Detailed Agenda
Schedule as of April 7, 2026
Tuesday April 7, 2026
Exhibit Hall Open
Tuesday: 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Opening Ceremonies
Tuesday: 1:00pm - 1:15pm
Regency Ballroom D
Opening Remarks - Surge is No Longer Theoretical
Speaker:
Michael Morford, Chairman and CEO, Knudsen Institute
Tuesday: 1:15pm - 1:45pm
Regency Ballroom D
Keynote - Industrial Base Resilience and Operation Epic Fury: Surge Capacity and Resilience Lessons Learned
Speaker:
Alex Grey, CEO, American Global Strategies
Tuesday: 1:45pm - 2:15pm
Regency Ballroom D
Break
Tuesday: 2:15pm - 2:30pm
Panel - AI and CMMC: Managing Data Risk in the Age of Automation
As defense contractors rapidly adopt AI tools across their workflows, questions are emerging about how those tools interact with CMMC and NIST 800-171 requirements. This panel explores the compliance risks, data governance challenges, and practical safeguards organizations must consider as AI enters the defense supply chain.
Panelists:
Michael Brooks, CMMC Strategy and Engagement Director, A-LIGN
Craig Pfister, VP of Sales Engineering, Kiteworks
Moderator:
Harout Katerjian, CEO, Emgage
Tuesday: 2:30pm - 3:15pm
Regency Ballroom D
Fireside Chat - Manufacturing for Asymmetric Warfare
How emerging technologies, distributed production, and resilient supply chains are shaping how nations sustain operations in contested environments.
Speakers:
Phil Divinski, CEO, Jeddoc
Hong-lun Tiunn, Non-resident Fellow, DSET
Tuesday: 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Regency Ballroom D
Opening Reception
Tuesday: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Vue Rooftop Ballroom
Wednesday April 8, 2026
Exhibit Hall Open
Wednesday: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Keynote - Department of Transportation and Surging the DIB
Speaker:
Michael Rutherford, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy, Department of Transportation
Wednesday: 9:15am - 9:45am
Regency Ballroom D
Panel - Primes Stresses: A View at the Top
A conversation about stresses on the defense industrial base during a time of global crisis.
Moderator:
Dale Kooyenga, President and CEO, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
Panelists:
Steve Nordlund, President, Oshkosh Transport Segment
Jan Allman, CEO, Fincantieri Marinette Marine
George Whittier, CEO, Fairbanks Morse Defense
Derrick Van Zuidam, Vice President, Leonardo DRS
Wednesday: 9:45am - 10:45am
Regency Ballroom D
Break
Wednesday: 10:45am - 11:00am
Panel - Small Manufacturers in War
Panelists:
James Kornfield, President and CEO, Strohwig
Bill Berrien, CEO, Pindel Global Precision
Dave Capkovitz, Co-founder, Aspen Manufacturing Hub
Moderator:
Jim Carr, President, Carr Machine & Tool and My True Position podcast
Wednesday: 11:00am - 11:45am
Regency Ballroom D
Keynote - Remarks from NIST
Speaker:
Michael Molnar, Director - Office of Advanced Manufacturing, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Wednesday: 11:45am - 12:30pm
Regency Ballroom D
Lunch
Wednesday: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Exhibit Hall
Workshop - How to Hack CMMC Auditors
In this session, we’ll break down the auditor mindset: how C3PAOs evaluate scope, what triggers deeper scrutiny, how interviews shape outcomes, and why “almost compliant” often means noncompliant. We’ll highlight common mistakes in evidence presentation, SSP alignment, POA&M handling, interview prep, physical security validation, and control inheritance assumptions.
Speakers:
Harout Katerjian, CEO, Emgage
Michael Brooks, CMMC Strategy and Engagement Director, A-LIGN
Wednesday: 1:30pm - 2:15pm
Executive Ballroom
Panel - The Platform Industrial Base
How emerging digital platforms may redefine how manufacturing capacity is surfaced, coordinated, and activated across the defense industrial base.
Panelists:
Greg Paulsen, Sr. Solutions Engineer and Business Development, Xometry
Charles Donley, CEO, F2AI
Moderator:
John Falcone, Technical Advisor, Riverside Research & Non-Resident Fellow, Knudsen Institute
Wednesday: 1:30pm - 2:15pm
Regency Ballroom D
Workshop - Preparing for CMMC: Think Like an Assessor
Learn how certified assessors evaluate objectives—not just the 110 controls—and how to align documentation and artifacts to reduce stress, cost, and surprises.
