Meet the Voices Shaping Defense Innovation
Meet the leaders, innovators, and changemakers you’ll hear from at MDIS 2026.
Our speaker lineup is growing, so check back often for new additions.
Hon. Michael Dodd
Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies
Raj Shah
Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Shield Captial
Devin L. Bohanan
Program Manager,
Accelerate the Procurement & Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT)
Edward Maginn
Associate VP for Research, University of Notre Dame
Dan Merenda
COO, Prometheus Energetics
John McGunnigle
Co-Founder, Spear.AI
John McCanney
Director, SBIR/STTR Transitions, DoW Office for Small Business Innovation
Lawrence Buja, PhD
Chief Program Development Officer, Purdue University Office of Research
Matthew Brackenhoff
Lead, Advanced UxS Proving Grounds (AUxS-PG)
NSWC Crane
Milad Alucozai
Co-Found & Partner, Pamir Ventures
Nick Breedlove
Co-Founder, BBK Capital
Christopher Wilburn
ARI
Max Engling
Hon. Todd Young
United States Senator (IN)
Jennifer Thabet
Program Director, Small Business Programs Office, DARPA
Dr. Kyle Werner
Deputy Technical Director for NSWC Crane
Elliott Parker
CEO at Alloy Partners, author of The Illusion of Innovation
Gerry Dick
President, Inside INdiana Business
James Stewart, PhD
Distinguished Scientist for Disruptive EMS S&T; SSTM, NSWC Crane
Jeron Peoples
Managing Director, ARC
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Thomas Bostick
Senior Military Leader & Author
Mike Johns
SVP, Kratos SRE
Mitch Frazier
President of IBJ Media
Scott Bullock
Director, Applied Research Center (ARC), Indiana University
Dr. Henry J. "Jerry" Hendrix
Deputy to the Associate Director for
Defense, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) and Chief of the OMB
Shipbuilding Office
Sean Fortener
Co-Founder & President, Seagate Space
Gov. Mike Braun
Governor, Indiana
LTC Matthew Limeberry
Commander, Rapid Assessment of Prototype Technology Readiness (RAPTR)Task Force
Director, Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX)
OUSW R&E
Jess Resig, PhD
VP, Solutions Innovations, ARI
Rep. Steve Bartels - IN
State Representative, IN
Andrew Kossack
CEO, ARI
Jason Wolf
Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Iron Nation
LTC Jarvis Buchanan
Corporate Venture Team, Army Applications Laboratory
Major General (Ret.) Dale Lyles
National Security & Defense Expert, Executive Advisor, ARI
Brett Hamilton
Microelectronics Sr. Technical Fellow, Kratos Defense
Mitchell L. Haag
Drone Dominance Project Lead, MXP
NAVSEA Crane
Tanveer Kathawalla
Founder & Managing Partner, Pioneer1890
Gavin Laffoon