How national strategy can drive local opportunities

The future of U.S. maritime manufacturing depends on a stronger, more resilient industrial base. Join us on Wednesday December 11 at 12PM ET for the final installment in our three-part webinar series exploring the challenges and opportunities in building resilient manufacturing platforms. Part III: Integrate Nationally, Catalyze Locally invites leaders, suppliers, and innovators to connect and contribute to the next generation of maritime manufacturing as Navy partner BlueForge Alliance outlines how national strategy can catalyze real, local impact.

Speaker

 

Jon Mogford
EVP, Strategy & Technology
BlueForge Alliance

Jon Mogford, PhD, joined BlueForge Alliance in August of 2025 as executive vice president for Strategy and Technology. In this role, he provides strategic planning leadership for BlueForge work in applying supply chain, workforce development and training and technology integration into the Defense Industrial Base.

Prior to joining BlueForge, Dr. Mogford led a range of science & technology organizations including a mission-driven federal office focused on high-risk/high-reward programs and a large academic research enterprise. His federal service includes stints as a program manager (2005-2009) and deputy director (2009-2011) of the DARPA/Defense Sciences Office (DSO). He also recently served as deputy chief of commercial strategy in the DARPA Director’s Office (2023-2024) before recruitment into the executive office of the president (2024-2025).

DARPA/DSO programs spanned all disciplines including materials, manufacturing, quantum physics, pure mathematics, neurosciences, and biomedical technology. As DSO Deputy Director, he supported more than 20 program managers and orchestrated office investments ranging from the fundamental sciences to commercial transition efforts for both defense and non-defense applications.

From 2013-2021, Dr. Mogford served as vice chancellor for research for the Texas A&M University System providing R&D leadership to the system’s eleven universities and eight state agencies encompassing 25,000 faculty and staff and research expenditures of 1 billion annually. In this role, he led the establishment of System-level Master Research Agreements with multiple partners including IBM, Philips Healthcare, Kubota, 3M, and Facebook.