William Price, AAA Vallum Consulting
Wednesday: 2:15pm - 3:00pm
Executive Ballroom
Panel - Opportunity or Sunk Cost?: Dual-Use Strategy, Government Work, and Commercial Growth
Manufacturers with varying approaches to government work discuss the practical tradeoffs between compliance, growth, and operational flexibility.
Panelists:
Eric Hostetler, Founder and CEO, Volund Manufacturing
Matt Moldenhauer, Partner, Elmore Companies
Moderator:
John Falcone, Technical Advisor, Riverside Research & Non-Resident Fellow, Knudsen Institute
Wednesday: 2:15pm - 3:00pm
Regency Ballroom D
Break
Wednesday: 3:00pm - 3:15pm
Panel - The Skilled Labor Crisis: The 800lb Gorilla All Manufacturers Face
The defense industrial base faces a skilled labor shortage that no single company or program can solve. This panel examines the scope, the root causes, and what is actually happening.
Panelists:
Josh Cramer, Associate Vice President - Workforce Development, BlueForge Alliance
Dr. Greg Harris, Professor at Auburn University, Director of ICAMS, and Associate Director of NCAME
Al Garcia, Director/JVSG State Coordinator, Office of Veteran Employment Services
Moderator:
Mike Berry, Strategic Operations & Business Development Leader
Wednesday: 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Executive Ballroom
Panel - Running a Modern Manufacturing Business
How forward-thinking manufacturers are using digital tools, data, and automation to improve quoting, planning, supply chain coordination, and decision-making.
Moderator:
Kenny Williams, CEO, Native Aerospace & Defense
Panelists:
Jamie Goettler, Group CRO, BTX Precision
Sam Thevanayagam, CEO, Parts Life
Wednesday: 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Regency Ballroom D
Fireside Chat - DoW Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration Program (STED) - Warfighter Tested for a Resilient Future
How the Department of War meets Warfighter needs by rapidly identifying, testing, evaluating, and validating sustainable, mission‑ready technologies through the STED Program.
Speakers:
Reginald Mack, Dow STED Program and DoW Circular Economy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Energy, Installation & Environment
Moderator:
Veronica Clark, Tennessee APEX Accelerator
Wednesday: 4:00pm - 4:45pm
Regency Ballroom D
Thursday April 9, 2026
Exhibit Hall Open
Thursday: 8:30am - 12:30pm
Panel - Tripping the Wire: Commercial Innovation to Scale the DIB
A panel of defense contracting experts will discuss commercial practices that are entering the defense industrial world. Some of these practices will make companies lives easier, while others will present dilemmas. And no discussion these days is complete without an exchange of views on AI and its impact on the industry.
Panelists:
Michel Paradis, Partner, Steptoe LLP
Caitlin Conroy, Government Contracts Partner, Steptoe LLP
Tyler Evans, Partner, Steptoe LLP
Moderator:
Andrei Quinn-Barabanov, Supply Chain Industry Practice Lead at Moody's
Thursday: 9:15am - 10:00am
Regency Ballroom D
Panel - CMMC IS HERE - Enforcement, Readiness, and Risk in 2026
A situational awareness briefing on how primes are enforcing compliance, where contractors are misaligned, and which trends will shape competitiveness in the coming year.
Panelists:
Victor Cich, Manager of Compliance Consulting, RADICL
David Chergosky, public sector cybersecurity leader, Carahsoft
John Nolan, VP of Compliance, ISI
Moderator:
Derek Kernus, CEO, Aethon Security
Thursday: 10:00am - 10:45am
Regency Ballroom D
Break
Thursday: 10:45am - 11:00am
Discussion - Chemical and Material Risk Management for Critical Defense Systems
Learn how the Department of War approaches the complexities of the emerging chemical regulatory landscape through risk assessment and the development of mitigation approaches to protect national security and mission readiness.
Speaker:
Cheryl Mugford, Principal, Chemical and Supply Chain Risk Management Noblis, under contract to Office of the Assistant Secretary of War (Energy, Installations, and Environment)
Thursday: 11:00am - 11:45am
Regency Ballroom D
Keynote - Running with Scissors - Building Modern Manufacturing for a Ready Fight
The United States is now in active combat with the potential for sustained engagement. We need the industrial base more than ever. We need more Small & Medium Sized Manufacturers. What are their challenges?
Speaker:
Sam Thevanayagam, CEO, Parts Life
Thursday: 11:45am - 12:15pm
Regency Ballroom D
Closing Luncheon & Keynote
Democratic Resilience and Defense Innovation: Taiwan’s Role in Strengthening Allied Supply Chains in the Year of America's 250th Anniversary and Taiwan's 30 Years of Direct Democracy.
Speaker:
Dennis Yen-Feng Lei, Director General, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago
Thursday: 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Atrium