20-year industry veteran to oversee the firm's project management practice

DALLAS, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mohr Partners, Inc., a leading global occupier-focused corporate real estate advisory firm, has named 20-year industry veteran Dodie Williams as Managing Partner of Project Management Services.

In this newly created leadership role, Williams will oversee the firm's national project management practice, working with corporate occupiers to manage buildouts, relocations and capital improvement projects across their real estate portfolios.

"As a leading full-service corporate real estate services company, we are committed to providing a best-in-class project management service for our institutional occupier clients," Chairman and CEO Robert Shibuya said. "We are confident that Dodie can lead this important service line for us."

Williams brings more than 20 years of commercial real estate and project management experience to Mohr Partners. Throughout her career, she has held leadership positions with several firms, including JLL, Macro Consultants, Trammell Crow and Jackson Cross Partners, where she managed complex projects and advised occupier clients across diverse portfolios.

Most recently, she served as Principal at Watchdog, an owners' representative firm. There, she contributed to its business growth through internal mentoring, client relationship building and strategic business development.

"I am excited to join Mohr Partners at such a pivotal point in the firm's growth," Williams said. "I look forward to establishing and growing the project management practice, partnering with colleagues across the firm and providing integrated solutions that help clients achieve their strategic real estate objectives."

The addition of Williams comes as Mohr Partners continues to strengthen its corporate leadership team. Over the last 18 months, Mohr Partners has added senior leaders in brokerage, economic incentives, energy consulting and now project management services.

Williams' appointment is a key step in expanding Mohr Partners' project management services for corporate clients navigating portfolio growth, workplace strategy and capital planning. The firm's project management practice supports occupiers through every phase of a project, from due diligence and design through construction and move management.

Williams earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Gwynedd Mercy University and is a LEED Accredited Professional from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

About Mohr Partners, Inc.:

Mohr Partners, Inc. is a global corporate real estate advisory firm that provides corporate occupiers with an integrated set of portfolio services, including lease administration services, strategic consulting, business intelligence, research & insights, economic incentives negotiations, portfolio & transaction management and project & development services. Since 1986, Mohr Partners has managed real estate portfolios for corporations, completing transactions annually for clients in all 50 U.S. states, all provinces of Canada and locations around the world. Mohr Partners seamlessly provides corporate real estate services globally through its strategic alliance partners in Canada, Mexico/Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information on Mohr Partners, please visit www.mohrpartners.com.

SOURCE Mohr Partners, Inc.

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Vance Street Capital Announces Katherine Dowley as Head of Investor Relations

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vance Street Capital ("Vance Street"), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced that Katherine Dowley has joined the firm as Head of Investor Relations. The addition reflects Vance Street's continued growth and investment in the firm's institutional capabilities and long-term partnerships with limited partners.

"We are excited to continue building out our investor relations function with a leader of Kate's experience. She brings the relationship-oriented approach that is essential to being a strong partner to our investors and her addition reflects our commitment to supporting Vance Street's continued growth with exceptional talent," said Brian Martin, Managing Partner at Vance Street.

Vance Street's strategy is focused on partnering with founder-owned and family businesses and corporate carve-outs that provide highly engineered, mission-critical solutions across the industrial, medical and life science, and aerospace and defense markets. The firm closed Vance Street Capital IV at its $775 million hard cap in 2024, bringing total capital raised to more than $2 billion.

As Head of Investor Relations, Kate will lead Vance Street's investor relations function, including capital formation, investor communications, and relationship management with current and prospective limited partners. She will work closely with the firm's leadership and investment teams to deepen investor engagement and support Vance Street's continued institutional growth. Kate joins Vance Street from W Capital Partners and previously worked at L Catterton and Lindsay Goldberg. She earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago.

"Vance Street has built a differentiated platform grounded in deep sector experience, a clear investment strategy, and genuine partnership. I was drawn to the quality of the team and the firm's thoughtful, long-term approach to both investing and investor relationships. I look forward to working with Vance Street's limited partners and contributing to the firm's next phase of growth," said Kate Dowley.

