SMI is proud to be partnering with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) bringing together leaders from government and industry to identify the greatest barriers to transitioning advanced materials into defense programs and develop actionable plans and novel approaches to promoting full scale manufacturing of these critical materials.

The invite-only gathering, “Advancing innovation, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced materials in DoD systems” will take place February 11-12, 2025 at SMI’s conference center at Capitol Crossing, located at 200 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 2nd Floor Conference Center, Washington, DC 20001. There is no cost to attend.

The Summit will be held at the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) level and adhere to International Traffics in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Purpose:

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Science and Technology Strategy identified fourteen critical technology areas as “vital to maintaining the United States’ national security.” Advanced materials are included among these critical technologies due to their direct impact on all military hardware. Functional materials are materials designed and engineered to perform a specific function or set of functions that enhance performance and effectiveness. These materials can be composed of ceramics, polymers, or metals and are crucial in applications such as high-performance computing, directed energy, sensors, and power and energy systems. Prioritizing investments in the discovery and development of sustainable and disruptive functional materials, along with ensuring a resilient supply chain, is critical for advancing these technologies. While research and development are crucial, equal commitment should be given to technology transition facilitators and enablers, including the manufacturing supply chain, qualification and certification, test and evaluation, modeling and simulation, and policy. These materials should be designed with manufacturing in mind and supported by data that accelerates acceptance by engineers responsible for fielding defense systems. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the DoD to leverage advances and demands for functional materials from other industries for defense applications. However, this requires strategic approaches to overcome the challenges of transitioning these technologies.

The 2025 Advanced Materials Summit will bring together leaders from government, industry, and leading academic research institutions to help develop a strategy for advancing the invention, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced materials in DoD systems.

Why Attend:

This senior-level meeting brings together representatives from government, industry, and leading academic research organizations to address challenges, strategize, and develop actionable plans that ensure DoD’s technical superiority in critical technical areas such as microelectronics, quantum, integrated sensing and cyber, directed energy, and power and renewable energy. The discussions from this event will be consolidated into proceedings with recommendations that will guide future strategy and policy development. The first day of the event will feature perspectives from government policy makers, DoD and other government stakeholders, and industry leaders on priorities and current strategies for functional materials development and deployment. The second day will include panel discussions followed by moderated breakout sessions focused on technology priorities and policy for functional materials.

Benefits:

Participants from academia and industry will have the opportunity to engage with government stakeholders, industry leaders, and academic experts on functional materials. This involvement will help shape the government’s approach to their development and transition. Attendees will stay at the forefront of emerging technologies, gain insights into the defense sector’s specific needs and challenges, and contribute their expertise to collaborative efforts aimed at advancing the development and transition of functional materials.

Attendees (Invite Only):

Representatives of OSD, DoD and DoE lab community, industry associations, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), manufacturing innovation institutes, and commercial software developers.