SoCal Deep Tech Week

Building industrial resiliency

A tour group gathered around a guide inside JetZero's engineering space
Attendees walking the GrayMatter Robotics factory floor past robotic work cells
Five panelists seated on stage under an American flag, audience in the foreground
A yellow industrial robot arm in a work cell at GrayMatter Robotics

SoCal Deep Tech Week ran September 14–18, 2026, in Long Beach. Next: 2027, in Southern California.

Facility tour at JetZero, Long Beach

2027 coming soon

SoCal Deep Tech Week. Thank you, Long Beach.

Founders, funders and operators moving hard tech from lab to factory floor. September 14–18, 2026. Next: 2027, Southern California.

In 1942, Long Beach built the planes that won a war. In 2015, the last C-17 left the line. In 2026, the builders came back.

1941. Douglas Aircraft opens a plant beside the Long Beach airport, built to turn out military aircraft.

Rows of clear plexiglass bomber noses on the factory floor at Douglas Aircraft's Long Beach plant, 1942
1942. Bomber noses on the line at the Douglas plant. Photograph by Alfred T. Palmer, Office of War Information; public domain.
Women workers installing fixtures inside the tail section of a B-17F bomber at the Long Beach plant
Women workers fit out a B-17F tail section, Long Beach, October 1942. Office of War Information; public domain.

The last C-17

In 2015 Boeing delivered the final C-17 Globemaster III built in Long Beach, and the city's last big military aircraft line went quiet.

A C-17 wing and engine in front of the Long Beach hangar painted Home of the USAF C-17
The C-17 hangar at Long Beach Airport, 2007. Photograph by John Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A yellow industrial robot arm in a work cell at GrayMatter Robotics
2026. A robotic work cell at GrayMatter Robotics, on the SDTW corridor tour.
A fireside conversation on stage under the JetZero sign
Next. JetZero, designing a blended-wing aircraft in Long Beach, hosted Summit 001. The week returns in 2027.

The corridor that built the arsenal is building again. SDTW is the week its builders meet.

Every anchor event ran past capacity

856 people registered for the 2026 week, from 642 organizations, out of 1,769 requests to attend. Unique registrants across the 4 anchor events, September 14–18, 2026.

The 2026 week

Pick a day to see what ran. Summits are in bright type, partner-hosted community events in grey.

  1. 6:00 PMOpening receptionAboard the Queen Mary, Long Beach
  1. 9:00 AMSpace Beach: Summit 001Long Beach
  2. 12:00 PMEnabling the Next Wave of AI and Computing Infrastructure, with Astera TechnologiesLong Beach
  3. 4:00 PMArsenal of Democracy Dinner: Founders, Investors, and Warriors at the TableEl Segundo
  4. 4:00 PMNew Vista Capital & Snowpoint Ventures space and defense tech happy hourLong Beach
  5. 5:30 PMPhysical AI Pitch Night at BeckhoffEl Segundo
  6. 6:00 PMArkenstone happy hourLong Beach
  1. 9:00 AMCritical Infrastructure: Summit 002Carson
  2. 10:00 AMFrom Microgravity to Market: Building the In-Space EconomyLos Angeles
  3. 10:00 AMCalcarea pilot plant site visitLos Angeles
  4. 3:30 PMAerial Intelligence: UAS Reindustrialization and Cocktail HourManhattan Beach
  5. 4:00 PMBeyond Borders: The New Playbook for Scaling Aerospace & DefenseEl Segundo
  6. 5:00 PMFrontier Cocktails & Conversations with Type One VenturesManhattan Beach
  7. 5:00 PMApproach Venture & CBRE happy hourManhattan Beach
  1. 9:00 AMThe Industrial Base ChallengeLong Beach
  2. 12:00 PMIndustrial Resiliency: Summit 003Long Beach
  3. 5:00 PMCritical Minerals Night: The Next Bottleneck Is the Periodic TableLong Beach
  4. 6:00 PMClosing reception hosted by Volund MFGHuntington Beach
  1. 7:00 PMClosing VIP dinner, with Invest LBFairmont Breakers · by invitation

The summits hour by hour are on the 2026 program. Monday and Friday pictures: the Queen Mary (David Jones, CC BY 2.0) and a 1930s postcard of the Breakers Hotel (Tichnor Brothers, public domain).

Red container cranes over stacked shipping containers at the Port of Long Beach

The Industrial Base Challenge

One hard industrial-base problem, worked in one room. In 2026 it was maritime navigation and cyber resilience: ships and naval operations run on the same satellite stack of GPS timing, links and AIS, and more than 170,000 vessels were jammed at least once worldwide in a single quarter.

The problem is national. The work happened on the Long Beach waterfront, with port, maritime and Navy operators, space and RF companies, universities and regional government at the table.

When
Thursday, Sept 17, 2026, 9:00–12:00
Format
Challenge definition workshop
Led by
Drew “Murph” Busbee, Board Member, Sparrow Point Foundation
Powered by
Marshall Industries
Sponsor a 2027 problem set

Port of Long Beach cranes: photograph by Regular Daddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The team

A small core team and a host council of operators, investors and program leads. Everyone runs ops on site during the week.

Portrait of Jay Velasco

Jay Velasco

Founder

Started the week in 2024. Sets the editorial line and the host council each edition.

Portrait of Rahul Singh

Rahul Singh

President

Owns the cohort, the program and the partner roster. The first call for capital and primes.

Portrait of Drew Busbee

Drew “Murph” Busbee

Director, Ops & Programs

Runs the week itself: venues, run of show, summit production and the post-event memo.

Portrait of Jesse Nuese

Jesse Nuese

Director, Special Projects

Owns the concept briefs, the city-scale build-outs and the off-program rooms each edition.

JetZeroGrayMatter RoboticsMarshall IndustriesInvest Long BeachLong Beach EDOCBREHSBC Innovation BankingFenwickBlueCore EnergyRe:Build ManufacturingVolund ManufacturingBanc of CaliforniaCooleyMorgan StanleyType One VenturesArkenstone DefenseSavillsNooks

These companies and institutions made the 2026 week possible, with more than 40 others on the full partner wall. For 2027, write to convene@sparrowpoint.org.

Questions

When and where is 2027? In Southern California. The dates and host city will be announced here.

Who attends? Founders and operators building critical technology, partners at deep-tech and defense funds, program leads from DIU, AFRL, ONR and DARPA, and executives from the industrial primes. The cohort is curated.

How do I apply? Applications for 2027 are coming soon, here. Founders with shipping products will be reviewed first.

Is any of it open to the public? Yes. District forums and the receptions are open by application; the flagship summits and founder dinners stay cohort-only. Roughly a third of the week is open.

What rule applies in the rooms? Chatham House by default. On-the-record sessions are marked, and only those are recorded and published.

Can I sponsor or partner? Yes. Write to convene@sparrowpoint.org and we reply within 5 business days. Title and presenting tiers are exclusive.

Can I host a side event? Yes. Funds, primes, labs and community builders host events under the SDTW banner. They need a real program with a stated thesis. Recruiting-only events and vendor pitches don't qualify.

Do you credential press? Yes. Working journalists and independent writers covering deep tech are prioritized; credentials are confirmed 2 to 3 weeks before kickoff.

Who runs SDTW? An independent core team and a rotating host council, under the Sparrow Point Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Partners fund the week.

Anything else? 20 answers on the full FAQ, or write to convene@sparrowpoint.org.

An aircraft parked outside an open hangar where a reception is set up

See you in 2027

Southern California, dates to come. More on 2027 is coming soon.

2027 coming soon