Join DARPA for an office-wide industry day in Orlando in January

DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is hosting a Discover DSO Day (D3) gathering in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 13, 2026, to connect with the nation’s science and technology community. D3 Orlando follows similar outreach events in Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston held over the past two years.

DSO focuses on nascent and emergent technologies that could result in breakthrough capabilities for national security and seeks to demonstrate beyond-state-of-the-art technologies through targeted, high-risk/high-reward development efforts.

"DARPA is committed to high-risk, high-reward research with the potential to deliver transformative impact for our warfighters and our nation,” said DSO Director Bart Russell. “For D3 Orlando, we’ve streamlined our program to give attendees more opportunity to hear from and engage with DARPA program managers.

“We’ve scheduled a series of moderated panel discussions with DSO program managers sharing their approaches to disruption and identifying major technical challenges requiring community engagement. Our intent is to equip participants with a clearer picture of our goals and where their contributions can help drive rapid progress.”

Presentation and discussion topics will include:

• The future of sensing, focused on opportunities and challenges in sensing (classical and quantum)
• New approaches and unique defense challenges to computation and processing Enabling military operations in challenging environments, focused on resilience, reliability, and new capabilities for warfighters
• New approaches to energy and access, addressing logistical bottlenecks and sustained operations in extreme environments
• DARPA’s streamlined contracting processes for faster tech innovation
• Breaking down barriers of entry for new performers to help DARPA develop the next groundbreaking solutions to transition to U.S. warfighters
• Accelerating transition from bench to battlefield

The event will also include a poster session where program managers and DARPA Innovation Fellows will present their technical areas of interest and engage with attendees.

In addition to traditional DARPA research programs (e.g. Broad Agency Announcements) and small-business innovation/technology (SBIR/STTR) efforts, other engagement opportunities include:

• Disruption Opportunities: Two-year efforts designed to quickly validate the key technical challenges of promising concepts
• DARPA Young Faculty Award program:  Identifies and engages early-career university researchers
• DARPAConnect: A free resource to help those new to DARPA navigate how to work with the agency

Registration information

D3 is an in-person only event, and seating is limited. A tentative agenda and additional details are available on the registration website.

To maximize available space for researcher attendance and facilitate open dialogue, we are unable to accommodate requests for media participation.

Registration closes Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET, or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first.