Featured Sessions 

Attend these sessions throughout the conference

Back again by popular demand! 

What we’re trying to achieve through the FIRST® Robotics demonstration at DMC: We’d like to celebrate the successes of the next generation as they apply engineering principles to solving problems through robotics. We want to encourage the work they’ve done and hope to inspire them to continue in the field and hopefully take over from us in moving Defense Manufacturing forward.

 Join us during the Networking Lunch, Tuesday, December 3, 11:40 AM – 1:30 PM

In the HUB to meet and engage with the teams and see firsthand their technologies.

What is FIRST®?

  • For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
  • Founded by Dean Kamen in 1992.
  • Consists of robotics competition teams which design, program, and build a robot starting with a standard kit of parts and common set of rules to play in a themed head-to-head challenge.
  • Events include:
    • FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition)- Typically High School teams building 120lb robot;
    • FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge)- Typically middle or high school teams building smaller (desktop size) robot;
    • FLL (FIRST Lego League)- Typically elementary and middle school teams that use lego components to build small robots on a game-table size playing field.

Find more information about FIRST here.

Join us during General Session, Tuesday, December 3, 11:10 AM – 11:40 AM.

Mission

We transform lives by using collaborative songwriting to expand creativity, connections, and strengths.

SongwritingWith:Soldiers uses songwriting as a catalyst for positive change. We offer our participants a unique way to tell their stories, rebuild trust, release pain, and forge new bonds. In SW:S retreat and workshop settings, service members are paired with professional songwriters to craft songs about their experiences, often about combat and the return home. Through their songs, participants rediscover their creativity and reconnect with family, friends, and communities. The songs are recorded and shared in order to bridge the divide between military and civilian communities and build awareness of the challenges faced by our returning service members.

At DMC 2024, SongwritingWith:Soldiers will talk about their work, hear from a veteran participant and have a songwriter perform veteran-written songs. To learn more about SongwritingWith:Soldiers, visit their website at www.songwritingwithsoldiers.org

If you are interested in supporting SongwritingWith:Soldiers with a sponsorship to their organization, please reach out to Scott O’Neal at scott@songwritingwithsoldiers.org.

NEW IN 2024! JDMTP Subpanel and Working Group “Speed Dating” Opportunities

Join us during the Networking Lunch, Wednesday, December 4, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM. 

During this year’s Defense Manufacturing Conference, the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel will experiment with a speed dating session for joint Service project ideas. There is a scheduled networking luncheon on Wednesday, 4 December. During that time, each of the JDMTP subpanels (Composites, Electronics, Metals, and Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise), the Manufacturing Readiness Level Working Group, the Energetics and Munitions Working Group, the Power Sources Working Group and the Directed Energy Working Group will be offering interested companies a limited number of roughly eight-minute time slots to pitch their joint Service project ideas. The goal of these sessions is to offer companies “one stop” for joint concepts rather than having to meet separately with each individual entity. If there is JDMTP interest, a subpanel member will be identified to follow up with the company.

If your company would like to schedule a session, please submit a quad chart or a short one-page description of the topic you wish to discuss with the group to Dr. Chuck Ward here. Be sure to include which subpanel you want to meet with as well.  

If you have any questions about the speed dating session, please contact Scott Pearl by phone at (937) 479-6749, or by email here.