This event is brought to you by the Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Chilterns Regional Defence and Security Cluster (OBC RDSC) in partnership with Harwell Campus.

Date: Wednesday 18th March 2026

Time: 09:00 – 16:30

Venue: Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire

Tickets via invite only. If interested in attending, please contact the team here.

The event will focus on strengthening UK sovereign capability, accelerating industrial digitalisation, and fostering collaboration across advanced manufacturing, materials science and quantum technologies for applications in aerospace and national security.

It aims to bring together SMEs, academia and innovators with the defence and security community to identify opportunities to build resilience, drive innovation and unlock growth, with a particular focus on the Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Chilterns regions.

Speakers to include members from the MOD, Amentum, Airbus, AWE and more.

Agenda:

08:45 Arrivals, Registration and Networking

09:30 Welcome from the OBC RDSC Chair

09:40 – 11:00 Session 1 – Advancing Materials and Manufacturing: Driving Innovation, Collaboration, and Sovereign Capability

• This session examines how advanced materials, modern manufacturing, and converging technologies are driving next-generation performance across defence, aerospace, energy and space.
• It highlights stronger, lighter systems, UK industrial collaboration for sovereign capability, and the scaling of manufacturing with the skills, infrastructure, and qualification pathways needed to deliver future-ready technologies.

11:00 – 11:30 Refreshment Break

11:30 – 12:30 Session 2 – Agile by Design: Advanced Manufacturing for Rapid Capability Delivery

• This panel examines how advanced manufacturing, spanning modular design, rapid prototyping, short‑run production, and accelerated materials testing, is reshaping defence, aerospace, space, and uncrewed systems supply chains.
• Panellists will explore how AI‑enabled design, digital twins, and autonomous production systems support faster logistics, reduce reliance on vulnerable global supply chains, and strengthen sovereign manufacturing.
• The session will also consider how these approaches enable accelerated capability delivery while maintaining quality, certification, and operational readiness.

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch and Networking (optional facility tours – tbc)

14:00 – 14:40 Session 3 – From Atoms to Algorithms: Quantum, AI, and the Future of Secure Manufacturing and Logistics

• A focused discussion on how quantum sensing, secure communications, quantum‑enabled materials design, and AI‑driven optimisation are reshaping manufacturing, logistics, and defence systems.
• The panel will highlight how integrating quantum and AI capabilities enhances resilience, security, and technological sovereignty for next‑generation industrial and defence operations.

14:40 – 15:10 Refreshment Break

15:10 – 15:45 Session 4 – Dual-Use Technologies at Scale: Bridging Academia, Industry, and National Capability

• A focused discussion on how academia–industry collaboration accelerates dual‑use innovation across satellite manufacturing, space‑based communications, semiconductors, and manufacturing research.
• The panel will explore how these technologies strengthen sovereign capability, enhance logistics and situational awareness, and create shared innovation pathways benefiting both commercial and defence sectors.

15:45 – 16:00 Closing Remarks

16:00 – 17:30 Drinks Reception and Networking until Close

This event is by invitation only for representatives of registered companies active within the defence and security innovation space.

If interested in attending, please contact the team here.

Invitations issued to registered individuals are non-transferable without the prior consent of the organiser.

Admission to the event remains subject to the organiser’s discretion.