About Vance Street Capital LLC

Vance Street Capital is a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in highly engineered solutions businesses across the industrial technology, medical, life science, aerospace, and defense sectors. Vance Street works with management teams and family owners to accelerate revenue growth, improve operations, and acquire strategic assets for the companies in their investment portfolio. For more information on Vance Street Capital, please visit www.vancestreetcapital.com.

Media Contact: Jason Burmer, 310-231-7100

SOURCE Vance Street Capital

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PITTSBURGH, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- "I'm an auto body technician with over 40 years of work experience in the field. I wanted to create a device that would significantly improve the process of automotive dent pulling," said an inventor, from San Jose, Calif., "so I invented the BOW 900. My design eliminates the frustrations and delays associated with pulling out dents in doors, fenders, and quarter panels."

The patent-pending invention provides improved dent-pulling capabilities for auto body shops. In doing so, it offers powerful pulling action precisely where needed. As a result, it would simplify auto body repair work. The invention features an innovative design that is easy to use so it is ideal for auto body shops and collision technicians. Additionally, a prototype model and technical drawings are available upon request.

The original design was submitted to the National sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 25-ACC-710, InventHelp, 100 Beecham Drive, Suite 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9801, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

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CHICAGO, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) today announced it has been named the Official Tooling Supplier of NASCAR. Dave Bersaglini, Kennametal Vice President and President of Metal Cutting, unveiled the designation at the company's Next Level Shop exhibit on the first day of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2026.

"Every thousandth of an inch matters in NASCAR, and that's exactly the kind of precision Kennametal brings to its customers," said Bersaglini. "We are proud to work alongside NASCAR's engineering and manufacturing teams to meet the sport's unique machining demands and deliver the speed, precision and reliability required to keep this sport performing at the highest level."

As NASCAR's Official Tooling Supplier, Kennametal will provide advanced metal cutting solutions and application expertise to support the organization's demanding manufacturing operations.

"Before this partnership, finding the right tooling often meant searching for solutions and hoping we'd made the right choice," said NASCAR Competition Partnerships & Contingency Managing Director Bob Duvall. "Today, we have direct access to Kennametal's expertise, helping us identify the right tooling the first time so we can eliminate the guesswork and move faster with greater confidence."

The designation builds on years of collaboration between Kennametal and NASCAR, including on-site testing, application support and tooling solutions that have helped optimize NASCAR's manufacturing operations. Since joining the NASCAR Competition Partner Program in 2023, Kennametal's applications engineers have maintained a presence at NASCAR's Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, working alongside the organization's engineering and manufacturing teams to evaluate tooling, refine machining strategies and improve manufacturing performance.

"Kennametal's reputation for quality and performance made this partnership a natural fit," said Duvall. "When you're supporting one of the world's premier motorsports organizations, every manufacturing decision matters. Kennametal's team has consistently demonstrated that it understands that responsibility."

Kennametal's Next Level Shop exhibit is located at Booth No. 431800 in the West Building, Level 3, during IMTS 2026, Sept. 14–19, at McCormick Place in Chicago. For a complete schedule, visit kennametal.com/imts2026.

About Kennametal

With over 85 years as an industrial technology leader, Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace and defense, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Every day approximately 8,100 employees are helping customers in nearly 100 countries stay competitive. Kennametal generated $2.4 billion in revenues in fiscal 2026. Learn more at kennametal.com. Follow @Kennametal: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Kennametal Inc.

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TORONTO, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Battery Materials Corp. ("GBM" or "the Company") has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") with LiBEST, a South Korean battery technology and manufacturing company, regarding the evaluation and potential commercial supply of natural graphite, coated spherical purified graphite ("CSPG"), and other anode materials sourced and processed entirely outside China.

The materials are intended for high-growth applications, including energy, defence, AI infrastructure, and electric vehicles. The LOI establishes a framework for evaluating materials, potential commercial supply, and related development activities, and supports efforts to build a more resilient battery supply chain insulated from geopolitical disruption. The collaboration may also support qualification pathways for GBM's anode materials across allied-government and defence-related supply chains.

