Ep. 64: Nathan Diller, Divergent Industries

Описание: From Hypercar to Hypersonics: How Divergent is Revolutionizing Digital Manufacturing

In this episode of Crossing the Valley, we sit down with Nathan Diller, Head of Aerospace & Defense at Divergent and retired Air Force Colonel, to explore how digital manufacturing is reshaping America's industrial base.

🎯 Key Discussion Points:
The Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) - Making hardware move at the speed of software
From Proof to Production - How Divergent transitioned from building the world's fastest production car (253 mph!) to defense applications
Government Partnership Strategy - Working with primes like General Atomics and directly with DoD labs to crack the federal market
Qualification Challenges - Navigating airworthiness and safety certifications for 3D printed aerospace parts
The Manufacturing Crisis - Why America's drop to 15% of global manufacturing (vs China's 45%) threatens deterrence

💡 Notable Quote:
"Near term: weapons at volume to preserve peace, to get deterrence. Long term: weapons, cars, airplanes at scale to bring back our manufacturing renaissance that wins prosperity. So peace and prosperity - that's all I'm asking for." - Nathan Diller

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction to Divergent and DAPS system
00:02:00 Nate's background and career journey
00:03:00 The Divergent vision for digital manufacturing
00:05:00 Why digital manufacturing matters for America
00:09:00 From Pentagon to Congress to private sector
00:12:30 Go-to-market strategy and partnerships
00:18:00 General Atomics partnership
00:22:00 Parts qualification process
00:25:00 Customer acquisition and sales approach
00:27:00 Family business culture at Divergent
00:28:30 Vision for weapons at volume and prosperity
00:29:00 SBIR program and government shutdown
00:34:00 State of American manufacturing landscape
00:36:00 Contact information and closing

About Our Guest:
Nathan Diller brings a unique perspective spanning 22 years of Air Force service as a test pilot, director of AFWERX (managing SBIR programs), staff work on House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, and now leading aerospace & defense at one of the most innovative manufacturing companies in America.

Learn More:
Divergent: https://divergent3d.com
Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn:   / nathan-p-diller  

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