FORT WAYNE, Ind . — Mark Lewis, president and CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, had the honor of leading a panel discussion about “Indiana’s Defense Footprint” at the Third annual Northeast Indiana Defense Summit at Purdue University’s Fort Wayne campus on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

Purdue University President Mung Chiang was a special guest speaker at the event, presented by the Northeast Indiana Defense Industry Association hosted.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) hosted this half-day forum, a yearly gathering that brings together lawmakers, local government officials, defense industry and technology leaders and economic development leaders in support of Northeast Indiana’s defense industry. Joining Lewis on the panel were John Chadbourne, executive vice president and chief business development officer at AM General; John Shade, executive vice president of U.S. business development and future programs at Rolls-Royce North America; Edward Cook, vice president and general manager at Ultra Maritime US; Rob Mitrevski, vice president and general manager for special solutions at L3 Harris Technologies.