The LOI builds on a prior Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies, which established a framework for collaboration on battery materials testing, anode product development, supply chain engagement, and participation in government programs. Under this framework, LiBEST will evaluate GBM's graphite and anode materials to strengthen its ex-China supply chain and address applicable U.S. Foreign Entity of Concern ("FEOC") requirements.

"LiBEST is a frontier battery technology company with a proven ability to design and mass-produce high-performance batteries. They are an ideal partner as we scale our graphite anode materials business," said Eric Miller, Chief Executive Officer of GBM. "GBM continues to invest in our anode pilot plant and in developing new product and process IP in Korea. Since launching at the beginning of this year, we have moved quickly to qualify our product with customers urgently seeking a reliable anode supply outside China. In partnership with LiBEST, we are well positioned to meet the lithium-ion battery industry's exacting standards."

GBM's pilot production plant and R&D facility in South Korea has validated its patented anode processing technology and shipped battery-grade anode material to Tier-1 battery manufacturers for technical qualification — a track record that positions GBM to meet the safety, scale, and performance requirements of advanced battery customers.

"Our customers have high standards for battery safety and performance, and securing a reliable, resilient supply of ex-China graphite and anode materials is increasingly important," said Dr. Joo-Seong (Elon) Kim, Chief Executive Officer of LiBEST. "Through our collaboration with GBM, we plan to evaluate its graphite and anode materials for potential use in select high-performance battery applications and to strengthen our North American supply chain options."

The close proximity of LiBEST and GBM's R&D and pilot operations in South Korea is expected to streamline technical communication and accelerate material evaluation and development for both companies.

GBM's supply strategy is underpinned by its growing mine-to-market platform. The Company is advancing the restart of the Kearney Mine in Ontario as part of a vertically integrated platform spanning critical mineral mining and anode materials processing. The initiative follows two recent Kearney Mine milestones: a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment and a Letter of Agreement with five First Nations supporting responsible development, including potential equity investment.

About Global Battery Materials Corp.

Global Battery Materials Corp. (GBM) is a vertically integrated critical minerals and battery technology company building an ex-China supply chain spanning natural graphite to anode materials. The Company's platform comprises critical mineral assets in Canada, a battery materials laboratory in Québec, and patented anode processing technology piloted in South Korea and slated for scale-up in North America. GBM serves the energy storage, defence, industrial, and electric-vehicle battery markets. Learn more at www.globalbatterymaterials.com. 

About LiBEST Inc.

LiBEST is a next-generation battery technology and manufacturing company headquartered in Daejeon, South Korea. The company develops high-performance batteries based on its capabilities in materials, processes, cell design, and manufacturing. Leveraging its high-energy-density, high-safety battery and next-generation cell technologies, LiBEST provides battery solutions for a wide range of applications, including aerospace, defence, mobility, wearables, semiconductors, and robotics.

Learn more at www.libest.co.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Global Battery Materials Corp.

[email protected]

LiBEST, Inc.

SOURCE Global Battery Materials

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Industry veteran rejoins the company he helped build to explore new growth segments and customer value creation.

CHANTILLY, Va., Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- OnTrac, the #1 alternative parcel carrier network, today announced the appointment of Josh Dinneen as Strategic Advisor. In this role, Dinneen will support strategic initiatives designed to advance OnTrac's leading position in the fast-changing ecommerce logistics market. His focus will include the evaluation and development of potential joint ventures, acquisitions, and strategic relationships that can contribute to new customer value creation.

Dinneen is an ecommerce transportation and logistics executive with more than 23 years of experience leading commercial and operational functions within large-scale organizations. He previously served as OnTrac's Chief Commercial Officer from October 2020 through January 2025. Before that, he spent nearly 18 years with LaserShip, where he held leadership roles in commercial development, supply chain solutions, sales, operations, customer experience, marketing, and network strategy.

His experience includes leading enterprise revenue strategies and business development, managing national sales and operational teams, implementing strategic customer solutions, and helping design a mature, coast-to-coast delivery network purpose-built for ecommerce.

"Josh brings a rare combination of deep industry relationships, commercial expertise, operational knowledge, and familiarity with OnTrac," said Mike Brown, Chief Executive Officer of OnTrac. "His experience will be invaluable as we pursue new strategic partnerships, expansion opportunities, and innovative ways to create meaningful value for our customers."

