During this Industry Day, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the Challenge scope and logistics, showcase material innovations, network with innovators, government stakeholders and operational end users and private pitch advanced material solutions.

Briefings
The Industry Day will include briefings from AFFOA, CPE CBRND stakeholders and operational end users who will share more about the mission need, operational challenges, technical performance objectives, and evaluation criteria. Ample time will be provided for Q&A.

Networking Session and Demo Tables
The briefings will be followed by a networking session where attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for a Demo Table to showcase material developments and capabilities.

Private Pitch Sessions
After a brief lunch break, qualified companies will have the opportunity to individually and privately pitch their material solutions to the Challenge evaluation panel, providing direct access to and increasing awareness and visibility with key challenge stakeholders.

The Industry Day is designed to provide prospective participants with a deeper understanding of the challenge while creating opportunities for direct engagement with key users and partners. Participation in Industry Day is strongly encouraged but not required to compete in the Challenge. 

If your company has a commercially available or a high technology readiness level (TRL) material solution and you are interested in learning more or participating in this challenge, then pitching your technology solution at Industry Day is a great opportunity to increase awareness and get initial feedback from the Challenge evaluation panel.

In order to lock in a pitch session slot, you must submit a request via the form below by July 24, 2026. 

All pitch participants must also register for the Industry Day.

Pitches are limited to 10 minutes, followed by a Q&A session with the evaluation panel.

AFFOA will confirm Pitch Session availability and scheduling as soon as possible and provide a template to guide the conversation. In general, pitch participants should be prepared to share material samples and discuss their solution(s) technical capabilities, performance characteristics, manufacturing readiness, operational relevance, and potential advantages over existing solutions.

To protect confidentiality, participants may not attend pitch sessions for other competitors.

If your organization has any non-disclosure or confidentiality requirements, please notify AFFOA by July 23.

The Challenge is open to U.S. organizations as well as organizations located outside the U.S. based on qualifying country provisions contained in DFARS 225.003, and the exception for chemical warfare protective clothing acquisitions contained in DFARS 225.7002-2(m)(2). As of February 2026, qualifying countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. 

A limited number of Demo Tables are available for the Industry Day to highlight textile technologies and material samples relevant to the Challenge. You can reserve your demo table while registering for this event.