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Design Engagement Summit
September 29 - October 1, 2026
GET YOUR TICKETS
St. John’s, NL, Canada
47°33'31.8"N, 52°42'51.1"W
COUNTDOWN
00:00:00:00

Three days with people 
who ship hardware.

The best conversations happen between engineers who do what you do. For three days in St. John's, that is the whole room.
Itinerary
Speakers
ARRIVAL & KICKOFF
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026
9:00am-2:00pm
Strategy Meetings w. Your CoLab Team
(Optional)
CoLab HQ

2:00pm-4:45pm

Registration

The Delta Hotel

4:45pm-5:00pm

Meet @ Delta Hotel for Transportation

The Delta Hotel

5:15pm-8:00pm
Welcome Party
Quidi Vidi Brewery
DAY 01
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026
DAY 02
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2026
8:15am-9:15am
Breakfast
The JAG Hotel (Level 2)
9:15am-10:20am

KEYNOTE

The EngineeringOS: What we’re building and why it matters now

Adam Keating

Co-Founder & CEO

CoLab

10:20am-10:40am

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVES

Accelerating program speed to meet the demands of modern aerospace and defense

James Hoare

CTO, Engines & Power Systems

Honeywell Aerospace

10:40am-11:00am

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVES

Agile engineering for business jets: Inside Bombardier’s AI transformation

Nadia Malik (Head of Digital Strategy) & Geneviève Leblanc (VP Engineering)

Bombardier

11:00am-11:20am
Beverage, Refreshment & Networking Break
11:20am-11:40am

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVES

Engineering 2035: From collaboration to collective intelligence

Stephen Gibson

Head of Product Development

Autoneum

11:40am-12:00pm

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVES

Engineering at the speed of knowledge: The roadmap for faster innovation at Molex

Mike Deppe

Global VP Product Development

Molex

12:00pm-1:00pm
Networking Lunch
1:00pm-1:25pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

Accelerating R&D with AI reviews and early cross-functional engagement

David Glasser

Sr. Engineering Manager, R&D

Bobcat Company

1:25pm-1:50pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

Digitizing design reviews for a high-mix, low volume ETO business

Heidi Balestrieri

Director of Engineering

Sentry Equipment

1:50pm-2:15pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

Iterating until there’s zero feedback: Autoneum’s approach to design quality

Katarzyna Werys

Product Development Manager

Autoneum

2:15pm-2:40pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

How Schaeffler runs DFM collaboration across tiered stakeholders

Avip Bastakoti

Development Engineer

Schaeffler

2:40pm-3:00pm
Beverage, Refreshment & Networking Break
3:00pm-3:25pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

Generating and prioritizing cost-down ideas for price sensitive consumer products

Bridget Daly

Program Manager

Edwards Vacuum

3:25pm-3:50pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

Product launch case study: Balancing quality and speed under competitive pressure

Matt O'Donnell

Sr. Engineering Manager

E-Z-GO / Textron

3:50pm-4:15pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

The future of next-gen AI device development and the role of Brooks and CoLab

Andrew Barada

Senior Director & Head of Engineering

Brooks Automation

4:15pm-5:00pm

KEYNOTE

Challenger: Lessons from the Space Shuttle program
Adam Higginbotham
NYT Bestselling Author
Challenger: A true story of heroism and disaster on the edge of space
6:00pm

INDUSTRY DINNERS

CoLab will facilitate small group dinners, organized by industry, for peer-to-peer networking and discussion in a relaxed setting. Details to be shared 1:1 via email.
8:00am-9:00am
Breakfast
The JAG Hotel (Level 2)
9:00am-10:00am

KEYNOTE

Inside the CoLab roadmap: New features, big bets & first looks

Jeremy Andrews

Co-Founder & CTO

CoLab

10:00am-10:30am

TRAINING SESSION

Getting more out of your design reviews: Best practices and pro tips to move beyond basic workflows

Gianluca Capraro

CoLab

10:30am-10:45am
Beverage, Refreshment & Networking Break
10:45am-11:15am

TRAINING SESSION

High-quality AI outputs start upstream: How to optimize your data and practices for AutoReview and Operator

Shahed Saleh & Sam Ellis

CoLab

11:15am-11:45am

TRAINING SESSION

Beyond AutoReview: Emerging AI use cases with Canvas, Notebooks, and Operator

Nick Shryock & Lucas Walker

CoLab

11:45am-12:15pm

USE CASE DEEP DIVE

A power user’s practical guide to CoLab adoption

Adam D'Angelo

Project Engineer III

RYOBI / TTI

12:15pm-1:00pm
Networking Lunch
1:00pm-2:00pm

ENGINEERING ECOSYSTEM DEMOS

EngOS Ecosystem: CAD, PLM, simulation, and frontier technology partners. Presented in partnership with Ansys & Databricks

Taylor Young

CoLab

with guest speakers from ANSYS & Databricks

2:00pm-2:30pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

From bold AI vision to operating reality: An implementation story

Nikhil Nair

Engineering Manager - Strategy

Bombardier

2:30pm-2:45pm
Beverage, Refreshment & Networking Break
2:45pm-3:10pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