"Last-mile delivery is a more dynamic and complex ecosystem than it has ever been. OnTrac has the strong fundamentals, foundation in technology, and agile leadership team needed to capture significant additional share of wallet with customers" said Dinneen. "I'm looking forward to working closely with Mike and the team to help accelerate growth at an organization I know well and am genuinely passionate about."

About OnTrac

OnTrac is the #1 Alternative Carrier Network for ecommerce deliveries, helping retailers and shippers build a competitive advantage through faster delivery times, 7 day/week operations, lower costs, coast-to-coast coverage, and reliable performance. The OnTrac delivery network reaches more than 70% of the population in 35 states and Washington, D.C., and supports a growing range of ecommerce, marketplace, and omnichannel shipping needs. With more than 65 years of experience, OnTrac has evolved into a critical part of the U.S. ecommerce logistics infrastructure and is trusted by leading shippers seeking greater speed, flexibility, and resilience in their supply chains.

SOURCE OnTrac

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It's time to start sending in wish requests for the holidays

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the start of the 114th year of USPS Operation Santa and the U.S. Postal Service is now accepting holiday letters from children and families throughout the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Every year, thousands of families send letters to Santa at the North Pole. The beloved Postal Service program makes it possible for people to adopt and respond to these letters, fulfilling the holiday wishes of children and families across the country.

"The holidays are a time to celebrate the joy of the season. But for some, the simple act of exchanging even small gifts is out of reach," says Sheila Holman, vice president of marketing for the Postal Service. "For more than 100 years, USPS Operation Santa has given kindhearted people the opportunity to make dreams come true for thousands of children and their families through simple acts of kindness."

Submitted letters must follow the program guidelines found on USPSOperationSanta.com and be postmarked by Dec. 5 to be eligible for potential adoption and fulfillment — there is no guarantee that letters submitted to the program will be adopted. Letters should be sent to Santa's official workshop address:

Santa Claus

123 Elf Rd.

North Pole, 88888

Letter Adoption

Registration to adopt letters starts Nov. 2, and people can register as individuals or groups. The letter adoption window opens on Nov. 16, and registrants can adopt single or family letters to help brighten the holidays for those in need.

For more information on the program, history, important dates and how to participate as either a letter writer or adopter, visit USPSOperationSanta.com.

Please Note: The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to more than 170 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is currently pursuing a transformation plan aimed at restoring long-term financial sustainability, improving service, and maintaining the organization as one of America's most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube Channel. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

Media contact: Kim Frum

[email protected]

usps.com/news

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service

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Reveel Launches Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence, Empowering Shippers to Plan, Manage and Govern Their Growing, Multi-Carrier Networks in Real-Time

Industry-First, AI-Native Capabilities Make It Easy to Optimize the Use of Multiple Carriers While Lowering Costs and Improving Service Levels

IRVINE, Calif. and ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Reveel, the Shipping Intelligence Platform used by brands and 3PLs to plan, manage, and govern their carrier networks, today announced the launch of Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence (ODI). With ODI, an AI-native capability, shippers can, for the first time, plan and manage their entire carrier network in real-time, at the package level, without relying on blended averages, static reports, or a carrier's own numbers.

Reveel's ODI is a significant step forward that puts a number of long-sought after capabilities at the fingertips of shippers and leaders in operations and finance for the first time. These include:

- Reveel's AI-powered unified analytics suite is now enhanced with interactive AI-powered KPI dashboards, configurable alerts, actionable insights, and customizable personalization, all fully integrated to IQ, Reveel's conversational AI.

- The Carrier Mix Modeler within ODI lets shippers model the ideal carrier network for all parcel shipments in real-time – matching each and every package with the right carrier.

- Costs are planned and managed in real-time in a constant feedback loop, enabling optimal decision making before shipments are made – not after contracts are signed, carrier invoices are received, and shipping expenditures impact profit and loss.

