8090: Minerals, Energy to Manufacturing - Forging the Future in the Fires of Industry
About This Event
8090 focuses on reindustrializing America with strategic investments in heavy manufacturing, resource extraction, robotics, energy, and national security.
Keynote - Billy Thalheimer, Co-Founder and CEO REGENT
Panel 1 - Power to Prosperity: Electrons, Baseload Power and the Rise of New Energy Titans
Speakers: Hannan (Exowatt) and Carlos (Quaise Energy)
Panel 2 - Factory Floor to Frontier: America's New Industrialists.
Speakers: Fil (Dirac), Olu (Solideon), Aaron (Atomic Industries), and Tom (Regent)
Panel 3 - Core to Commerce: Rebuilding America's Mineral Supply Chain.
Speakers: Ted (Durin), Hooman (Solcoa), and Kai (Ilium)
Speakers
Billy Thalheimer
CEO & Co-Founder · REGENT
keynoteBilly Thalheimer is the CEO and Co-Founder of REGENT (Regional Electric Ground Effect Nautical Transport), building electric seagliders that fly over water at up to 180mph for routes up to 180 miles. The 12-passenger Viceroy is the largest-ever all-electric flying machine. REGENT has raised over $90 million from 8090 Industries, Founders Fund, Japan Airlines, and Lockheed Martin, with a $9 billion global order book. Billy holds BS/MS degrees in Aerospace Engineering from MIT, led flight physics modeling for Boeing's electric air taxi at Aurora Flight Sciences, and is a competitive aerobatic pilot.
Aaron Slodov
Co-Founder & CEO · Atomic Industries
Aaron Slodov is the Co-Founder and CEO of Atomic Industries, the world's first AI-powered tool and die maker based in Detroit. Atomic's mission is to replicate high-skill trade knowledge into AI that powers manufacturing systems which are orders of magnitude more productive. The company has raised a $25M Series A and previously a $17M seed led by Narya. Aaron studied physics, pursued a PhD in power systems engineering, worked at Google as an operations engineer, and co-founded Remesh, an AI market research startup that raised over $40 million.
Filip Aronshtein
Co-Founder & CEO · Dirac
Filip Aronshtein is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dirac, which builds BuildOS—an automated work instruction platform that generates precise assembly instructions directly from CAD files. "We don't have a labor crisis; we have a context crisis. You can't reshore production if nobody remembers how to build." With $10.7M in funding from Founders Fund and Coatue and a strategic partnership with Siemens, Dirac is bridging engineering to manufacturing execution. Filip holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and MS in Robotics from Johns Hopkins, worked as a Hardware Engineer at Northrop Grumman, and taught quantum software development at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Oluseun Taiwo
Founder & CEO · Solideon
Oluseun Taiwo is the Founder and CEO of Solideon (formerly Additive Space Technologies), a robotics-enabled aerospace manufacturing company combining machine learning, collaborative robots, and 3D welding. Their goal: design, build, and fly 70% quicker than anyone else. Recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30, Olu was the first American to launch a 3D-printed rocket engine in 2017 at Rocketlab as employee #15. He spearheaded 3D-printing initiatives at Argonne National Lab, Virgin Orbit, and 3D Systems. Solideon is based in Berkeley and has raised funding from 8090 Industries, 1517 Fund, Boost VC, and Techstars Space.
Tom Huntley
VP of Government Relations and Defense · REGENT
Tom Huntley serves as Vice President of Government Relations and Defense and General Manager of REGENT Defense. He is a former USCG Lieutenant Commander, MH-60T Helicopter Aircraft Commander, Instructor Pilot, and Deputy Operations Officer at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, where he led crews conducting search and rescue, law enforcement, and Arctic domain awareness missions. He is passionate about the intersection of business, technology, and government, and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.
