Inaugural Global CATALYZE Summit Coming to Michigan Central in 2026

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in New York is launching a new conference focused on accelerating sustainable industrial transformation and doing so at Newlab Detroit and Michigan Central Station.
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Michigan Central Station in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood is set to host the inaugural American Society of Mechanical Engineers CATALYZE Summit from June 17-18, 2026.
Michigan Central Station in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood is set to host the inaugural American Society of Mechanical Engineers CATALYZE Summit from June 17-18, 2026. // Photo courtesy of Michigan Central

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in New York is launching a new conference focused on accelerating sustainable industrial transformation and doing so at Newlab Detroit and Michigan Central Station.

The inaugural ASME CATALYZE summit is set for June 17-18, 2026, and is expected to bring together engineers, investors, and industry leaders to address the urgent challenges and opportunities of the next industrial revolution.

The event is being co-produced by ASME and Constructive, an independent nonprofit reshaping collaboration across energy and climate ecosystems.

ASME CATALYZE is designed to connect the engineers who solve problems with the organizations and leaders who scale solutions — bridging the gap between breakthrough technologies and real-world industrial buildout.

As nations rebuild manufacturing bases, power demand surges, and artificial intelligence redefines competition, the summit seeks to catalyze action on decarbonization, resilience, and innovation — issues at the center of a multi-trillion-dollar global opportunity.

“ASME CATALYZE is not a traditional conference — it’s an interactive, execution-focused convening,” says Tom Costabile, executive director of ASME. “We’re assembling the community that will shape the next industrial revolution, leveraging ASME’s 145 years of engineering leadership to move promising, sustainable technologies and partnerships from talk to action.”

Key focus areas for the summit include engineering to meet rising energy demand, advancing industrial decarbonization, and unleashing advanced manufacturing technologies. Cross-cutting themes will address workforce development, standards, finance, AI and digital transformation, policy, and resilience planning.

The summit’s program will feature interactive sessions, roundtables, workshops, and demonstrations that tackle questions around issues such as affordability, risk, standardization, and speed of deployment of new industrial technologies.

Participants are expected from among ASME’s global network of 75,000 engineers and technologists, as well as industry certifiers, entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers, all working to deploy scalable solutions for energy, manufacturing, and workforce transformation.

By hosting CATALYZE at Michigan Central, ASME says it’s signaling its commitment to fostering tangible progress in Detroit, a city now serving as a laboratory for industrial reinvention.

“There is no better place to shape the next industrial revolution than Michigan Central, where we are bridging Detroit’s heritage of making with the technologies that will define a sustainable future,” says Carolina Pluszczynski, COO of Michigan Central. “We are excited to welcome the inaugural ASME CATALYZE summit and leaders across industries to not only be immersed in our innovation ecosystem but also create connections that spark real change.”

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