Carrier agreements are dense, change constantly, and are priced to the carrier's advantage. As recently uncovered in "The State of Shipping 2026" report, most shippers can't keep pace with the shifts now upending the industry: 92% of shippers lack real-time visibility into their carrier spend and performance, and 87% examine carrier rates only during an RFP, leaving the surcharge interactions, dimensional weight (DIM) thresholds, rebate triggers, and volume tiers that actually determine costs unexamined between negotiations.

Importantly, 86% of shippers lack the ability to even model their carrier networks – a capability that is crucial for organizations that need to diversify shipping options while making sound decisions around cost and customer service. With today's carrier landscape marked by radical rate and surcharge shifts that can, without warning, materially change what it costs to ship parcels and freight, Reveel's ODI has been specifically engineered to address this new reality and all of the challenges associated with it.

"For years, carrier strategy was relatively straightforward. Most parcel shippers worked with the same carrier, across three-year agreement cycles, with one or two price increases a year. That market is gone. The major carriers now rarely want all of a brand's shipping business, which is why across parcel, LTL, truckload, and international we see an endless stream of mid-year price increases, surcharge repricing, converging modes, and an explosion of alternative carriers in an ecosystem that is more complex and less predictable than ever," said Josh Dunham, co-founder and CEO at Reveel. "Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence ensures that as carriers evolve, the shipper evolves with them. With legacy operating models, shippers could only find out what a carrier agreement cost them after the invoice arrived. ODI changes the sequence entirely. Using modeling and simulation to optimize shipments across all carriers, it plans and manages the network in real time, at the package level, and across every carrier a shipper runs, before the cost ever lands on an invoice."

The news was announced at the annual Reveel Insight customer conference, taking place in Orlando, Fla., alongside the annual Parcel Forum industry event.

ODI: The Intelligence Layer Behind Planning and Managing Your Network

Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence powers the Reveel Shipping Intelligence Platform. ODI itself spans two of Reveel's three operating pillars, Plan and Manage:

- Plan (Strategy & Sourcing) - models any carrier rate proposal or diversification scenario against a shipper's actual package level shipment history, computes the full financial impact of every proposed term before signature, and models the cost impact of a GRI or surcharge restructuring within minutes, instead of weeks.

- Manage (Analytics & Insights) - unifies spend and performance data across every carrier, account, and location into one continuously updated view, and surfaces surcharge changes and billing anomalies within the same billing cycle as they occur, not after.

Both pillars are grounded in the same principle: cost lives at the package level, because otherwise, blended averages produce blended errors.

Reveel IQ: From Data to Decision

Central to ODI's Manage capability is Reveel IQ, an AI shipping analyst purpose-built on shipping and carrier domain expertise. Rather than adding another alert feed for a team to interpret, you can ask Reveel IQ a question using natural language, just as you would a data analyst, and it translates carrier data into ranked, dollar-quantified recommendations that can be acted on immediately.

Every recommendation is traceable back to the package level data behind it, and Reveel IQ supports a shipper's decisions rather than executing actions autonomously on their behalf. Notably, Reveel IQ now delivers insights far beyond shipment detail reports, enabling users to ask questions about their audit, claims, freight volumes and processes that span their transportation and warehouse management systems. Existing account and user permissions continue to govern every request.

Fully aware of your unique shipping profile, Reveel IQ connects the dots between spend, performance, and carrier behavior so teams can explore trends, examine package level detail, and get actionable answers without writing queries or building reports.

Govern: The Foundation Underneath ODI

Rounding out the platform is Reveel's third operating pillar, Govern (Audit, Monitor & Report), which oversees a shipper's complete shipping program. Every invoice is validated against contracted terms within the billing cycle through Reveel's Parcel Audit & Recovery solution, while the platform's Freight Audit & Payment capabilities extend that same audit-grade precision to every mode of transportation.

Reveel re-rates every shipment against every term in an agreement, including surcharge interactions and DIM thresholds most platforms don't model, so the number a shipper sees is the number they'll actually be billed. Through deep integration with carriers' invoice data, the loop is closed between what was expected to happen, and what actually did happen.

With Reveel's ODI, shippers establish evidence-based rules for carrier selection, service levels, delivery promises, and dimensional limits, so decisions are enforced automatically going forward.

