Bridging the Defense Tech Valley of Death w/ Dillon Watring

Join us for a DC Industrial Policy Salon at Teaism Penn Quarter in DC with special guest Dr. Dillon Watring of Integer Technologies. 🍔 🍹 Food and Drinks Provided! About the event Much of federally funded research never makes it past the prototype stage. A promising lab result doesn't always become a real technology, let alone a fielded capability. The gap between early-stage research funding and a commercially viable product is often called the Valley of Death, and it remains one of the most persistent problems in U.S. defense innovation. This salon looks at what's actually being done about it. Drawing on his experience at the CHIPS R&D Office, work across SBIR/STTR programs, and some encouraging recent acquisition reforms, Dillon will walk through how government and industry are trying to bridge the gap. He'll finish with how Integer Technologies was built around this problem and the partnership approach they are using to move applied research into the hands of the warfighter. Bio Dillon Watring, Ph.D., is the Director of Research at Integer Technologies, an applied research and defense technology company specializing in mission autonomy, agentic AI, sensors and perception, and power and energy. He previously served as the Associate Director for AI and Digital Solutions at the CHIPS R&D Office within NIST & the Department of Commerce. Before that, he was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation, supporting the National AI Research Institutes Program. Before his fellowship, he conducted bench research in the Materials Science and Technology Division at the US Naval Research Laboratory. About the DC Industrial Policy Salon The DC Industrial Policy Salon was started by Nicholas Wagner, Founder of Learning Journey AI, in 2026. It convenes leading experts and policymakers to discuss issues of science, technology, and industrial production in Washington, DC. To learn more about our events, please visit https://dcips.net.