NDIA Manufacturing Division Meeting (May 6-7, DC): Advancing the Defense Industrial Base–Supply Chain Resilience

Highlights

• The NDIA Spring Manufacturing Division Meeting (May 6–7, Washington DC) convenes DoD, DoE, industry, and academia leaders to address how to deliver industrial capacity in the Great Powers Era 2.0, focusing on supply chain resilience, critical materials, microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, and workforce development.
• Keynote from Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson and panels featuring Niron Magnetics, Micron, and Silverado Policy Accelerator highlight the strategic convergence of semiconductors, rare earths, and magnetics as central to national security, with emphasis on midstream processing and scaling industrial systems.
• Sponsor Advanced Magnet Lab reveals a roadmap to scale U.S. permanent magnet production from 220 to 10,000 metric tons annually by 2028+, using design-for-purpose magnets and diverse materials to reduce China dependence and address a critical defense industrial base bottleneck.

---

On May 6–7 at Station DC in Washington, DC, the National Defense Industrial Association (opens in a new tab) convenes one of the most consequential closed-door gatherings shaping the future of U.S. defense manufacturing. Called the Spring Manufacturing Division Meeting, this is not a trade show, and it is closed to the press. Rather, it is where policy meets execution across the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), bringing together senior leaders from the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, industry, and academia to confront a central question: how to actually deliver industrial capacity in a contested world, or what Rare Earth Exchanges™ has coined the Great Powers Era 2.0

The Themes That Matter Now

The agenda reads less like a conference program and more like an operational blueprint for this emerging new era:

• Supply Chain Resilience — shifting from risk awareness to redundancy, surge capacity, and real-world durability
• Critical Materials & Microelectronics — the core constraint: without midstream processing and advanced inputs, strategy stalls
• Advanced Manufacturing — from digital engineering to distributed, scalable production (with perspectives from Lukas Czinger (opens in a new tab), CEO Divergent)
• Workforce Development — the often-overlooked limiter of industrial scale—such an important topic so much overlooked
• Research & Engineering Modernization — compressing timelines from lab to deployment

For REEx readers, the signal is unmistakable: the conversation is moving decisively from policy intent to industrial execution. And it’s about time.

Standout Sessions & Voices

The keynote from Honorable Audrey Robertson (opens in a new tab), Assistant Secretary of Energy U.S. Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, U.S. Department of Energy, underscores a structural shift—critical minerals are no longer an upstream concern; they sit at the center of national security strategy.

The panel on Microelectronics, Critical Materials, and Strategic Competition brings together leaders from Micron, Niron Magnetics (opens in a new tab), and Silverado Policy Accelerator (opens in a new tab)—linking semiconductors, rare earths, and magnetics into a single strategic framework. That convergence is the story.

Key voices to watch include:

• Mark Schramek (opens in a new tab), VP Government Affairs, Niron Magnetics, on rare earth-free magnet pathways
• Jessica McBroom (opens in a new tab), Director of Supply Chain Policy, Micron Technology, on semiconductor supply chains
• Mahnaz Khan (opens in a new tab), Vice President of Policy, Critical Supply Chains, Silverado Policy Accelerator, on geopolitical risk

Alongside government operators such as James Mismash (opens in a new tab), Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Growth and Director of Small Business Programs (OSBP) and Tracy Frost, Director of Technology Innovation for the Industrial Base (TIIB) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering—where policy, capital, and execution converge.

Why This Event Matters

REEx has consistently argued that the true bottleneck is not mining, but midstream processing, advanced manufacturing, and the ability to scale industrial systems. This agenda reinforces that reality.

From RAND’s analysis of auto–DIB overlap to closed-door discussions on government–industry collaboration, the direction is clear: industrial capacity is now a strategic instrument of power, especially as we enter the Great Powers Era 2.0.

Sponsors

Magnet manufacturer Advanced Magnet Lab (opens in a new tab) (AML), engineering services provider Intertek Laboratories (opens in a new tab) world’s largest (opens in a new tab) defense contractor Lockheed Martin (opens in a new tab) and enterprise project software maker Deltek (opens in a new tab) support this important event.  

On review of interest was AML’s 2026 capability brief, outlining a focused strategy to restore U.S. permanent magnet sovereignty by redesigning how magnets are engineered and manufactured domestically. A core vulnerability according the company? U.S. defense systems, EVs, and energy infrastructure rely on permanent magnets largely produced in China, with performance dependent on scarce heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium. AML’s approach centers on “design-for-purpose” magnets—optimizing shape, composition, and magnetization for specific applications—while expanding material options (NdFeB, SmFeN, MnBi, and hybrid alloys) to reduce dependence on constrained inputs.

Interestingly, according to company literature, its Project MITUS roadmap targets a scale-up from roughly 220 metric tons per annum today to 10,000 MTPA over multiple phases extending beyond 2028, combining sintered and non-sintered magnet production. Backed by prior work with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense, AML positions itself as a scalable, manufacturing-first solution to one of the most critical bottlenecks in the defense industrial base

The Bottom Line

The NDIA Manufacturing Division Meeting seems to be a place where narratives are tested against operational reality.  For sponsors, it offers proximity to decision-makers shaping billions in industrial policy. For investors and operators, it provides a real-time signal on whether the U.S. can translate urgency into capacity.

See the website (opens in a new tab).