The platform's Automated Financial Grade Reporting function then delivers an audit trail, giving you the real number at the rigor finance and compliance teams require. Every invoice you validate feeds back into smarter carrier selection and sharper forecasting, so closing the books sets up your next plan, instead of ending the last one.

Together, Plan, Manage, and Govern form a continuous cycle of optimization at the center of the Reveel Shipping Intelligence Platform. Shippers can enter that cycle anywhere: with ODI alone, with Freight Audit & Payment alone, or with the full platform. Reveel's ODI serves as a force multiplier for any shipping or analytics department, and delivers users a 20%+ average annual savings on their shipping spend – results driven by better information, instead of harder negotiation.

Built for AI Agents, Not Just AI Users

Alongside ODI, Reveel is also introducing a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Connector, enabling AI agents to discover and invoke Reveel services directly. The connector extends the same governed, permissioned access shippers already rely on, to any AI agent acting on their behalf – all in accordance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework.

Availability

Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence is available now to new and existing Reveel customers, and can go live within 48 hours of a completed contract, without a lengthy implementation project. Shippers and 3PLs interested in a modeled view of their own carrier network can learn more here.

About Reveel

Reveel is the Shipping Intelligence Platform brands and 3PLs use to plan, manage, and govern their carrier networks. Built on Omnicarrier Decision Intelligence and Freight Audit & Payment, Reveel computes cost and performance at the package level, across every carrier and mode, so shippers can reduce costs, improve operations, and deliver a better experience to their end customers. For more information, please visit the company's website and follow it on X, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Media Contact:

Jeff Drew

Guyer Group for Reveel

P: 617.233.5109

SOURCE Reveel

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AI-Driven Reactive Modeling Platform QuantaMind Research Published in Science Advances, Advancing a New Paradigm in AI-Powered Molecular R&D

SHANGHAI, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MoleculeMind, an AI-native bioengineering infrastructure company, announced that research on its proprietary AI-driven reactive atomistic modeling platform, QuantaMind, has been published in Science Advances. The study demonstrates that QuantaMind achieves Density Functional Theory (DFT)-level accuracy while enabling tens-of-nanosecond reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of 10,000-atom complex biomolecular systems. As the pioneering platform to simulate an entire enzyme reaction, it enables AI to "see" the complete process of proton transfer, bond breaking and formation, and complete enzyme catalytic cycles at the atomic scale.

In industrial applications, QuantaMind has also been scaled to simulate reactive systems comprising hundreds of thousands of atoms. Building on MoleculeMind's capabilities in protein generation and structure prediction, QuantaMind represents a shift in AI-powered molecular R&D from predicting outcomes to understanding processes. By integrating AI-driven generation with physics-based simulation, it provides explainable and verifiable mechanistic insights for drug discovery and enzyme engineering.

From Static Predictions to Process Understanding in AI Molecular R&D

As AI accelerates molecular generation, researchers increasingly face a new challenge: understanding how large numbers of generated candidates will behave in real environments and why they may succeed or fail. Molecular dynamics provides insights into atomic motion, binding stability, conformational changes, transient pockets, and dynamic interactions. However, conventional non-reactive MD cannot capture proton transfer or bond breaking and formation, making reactive MD essential for understanding how molecular reactions actually occur.

Traditional approaches have struggled to balance accuracy, speed, and scale. Classical force fields enable large-scale simulations but have limited accuracy in reactive environments, while quantum mechanical methods such as DFT are computationally prohibitive for large systems. QM/MM approaches introduce additional constraints around reaction regions and boundary conditions. Machine learning force fields (MLFFs) represent the current mainstream direction, but still face the challenge of maintaining stability over extended simulations.

QuantaMind Framework: A Transition-State-Centered Machine Learning Force Field

QuantaMind is MoleculeMind's self-developed reactive MLFF framework designed to reliably model bond breaking and formation during sustained simulations of large biomolecular systems. Unlike many MLFFs trained primarily on equilibrium structures, QuantaMind incorporates non-equilibrium conformations and transition-state-centered reaction data, allowing it to learn critical states along reaction pathways. It also introduces DFT method classification embeddings, enabling quantum chemistry data generated using different functionals and basis sets to be incorporated into a unified training framework. Latest benchmark results show that QuantaMind can perform a single time-step simulation of a 100,000-atom reactive system in just 0.25 seconds, achieving state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance among leading MLFFs.

