XPO+ Site Visits

• Location: Detroit Smart Parking Lab (1701 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48216)
• Timing: Tuesday, May 12 | 11:00am – 1:00pm
• Transportation: Shuttle

About Birdstop
Birdstop Fealty is an American-Made autonomous drone system with 24/7 data capture that can be autonomously flown from anywhere.

What You’ll Experience

• Guided tour of DSPL featuring emerging mobility technology across several sectors
• Live Birdstop drone flight demonstrations
• Discussion with both Birdstop and DSPL leadership and technical experts

Agenda Snapshot

• 10 min: Shuttle to DSPL
• 30 min: Tour of DSPL
• 70 min: Birdstop Featly drone demonstration
• 10 min: Shuttle to Huntington Place

• Location: 1400 Rosa Parks Blvd, Detroit, MI
• Timing: Monday, May 11 | 10:00am – 12:30pm
• Transportation: Walking

About LIFT
LIFT, the National Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is a nonprofit, public-private partnership with the Department of Defense connecting industry, academia and government in support of our nation’s economy and national security. LIFT, and its partners, Drives American Advanced Manufacturing Into the Future through technology and talent development by accelerating the development and deployment of innovative advanced materials and manufacturing processes into the industrial base on behalf of the warfighter, along with the educational tools needed to utilize those innovations.

LIFT’s 100,000-square-foot headquarters in Detroit, Michigan showcases the “art of the possible” in the future of manufacturing and serves as a sandbox where the U.S. industrial base can design, test, and prototype new materials, processes, systems, and curricula. Highlights of LIFT’s facility tour include LIFT’s Advanced Metallic Production and Processing Center, Advanced Characterization Lab, Learning Lab, Humvee Project Display, Siemens Digital Twin Smart Factory Showcase, and Kearney Digital Model Factory.

What You’ll Experience
Explore LIFT’s 100,000-square-foot innovation showcase through a series of guided tour stops that immerse you in advanced manufacturing technology, materials innovation, and workforce development at a national DoD-supported manufacturing innovation institute, where public–private partnership is in action.

Participants will tour:

• Kearney Digital Model Factory – See Industry 4.0 and smart factory technologies improve efficiency, safety, and quality through an engaging, hands-on line.
• Siemens eXplore Center – Learn how digital twins and automation optimize real production workflows.
• Advanced Metallics Production & Processing Center – Explore R&D-scale metal powder and feedstock production capabilities
• Advanced Characterization Lab – Understand how data links chemistry, processing history, and performance.
• LIFT Learning Lab – Industrial lab experiences giving students and workers the manufacturing competitive edge.

Agenda Snapshot

• 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM: Leave for LIFT
• 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Registration & Networking
• 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: LIFT welcome & overview
• 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: LIFT High Bay Tour begins, stops include:
  • Kearney – Digital Model Factory
  • Siemens – Explore Center
  • LIFT – Advanced Metallics Production & Processing Cetner (AMPP)
  • LIFT – Characterization Lab
  • LIFT – Learning Lab
• 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Q&A & Closing Remarks
• 12:30 PM: Tour ends, depart for Huntington Place
• 12:45 PM: Arrive at Huntington Place

Status: Registration opening soon

NEWLAB DETROIT TOUR

• Location: Newlab Detroit | 2050 15th St., Detroit, MI 48216
• Timing: Tuesday, May 12 | 10:30am – 12:30pm
• Transportation: Private shuttle service from Huntington Place

About Newlab
Newlab is a venture platform for critical technology startups transforming core industrial sectors. We help startups commercialize faster by aligning Infrastructure, Commercialization Projects, and Capital in locations with strategic advantages. Newlab operates 5 innovation hubs globally and manages active pilot programming in additional regions. To date, Newlab has partnered with over 50 industry and government leaders and has supported its 400+ member companies in raising over $5.8B from venture capital firms, with over $2.3B of successful exits and a collective valuation of over $20B. Visit www.newlab.com to learn more.

What You’ll Experience

• Behind-the-scenes access to Newlab’s Detroit facility, including advanced product realization labs for prototyping and manufacturing.
• Guided tour of how startups design, build, and deploy autonomous systems in a real-world industrial environment.
• Direct engagement with founders and engineers working across airspace management, autonomous platforms, and advanced sensing technologies.
• Featured startups include Airspace Link, Aurelius Systems, and Birdstop.

Agenda Snapshot

• 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Departure from Huntington Place
• 10:50 AM – 11:05 AM: Arrival + Welcome Remarks
  • Newlab Leadership Team
• 11:05 AM – 12:15 PM: Guided Facility Tour + Startup Demonstrations
• 12:15 PM – 12:30 PM: Departure from Newlab to Huntington Place

Swarm Defense & Firefly Drone Shows

• Location: 1900 Opdyke Ct, Auburn Hills, MI, 48326
• Timing: Monday, May 11 | 10:00am – 1:00pm
• Transportation: We will arrange transportation based on group size (let us know if you have a suggestion for pick up/drop off spot).

Brief Organizational Description
Swarm Defense Technologies is a Detroit-area defense company that builds scalable, mission-ready drone swarms for offensive strikes, counter-UAS defense, and rapid deployment. Spun out from Firefly Drone Shows in August 2024, the company designs and manufactures its hardware, software, and electronics in-house at its Auburn Hills, Michigan facility. Its proprietary deconfliction algorithm enables a single operator to coordinate thousands of drones in minutes, supporting targetry systems for military training, swarm-coordination software, and one-way attack drones. The company was recently selected as one of 25 firms in the first phase of the U.S. Department of War's $1.1 billion Drone Dominance Program and is aggressively scaling production.

Firefly Drone Shows is America's only fully U.S.-built drone light show company, headquartered in the Detroit-area. Founded in 2017, it became one of the first three companies ever licensed by the FAA to operate drone shows and has grown into the premier end-to-end provider in the country, producing more than 300 shows per year for private and corporate events. Firefly engineers every drone, circuit board, and line of code in-house, and runs an in-house animation studio that designs original formations, lighting effects, and storytelling sequences. Beyond live performances, the company also sells and leases its drone show systems to operators launching their own drone show businesses.

What You’ll Experience
Guests will visit our Auburn Hills, Michigan headquarters — the home of both Firefly Drone Shows and Swarm Defense Technologies — for an inside look at leading American drone manufacturer. The tour walks through the engineering, electronics, and production floors where every drone, circuit board, and line of code is designed and built in-house, then steps into our animation and flight operations studios. Attendees will see firsthand how the same technology behind hundreds of FAA-approved light shows each year now powers mission-ready swarms for U.S. defense applications. The visit closes with a live demonstration of coordinated multi-drone flight, showcasing the deconfliction software that lets a single operator launch and command large swarms in minutes.

Agenda Snapshot

• 10:00 AM: Leave for Facility via arranged transportation
• 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Arrive at Facility, Registration & Networking
• 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM: Welcome & overview
• 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM: Facility Tour
• 11:45 AM – 12:15 PM: Drone Demonstration
• 12:15 PM: Tour ends, depart for Huntington Place
• 12:45 PM – 1:00 PM: Arrive at Huntington Place