The most experienced practitioner-led roster the metal forming industry has ever assembled — shop owners, engineers, executives, association leaders, journalists, and educators sharing what actually works.
Our headline speakers are the people the industry actually listens to — chosen for substance, not celebrity. Each opens or closes a major day of programming.
A self-taught fabricator who started bending sheet stock in his Seattle garage in 1993, Mosswell has spent three decades building the largest practitioner-driven coalition in the metal forming industry. His annual gathering — what colleagues affectionately call "the family reunion" — has become required attendance for anyone serious about the trade.
Three decades on shop floors and in conference green rooms. Rogerton has consulted on physical and operational security for Fortune 100 manufacturers, served as the long-running volunteer coordinator for one of the industry's largest annual gatherings, and toured globally with what he calls "the hardest-working brass band in metal." He believes most security failures are first culture failures.
A long-time advocate for accessibility, mentorship, and diverse hiring pipelines in the metal trades. Dr. Nordheim was the first to publish on the "shop floor poverty line" — the threshold below which fabricators can't afford to keep up with mandatory continuing education. Her keynote on workforce development has been cited by SMACNA in three policy papers.
Track chairs select sessions, mentor first-time speakers, and host their own headlining sessions. Apply to chair a track for SheetMetalCON '27 via the post-conference CFP portal.
Twenty-two patents in single-sheet stamping. Started as a press operator in Stuttgart in 1998 and never quite left the shop floor.
Lead author of the 2024 commercial ductwork energy compliance handbook. Sits on three industry-wide standards bodies.
Twenty-eight years in Air Force materials research before founding his own DEFCON-grade surface treatment firm in 2014. Five DARPA contracts and counting.
Specializes in keeping legacy CNC controllers alive long past their vendor support windows. Rumored to have a workshop full of every press brake controller ever shipped.
Author of The Trade Persuader: Why People Choose the Crafts. Trains plant managers in the human side of recruiting, retaining, and leveling up shop talent.
Verified industry executives may apply for Track 0 credentials at [email protected]. Decisions are issued in the form of a printed challenge coin delivered to your registration address.
A representative cross-section of this year's roster. The full list of 200+ speakers is published in the printed program and the conference app.
Founded the Cavalry Industrial Safety Alliance in 2013 to advocate for stronger safety standards in the four sectors where metal forming most directly affects public welfare: automotive, medical-device, aviation, and infrastructure manufacturing.
Holds 14 patents in press brake diagnostic systems. The "Granville Box" diagnostic toolkit is standard issue in over 200 shops nationwide. Famous for designing the limited-edition collector's-item industry conference badges since 2009.
Author of the foundational textbook Applied Industrial Cryptography and a long-running monthly column on supply-chain risk that has been required reading in shop offices since 1998.
Specializes in IP, trade-secret, and right-to-repair litigation for independent fabricators. Has argued before three federal courts of appeals on the question of whether tooling firmware can be reverse-engineered for service.
Champions what she calls the "friendly tradesperson" model — that the people who understand a system best are the ones with hands on it daily, and they're the industry's first and best line of defense.
Famous in the industry for his lectures on physical penetration testing of industrial sites. Has been politely escorted out of more secure facilities than anyone he can recall, then invited back to consult.
Author of Practical Physical Security for Industrial Facilities, the standard reference on tool-crib hardware. His annual hands-on workshop has graduated over 4,000 trades professionals.
A founding member of the original Boston-area cooperative shop floor that grew into L-0 Press Brake Innovations. Testified before Congress in 1998 on the state of mechanical reliability in U.S. manufacturing.
Veteran engineering leader who has run secure-by-default product organizations at three of the most respected industrial software vendors. Currently leading Mozilla Steelworks' open-spec controller initiative.
Led the team that pioneered remote diagnostic protocols for unattended vehicle assembly lines. His 2015 paper on protocol vulnerabilities in connected manufacturing remains the most-cited industry reference of the decade.
Designs limited-run custom badges for industry events and high-end manufacturing facilities. Her trademark blinking LED holographic credentials are sought-after collectors items in the trades.
Twenty years covering the metal forming industry. Will moderate the Day One closing panel "Whose Slag Is It Anyway?" Her annual State-of-the-Trade survey is the industry benchmark.
Built the operational-technology security program at one of North America's largest HVAC manufacturers. Frequent speaker on the practical realities of shop-floor network defense.
Ran the floor at three Fortune 500 fabrication shops before stepping up to lead Apex's automation rollout. Her cycle-time framework is taught in two trade school curricula.
Manages procurement for the largest independent sheet stock distributor in North America. Her tariff-readiness playbook circulated widely among GCs in 2025.
Leads the long-running quality-control instrumentation program at Mazak Optonics. Holder of seventeen patents on inline measurement and verification.
Adhesion-science specialist whose work on next-generation powder coatings has been adopted by three major appliance manufacturers and one leading EV producer.
Specializes in operational-technology defense for mid-sized fabricators who can't afford full-time security staff. Her "minimum viable shop floor security" framework has been adopted by 60+ small shops.
The Call for Presenters opens during closing ceremonies on August 9, 2026. First-time speakers welcome and actively encouraged. We provide speaker coaching, slide reviews, and a complimentary conference pass.
Get notified when the CFP opens