From Research to Industrial Applications

In industrial R&D, QuantaMind has already been applied to enzyme engineering and drug discovery. For enzyme engineering, MoleculeMind has used the platform to uncover reaction mechanisms of complex catalytic enzymes, helping guide mutation selection and shift rational design from trial and error toward computationally guided validation. In drug discovery, QuantaMind helps researchers analyze dynamic molecular interactions and understand why different designs produce different outcomes. In one project involving pH-sensitive antibodies with extended half-life, QuantaMind was used alongside other AI design models, and experimental testing showed that one candidate exhibited a dissociation rate at pH 6.0 approximately 62 times faster than at pH 7.4.

"AI-powered molecular R&D has largely focused on what molecules look like and what we can design. QuantaMind goes further by addressing how molecules move, how they react, and why these processes influence outcomes. We believe AI for science should make processes traceable, mechanisms analyzable, and conclusions verifiable. QuantaMind is designed as critical infrastructure connecting molecular design, mechanistic simulation, and experimental validation, helping establish a more complete and credible paradigm for AI-driven molecular R&D,"said Xu Jinbo, Founder of MoleculeMind.

Read the open-access paper in Science Advances: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeg3595

About MoleculeMind:

Founded in 2022, MoleculeMind is an AI-native biological infrastructure company operating at the intersection of AI, biology and engineering. Powered by its proprietary MoleculeOS® platform, the company enables the de novo design and optimization of proteins for therapeutic and industrial applications. MoleculeMind aims to unlock the full functional potential of proteins and accelerate the development of next-generation therapeutics and high-performance bioproducts. https://moleculemind.com

SOURCE MoleculeMind

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The third annual Connecting Our Talents: Women in STEM event will bring Lehigh Valley students and industry professionals together to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of STEM.

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Women in Science Demonstrating Outstanding Merits (WISDOM) announces its third annual student networking event, Connecting Our Talents: Women in STEM, taking place Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the Iacocca Conference Center at Lehigh University. The event will provide college students from across the Lehigh Valley with opportunities to showcase their STEM interests and passion projects, connect with fellow students, and network with industry professionals.

WISDOM's annual event aligns with the organization's mission to provide opportunities, resources, and support to women pursuing careers in STEM. By connecting students with industry professionals and other members of the STEM community, WISDOM aims to help young women develop the relationships, knowledge, and confidence needed to advance their careers as they transition from academia into industry.

This year's event will also explore the growing role of artificial intelligence in STEM and professional settings. Following their presentations, each student presenter will have one minute to share how they incorporated AI into their work, or conversely, why they could not or chose not to.

"AI is a powerful tool that can help us work more efficiently, think creatively, and approach challenges in new ways," said Dr. Dirk Frese, Executive Director of WISDOM. "But as we embrace new technologies, we cannot lose sight of the human element. The connections we build and ideas we share are what ultimately drive innovation."

Connecting Our Talents: Women in STEM will take place from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Registrants can attend for all or a portion of the event, with student presentations staggered throughout and a keynote presentation from Dr. Petra Frese, engineer, scientist, and executive coach, during the middle of the program.

Registration for the event closes Sept. 18, 2026. To register or learn more about the event, visit: https://www.womenin.science/women-in-stem/.

The 2026 event is made possible through the generous support of WISDOM's sponsors, including WISDOM founder JULABO USA; WISDOM Ambassadors B. Braun Medical and iTEC; WISDOM Champion Gross McGinley, and WISDOM In-Kind Advocates Eleven Cents Digital, Peak Mind Academy, and RobotLAB.

About WISDOM

Women in Science Demonstrating Outstanding Merits (WISDOM) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. WISDOM's mission is to provide opportunities, resources, and support to female STEM students and graduates looking to advance their careers outside academia. The organization's goal is to foster connections with industry professionals to drive innovation, facilitate change, and open leadership opportunities for women in STEM.

Contact

Tricia Bowman

P: 610.737.5150

E: [email protected]

SOURCE WISDOM

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