ready.”

Integrations and security

SuperIT integrates natively with ConnectWise PSA, Autotask, HaloPSA and Accelo, with more to come. Its workflow actions feature lets MSPs connect any platform with a public API as a tool the AI agent can use. Every command passes a security pipeline and a three-tier policy (allowed, needs approval, blocked) and runs as the signed-in user, never with system-level rights. Every action is recorded in an append-only audit trail, and MSPs can require engineer approval for any command or category of action.

Growing without hiring at the same rate

MSP growth has traditionally meant hiring more engineers as client numbers rise. SuperIT is designed to break that link, so MSPs can support more clients with their existing teams, cut engineering time per ticket and improve gross margins.

SuperIT also expects the platform to let MSPs offer new AI-first managed services, priced lower because AI agents do much of the technical work and engineers step in when needed. That makes smaller, price-sensitive businesses profitable to serve, an opportunity that also suits office technology dealers building managed IT practices without large engineering teams.

North America

The expansion follows demand from North American MSPs that saw SuperIT’s early results. North American customers will initially be supported by SuperIT’s existing team and global platform, and the company plans to open a dedicated U.S. team in the first quarter of 2027.

SuperIT raised a US$1.7 million (AU$2.5 million) pre-seed round in December 2025 from Hustle Fund, Antler, CoVentures, Top Down Ventures, angel investors, and MSP owners and industry experts.

IT Nation Connect attendees can see SuperIT in the Solutions Hall, Nov. 4–6. MSPs can sign up free at https://superit.ai

About SuperIT

SuperIT builds AI agents that investigate, troubleshoot and resolve end-user IT incidents and service requests, so MSPs and internal IT teams can scale support without adding headcount at the same rate. Its platform combines a Digital Twin of each customer’s IT environment with an endpoint agent that acts directly on managed devices, within limits each MSP sets. Founded in 2025 in Adelaide, Australia, and now operating globally, SuperIT is backed by Top Down Ventures, Hustle Fund, Antler and CoVentures. Learn more and sign up free at https://superit.ai

Media Contact

Christopher Sale, SuperIT, 1 650 466 9762, press@superit.ai, www.superit.ai

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SOURCE SuperIT

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New TELUS collective agreement ratified by the United Steelworkers membership

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Agreement reached ahead of current contract’s expiry provides stability for more than 3,000 team members across Canada

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 2, 2026 /CNW/ — TELUS today announced that team members represented by the Telecommunications Workers Union, United Steelworkers Local 1944 (USW) bargaining unit have ratified the new agreement reached by the parties earlier this month. This new agreement, which has a term of April 1, 2027 to December 31, 2031, will apply to more than 3,000 TELUS team members nationally.

“Thank you to our team members for supporting this agreement and to both bargaining teams for their constructive work,” said Victor Dodig, President and CEO of TELUS. “Reaching an agreement well ahead of the current contract’s expiry provides stability for our team members and our business, allowing us to focus together on delivering the reliable service and outstanding experiences our customers count on.”

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a leading Canadian communications technology company operating in more than 45 countries and generating over $20 billion in annual revenue with more than 17 million customer connections through our advanced suite of broadband services for consumers, businesses and the public sector. TELUS is passionate about putting our customers and communities first, leading the way globally in client service excellence and social capitalism. The TELUS PureFibre and 5G networks connect Canadians at home, at work and in the communities where they live.

TELUS Health is enhancing approximately 159 million lives across 200 countries and territories through innovative preventive medicine and well-being technologies. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods utilizes digital technologies and data insights to optimize the connection between producers and consumers. TELUS Digital specializes in digital customer experiences and future-focused digital transformations that deliver value for their global clients.

Since 2000, TELUS and our team members have contributed more than $1.85 billion in cash, in-kind contributions, time and programs to communities across Canada and around the world.

For more information, visit telus.com.

For more information, please contact:
Chelsey Higdon
TELUS Public Relations
chelsey.higdon@telus.com 

SOURCE TELUS Communications Inc.

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USI Unveils Wi-Fi 8 SiP Module for Enhanced AI Device Connectivity

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SHANGHAI, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — USI today announced its Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn) roadmap, with product launch planned for the first quarter of 2027. Building on its Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 with System-in-Package (SiP) technology, USI is positioning itself to help customers capture the next wave of wireless innovation.

Wi-Fi 8 shifts focus from peak data rates to Ultra-High Reliability (UHR), efficiency, and consistent user experience. This matters as devices shrink, from smartphones and AI laptops to smart glasses, smart rings, and TWS earbuds, and must maintain stable connections despite limited antenna space, constrained battery capacity, and complex RF environments.

Key Wi-Fi 8 technologies include:

Multi-AP Coordination: Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF) and Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR)Dynamic Spectrum Optimization: Dynamic Sub-channel Operation (DSO)PHY enhancements: Distributed Resource Unit (DRU), Enhanced Long Range (ELR), and Unequal Modulation (UEQM)

Together, these advances enable smarter, more coordinated wireless networks and extend advanced connectivity to wearables and next-generation robotics.

Shrinking form factors bring tighter space, battery, thermal, and power demands. USI draws on deep expertise in SiP design, RF engineering, wireless module integration, advanced packaging, and high-volume manufacturing to help customers reduce product size, optimize power consumption, and simplify system design. Its Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 SiP miniaturization, combined with advanced RF and shielding technologies, provides a strong base for the Wi-Fi 8 transition.

Wi-Fi 8 is also expected to drive deeper system-level integration across wireless ICs, RF front-end components, antennas, power management, and advanced packaging, so that wireless performance and miniaturization evolve together in wearable, mobile, and IoT products.

“Wi-Fi 8 is about more than faster speeds. It is about enabling devices to maintain reliable, consistent, and predictable connections in complex wireless environments. USI will combine its capabilities in wireless connectivity, RF design, SiP integration, and advanced process technology to help customers overcome the challenges of product miniaturization and rising system complexity, accelerating the time to market for next-generation smart devices.” said Jessica Yu, Associate Vice President of Wireless & Wearable Miniaturization Solutions at USI.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E improved network efficiency and expanded available spectrum, and Wi-Fi 7 significantly raised throughput, bandwidth, and responsiveness. Wi-Fi 8 goes further, delivering greater reliability, predictability, and efficiency in increasingly complex wireless environments.

About USI (601231.SH)

USI, Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., is a global leader in electronic design and manufacturing as well as a leader in the field of SiP (System-in-Package) technology. Our production and service locations span four continents: Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, offering customer diversified electronic products with D(MS)2 services: Design, Manufacturing, Miniaturization, Industrial software, and hardware Solutions, as well as material procurement, logistics and maintenance Services. USI is a subsidiary of ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 3711, NYSE: ASX). To learn more, please visit www.usiglobal.com and engage with us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/usi-unveils-wi-fi-8-sip-module-for-enhanced-ai-device-connectivity-302924735.html

SOURCE USI

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