CMMC Midwest Conference Fall Session • Tulsa

Discussion covers evolving industrial base cyber challenges, standards validation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, supply-chain risk management, changes to the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), and False Claims Act legal risks in cyber assurance.

The program covers medical-device design and development, next-generation technologies, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity, supply-chain resilience, quality, and manufacturing operations. Conference topics include market readiness and adoption of medical devices; scaling miniaturized devices from prototype to production; signal integrity and EMI for medical imaging and AI-driven devices; AI-based demand forecasting; changes to FDA inspections and the Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR); 3D printing of bioabsorbable implants; and robotics and AI in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Show-floor education also addresses digital transformation, AI adoption, workforce transformation, smart manufacturing, automation, packaging, additive manufacturing, and sustainable operations. Workshops address digital lean manufacturing using automation, AI, robotics, and data analytics; OT/IT integration and smart-manufacturing roadmaps; and sterilization technologies including supercritical carbon dioxide, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, electron beam, and X-ray. Sterilization topics include validation, material compatibility, scalability, regulatory expectations, and lower-emission approaches. The leadership program covers mentorship, leadership credibility, difficult conversations, decision fatigue, and burnout.

The program addresses Executive Order implementation, the FAA Reauthorization Act, secure supply chains and the FCC Covered List, aircraft certification, and airspace coordination. Featured officials include Steven Haines, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis; Congresswoman Dina Titus; and Senator Peter Welch. Sessions examine NASA’s plans for future air transportation; federal agency UAS operations and procurement; FAA EIPP progress; state and local pathways for advanced air mobility; vertiports, corridors, grid integration, and spectrum allocation; large-UAS operational approvals; collision avoidance and detect-and-avoid; FCC enforcement; automated flight rules; retail and commercial drone markets; and the policy agenda for drones and AAM. Further program topics include counter-UAS policy for major events, Part 146 certification, industry responses to NPRM 2209, air traffic control investment, coordination between first-responder and commercial drone operations, UAS supply-chain security and domestic manufacturing, cellular integration and spectrum access, U.S. export opportunities, EU certifications and cybersecurity regulations, and state, local, and tribal drone operations.

The 2026 conference marks NTSA’s 60th anniversary and centers on the U.S. Army lead-service theme, “Beyond the Battlefield: Training Readiness and Lethality for All-Domain Dominance!” The program combines executive presentations, technical papers, tutorials, professional development workshops, special events, and Next Big Thing talks focused on modeling, simulation, training, education, AI, autonomous systems, synthetic environments, operational test and evaluation, acquisition modernization, digital engineering, digital twins, cyber and information warfare, and the defense industrial base. Featured content includes an Industry Keynote by Brandon Tseng, President & Co-Founder, Shield AI; a Featured Government Keynote by Amy Henninger, SES, Ph.D., Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), DoW; and senior-leader discussions involving LTGEN Austin, USMC; MAJ GEN Cropsey, USAF; and MAJ GEN Smith, USSF. Special events include the Congressional M&S Caucus; Digital First discussions on defense acquisition through AI, digital engineering, simulation, and digital twins; Building an AI Ready Military Force; a Naval Aviation Flag Officer Panel; NATO mission-space digital twins; Air Force maintenance training; cyber, electromagnetic, wargaming, and information warfare; and program briefs on training acquisition and the All-Domain Marine. The program also includes perspectives from government, industry, academia, and international partners.

The half-day program examines space systems’ role in critical infrastructure resilience and the secure adoption of AI. Topics include protecting space-based communications, navigation, timing, and data services; applying zero-trust principles across spacecraft, ground systems, networks, users, and mission partners; and how Golden Dome for America may affect cybersecurity requirements, acquisition priorities, and resilient space architectures. The AI security theme covers AI-enabled threat detection and response across space, ground, and user segments, including human oversight; risks across AI models, training data, software, infrastructure, and vendors; and workforce readiness to deploy, govern, and defend AI-enabled systems. Government briefings, expert panels, and dedicated roundtables are planned.

The program brings together energy, industrial transformation, and advanced manufacturing, with cross-cutting themes of workforce development, standards, finance, AI and digital transformation, policy, and resilience planning. Roundtables, workshops, and demos are designed to address tradeoffs involving affordability, risk, standardization, and deployment speed. Program tracks include Powering Growth, with sample sessions on data-center power and cooling, new nuclear deployment, solar cost reduction, and scaling geothermal; Industry Reimagined, covering industrial heat electrification, next-generation steel, and EPC project-delivery costs and risks; Next-Gen Manufacturing, addressing hardware investment and bankability, additive manufacturing, and sustainability tradeoffs in product design; and Future Workforce, on nuclear workforce readiness, apprenticeships, and aligning training programs with real projects. Additional sessions are in development in areas including energy storage, fusion, industrial efficiency, critical minerals, and sustainability tradeoffs. The listed sessions are samples and subject to change.

Discussions address federal and defense mission resilience, electric grid security, data centers’ growing energy demands, and resilient digital infrastructure. Topics include continuity of operations, mission assurance, grid and transmission planning, data center capacity, site selection, permitting, water and cooling, redundancy, physical hardening, and future-proofing. Sessions include Federal & Defense Mission Digital Resilience; Unleashing the Grid: Securing Power for Mid-Maryland’s Defense Communities; The AI Infrastructure Challenge; and Designing and Delivering Resilient Digital Infrastructure for the DoW. The keynote is by Lucian Niemeyer, former Assistant Secretary of Defense.

A B2B event focused on aerospace and defense supply chains, manufacturing capabilities, services, and technologies. Suppliers, service providers, engineering, supply chain, procurement, and product development teams connect through pre-arranged one-to-one meetings; attendance is reserved for vetted professionals. The first day features presentations by executives and leaders covering commercial and military programs at Collins, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. Topics include market-segment trends, challenges and opportunities, supplier expectations, manufacturing automation, and information integration.

The program covers specialty chemical business strategy, regulatory developments, and manufacturing operations across three tracks: C-Suite Executive Leadership, Regulatory & Policy, and Manufacturing & Operations. Sessions address the U.S. economic outlook and chemical industry impacts; AI in commercial operations and supply planning; domestic pharmaceutical supply chains; process safety; workforce succession and knowledge transfer; mergers and acquisitions; TSCA and the CMAS RTR final rule; trade policy and supply-chain resilience; operational disruption; and contract manufacturing partnerships and market trends. The program also includes an economic outlook briefing, an analysis of the 2026 election’s implications for manufacturing and chemicals, SOCMA’s Annual Meeting and update, and the Awards & Safety Recognition Dinner.