AMPP Western Conference 2026: Extreme Environments

The event combines a briefing, interactive Q&A, and one-on-one conversations on approaching DARPA, positioning technologies and capabilities, and exploring opportunities to work with the agency. It is aimed at founders, technical leaders, and business development professionals at companies developing technologies and products with potential defense applications. Richard Fuentes’ work as a DARPA program advisor includes helping adapt DARPA technologies to Army needs and incorporating warfighter input into technology development.

The forum will examine the WestTEC process and results, the newly formed Washington Electric Transmission Authority (WETA), and developments involving The Western Transmission Consortium (TWTC). It will consider how these initiatives could accelerate transmission expansion and what transmission decisions are needed to benefit Washington’s economy and population. The program begins with presentations on the three initiatives, followed by a panel discussion on how they can support a thoughtful transmission build-out.

Technical programming covers corrosion and protective coatings through peer-reviewed technical symposia, research-in-progress symposia, a research topical symposium, and a student poster session. The research topical symposium, “Toward Reliable Corrosion Prediction: Data-Driven Environmental Characterization and Accelerated Test Correlation,” addresses environmental severity and corrosivity, ISO corrosivity categorization, corrosion monitoring and sensing, environmental data collection and analytics, mechanistic and data-driven corrosion models, machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, accelerated corrosion testing, laboratory-to-field correlation, service-life prediction, climate-specific corrosion assessment, and standards development. The conference also includes an exhibit hall.

The technical program covers MILSPEC requirements, surface-preparation tools, and new technologies involving drones, robotics, and AI. Expert panels address workforce development, safety, and government; contractor stories highlight successes and lessons learned from premature coating failures. Roundtables bring together military, government, and association leadership. Forum topics also include coating standards, application practices, marine coatings, antifouling coatings, marine epoxy systems, corrosion mitigation, and workforce development. The program includes general-session panels and presentations, alongside Contractor Club private meetings and an invitation-only off-site activity. Participation is open to government and regulatory agencies, asset owners and shipyards, painting contractors, consultants and engineering professionals, inspectors, and academia, R&D, and association representatives.

The conference addresses challenges across the mining life cycle through technical sessions, collaborative short courses, keynotes, and panel discussions, alongside a trade exposition. Technical sessions run concurrently, and the Core Shack features drill core and rock samples representing different deposit types and geological settings.

Topics include electrical safety and high-risk work environments; serious-incident reviews and lessons learned; human performance and error reduction; contractor safety; confined-space, work-at-height, and rescue practices; and emergency response, thermal runaway, and fire preparedness for battery energy storage systems. Operations and asset-performance topics include predictive maintenance, reliability optimization, advanced analytics, major-component reliability for gearboxes, blades, inverters, and BESS, aging fleets, asset-life extension, hybrid wind, solar, and storage operations, and operational readiness and commissioning. Workforce themes include fatigue management, technician readiness, apprenticeships, cross-training, frontline leadership, knowledge transfer, and succession planning. The PowerCast Stage features practical presentations on operational experiences, demonstrations, emerging technologies, and best practices.

The conference brings together offshore energy, maritime, defense, and technology industries around shared infrastructure, capabilities, and supply chains. Its preliminary program will examine offshore energy and autonomous systems, ports and vessels, subsea infrastructure, and maritime security, alongside market developments and opportunities for established companies to apply their expertise across emerging ocean technology markets. Related sectors include offshore wind, shipbuilding, manufacturing, engineering, marine robotics, grid innovation, and advanced manufacturing. The agenda is in development, with additional sessions and speakers to be announced.

The conference theme is “Pipeline to Possibilities: Securing Energy, Shaping Futures.” Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach covers community and public engagement, API Recommended Practices 1162 and 1185, environmental justice, Tribal and First Nation considerations, emergency responder education, and damage prevention. Pipeline Operational Excellence addresses safety performance, in-line inspection lessons, pipeline safety management systems, safety culture, management of change, asset remediation, and operational and enterprise risk management. Technology, AI & Innovation includes inspection tools, engineering practices, control room technologies, artificial intelligence, API RP 1165, and emerging fuels. Workforce Training & Development covers succession planning, knowledge transfer, recruitment and retention, multigenerational workforces, operator qualification, inspector certification, and competency-based learning. Sustainability & New Fuels addresses CO2, hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels; safety, integrity, leak detection, corrosion management, emergency preparedness, methane emissions, and environmental stewardship. Other tracks address pipeline construction, project management, commissioning, major maintenance, contract management and trenchless technologies; leak detection systems and predictive analytics; SCADA/OT modernization, industrial control system cybersecurity, threat response and regulatory compliance; and alarm and control room management, including fatigue mitigation, controller training, management of change, records, and regulatory interpretations.

The workshop focuses on practical well integrity solutions across barrier design, remediation, qualification, and lifecycle risk management, emphasizing applications, new technologies, and process methodologies. Field lessons, technical perspectives, and interactive discussion connect engineering principles with real-world deployment challenges. Session topics include cement as a barrier, including establishing cement barriers in a complex onshore U.S. exploration well with a narrow pore-pressure/fracture-gradient window, cementing best practices, and wellbore cementing. Another session covers production-casing integrity risk management, detecting fluid- and cement-driven casing defects through the production life cycle, and artificial-lift decisions under wellbore constraints. An interactive case study has teams solve well integrity challenges and exchange lessons learned and best practices. Further topics include barrier qualification and P&A operations; rigless well integrity remediation; surveillance technology; integrated monitoring for CCS well integrity; corrosion and materials challenges in CCUS Class VI wells; thermal heavy-oil well design; quantitative risk analysis; DHSV strategies in subsea wells; FEP risk assessment using individual barrier evaluation; alternative barrier materials for conventional Australian well abandonments; Permian well integrity solutions; and sealants for flow through narrow pathways.

Technical programming includes presentations, panels, tutorials, and discussions in materials and process engineering. The exhibition features materials, equipment, processes, and solutions from companies across the supply chain. Themes span advanced materials and processes applied in aerospace, defense, transportation, energy, manufacturing, and other industries, connecting technical knowledge with real-world applications. Technical papers selected for the conference program undergo review by subject-matter experts and must include tests, analysis, and results. The program also includes ITAR-restricted technical presentations on defense-related materials and manufacturing; participation in those sessions requires applicable clearance.

The technical program covers mining research and operational innovation, including AI, robotics and automation; advanced process control and digital twins; mineral processing, metallurgy and critical minerals; and bulk material handling, transfer-chute engineering and dust mitigation. Presentations address rare-earth extractant modeling, nickel leaching, copper flotation, sensor drift in AI systems, and coal mining beneath water bodies. The program includes the Robert E. Murray Innovation Award Lecture and the Dreyer Lecture. Conference registration includes technical sessions, keynote sessions, poster sessions, digital technical preprints, and access to the Western Mining Summit and the expo.