Faster by design: how Schaeffler E-drives R&D reacts to the environment

Markus Steinberger

R&D Director - eMobility

Schaeffler

3:10pm-3:35pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

Inside AGCO’s digital engineering program: from design review to ECN

Stan Kroeker

PLM & CAD Administrator

AGCO

3:35pm-4:00pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

Agile product development: lessons from Volvo’s benchmark program

Maria Barrenechea

Electrical Design Engineer

Volvo Construction

4:00pm-4:30pm

PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT

Multi-site internal and external collaboration for quoting and NPI

Robert Boody

CEO

Structure Medical

4:30pm-5:00pm
DES Awards & Closing Remarks
Adam Keating + Stephen Gibson
6:00pm
Closing Party: “Downtown St. John’s Crawl” starting @ CoLab HQ
Adam Higginbotham
Keynote: Challenger - Lessons from the space shuttle program
NAME
Adam Higginbotham
REV
A
On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL on its 25th mission. 73 seconds into flight, the space shuttle disintegrated in front of a TV audience of millions. This was the result of a cascade of engineering decisions going back years. In this keynote, NYT bestselling author Adam Higginbotham recounts the story of Challenger: the pressure, the stakes, and the engineering decisions behind the infamous space shuttle disaster.
nadia malik
nadia malik
JOB TITLE
Head of Strategy, Digital & Governance
REV
A
COMPANY
Bombardier
stefan hauck
stefan hauck
JOB TITLE
HEAD OF PMT, MECHANICAL 
& ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
REV
A
COMPANY
schaeffler
stephen gibson
stephen gibson
JOB TITLE
hEAD OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
REV
A
COMPANY
Autoneum
stephen gibson
John Hubbert
JOB TITLE
Head of ENgineering
REV
A
COMPANY
Whale Tankers
James Hoare
James Hoare
JOB TITLE
VP Engineering & CTO
REV
A
COMPANY
Honeywell Engines & Power Systems
APPLY TO BE A SPEAKER
steve rogers
JOB TITLE
Head of Mechanical Design
REV
A
COMPANY
snap
Genevieve Leblanc
Genevieve Leblanc
JOB TITLE
VP ENgineering
REV
A
COMPANY
Bombardier
Bridget Daly
MIKE DEPPE
JOB TITLE
Global VP of Product Development
REV
A
COMPANY
MOLEX
Heidi Balestrieri
Heidi Balestrieri
JOB TITLE
Director of
Engineering
REV
A
COMPANY
Sentry Equipment
Winston Wang
Winston Wang
JOB TITLE
Sr. Staff Product Manager, Agentic AI
REV
A
COMPANY
Ansys
Israel Crisostomo Zamudio
Israel Crisostomo Zamudio
JOB TITLE
director OF product ENGINEERING
REV
A
COMPANY
AUTONEUM
Markus steinberger
Markus steinberger
JOB TITLE
director R&D emobility
REV
A
COMPANY
schaeffler
Nikhil Nair
Nikhil Nair
JOB TITLE
Manager, Engineering
REV
A
COMPANY
Bombardier
MATT O’DONNELL
MATT O’DONNELL
JOB TITLE
sR eNGINEERING MANAGER, NEXT GEN PTV
REV
A
COMPANY
E-Z-GO
DAVID GLASSER
DAVID GLASSER
JOB TITLE
SENIOR ENGINEERING MANAGER, R&D
REV
A
COMPANY
Bobcat COMPany
katarzyna werys
katarzyna werys
JOB TITLE
DEC Manager katowice & head product development
REV
A
COMPANY
Autoneum
Avip Bastakoti
Avip Bastakoti
JOB TITLE
Project Lead & Development Engineer
REV
A
COMPANY
SchaefFler
STAN Kroeker
STAN Kroeker
JOB TITLE
CAD Coordinator
REV
A
COMPANY
AGCO
Adam D'Angelo
Adam D'Angelo
JOB TITLE
Project Engineer 3
REV
A
COMPANY
Techtronic Industries
Bridget Daly
Bridget Daly
JOB TITLE
Divisional Programme Manager
REV
A
COMPANY
Edwards Vacuum
Bridget Daly
Maria Constanza
Vitorgan Barrenechea
JOB TITLE
Electrical Design Engineer
REV
A
COMPANY
VOLVO
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Stay close 
to the action

We’ve arranged a room block at the Delta Hotels by Marriott 
so you can stay close to the conference and fellow attendees. Book through the link below to access our preferred conference rate. Rooms are available on a first-come, 
first-served basis.

BOOK YOUR ROOM

Learn from the CoLab community at DES '26

Three days with the engineering leaders and teams already using CoLab to change how their work gets done. You'll explore new use cases through peer-led demos, hear executives share their strategic priorities, and get an exclusive look at what's coming next on the roadmap. You'll also have plenty of unstructured time to talk shop with other engineering leaders and the CoLab team.

Stay and explore St. John’s

Room blocks are set up at The Delta Hotel in downtown St. John's so you don't have to think about it. It's walkable to everything, 
right on the waterfront, and some of the best conversations at DES happen over drinks after the sessions wrap.
47.57008° N, 52.68190° W
YER IN FER A TIME, ME OL’ TROUT!
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