MICRO JOURNEYS PODCAST
About Dan Marrujo
Daniel Marrujo is a former Chief Strategy Officer and former Director of the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) at the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA).
Mr. Marrujo began his career at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ., developing missile guidance systems for their advanced programs. He then moved to DMEA, in his hometown of Sacramento, CA., working for the Trusted Integrated Circuit (IC) program office. In conjunction with working on the Trusted IC program, he began working towards the development of DMEA’s reliability capabilities and was selected to lead the National High Reliability Electronics Virtual Center (HiREV).
Mr. Marrujo also established the NRO’s VS&E program which has executed a number of solutions protecting National Security. As a subject matter expert, he has provided his technical expertise in multiple DARPA, IARPA and National Security Space programs. His focus areas are Microelectronics Obsolescence, State of the Art Microelectronics Acquisition, State of the Practice Microelectronics Sustainment, Advanced Packaging, Supply Chain Risk Management, Semiconductor Reliability, Semiconductor Reverse Engineering and Semiconductor Radiation Effects.
In 2016, Mr. Marrujo was selected as DMEA’s Chief Strategy Officer, directly supporting the DMEA directorate. In this position, Mr. Marrujo works with DMEA senior leadership to define and represent the integrated DMEA message and strategic path forward for future engagements.
Latest Episodes
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Benjamin Fowl, Head of Growth for Wild West Systems, at African Lion 2026 to examine a compact drone weapons platform designed to be small, fast, and difficult to detect or shoot down. The conversation covers the system’s platform-agnostic design, its field-tested integration with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and the mechanics of how the drone fires, aims, and returns to base for reuse.
The episode dives into a core challenge facing forces operating in complex terrain: how to deliver a kinetic capability that is lightweight, reusable, and adaptable to the platform a unit already has on hand, without requiring heavy logistics to get the system into and out of theater. Fowl explains how a 3D-printed mounting rail allowed the 173rd to adapt the weapon system to a drone they brought from Italy, going from a modified CAD file to a field-ready mount in under 24 hours.
The solution centers on a platform-agnostic weapons payload, built around a Picatinny rail, that can be swapped between reconnaissance and kinetic missions and refined directly through feedback from the soldiers using it in the field.
In this episode of Micro Journeys, host Daniel Marrujo travels to the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) to explore one of the only facilities in the country capable of simulating deep-space radiation conditions on Earth. Marrujo sits down with Trevor Olsen, a nuclear engineer and physicist who has worked at the facility for over seven years, to break down how NSRL bombards electronic components with high-energy, heavy ions to prepare them for use in space, national security, and commercial applications.
The conversation dives into the mechanics behind the facility’s synchrotron, where a chaotic, naturally occurring beam must be precisely shaped using a series of dipole, quadrupole, and octupole electromagnets. Olsen walks through how the beam evolves from an unpredictable circular shape into the controlled square form required for testing, and how engineers manage magnet strength and RF cavities throughout the acceleration cycle to keep the beam confined and on target.
The solution lies in real-time control: thousands of dynamic systems work simultaneously to deliver a precisely tuned beam, at the exact ion type and energy level requested, ensuring every test replicates space conditions with scientific accuracy.
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Jason Conrad, who leads Arizona State University’s Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub (SWAP Hub), to examine how the United States is working to rebuild its advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities. The conversation covers Conrad’s path from a 23-year career in the semiconductor industry into standing up a national microelectronics initiative, the mechanics of the CHIPS Act and the Microelectronics Commons, and why advanced packaging — not just chip fabrication — is central to the future of AI, drones, and national defense.
The episode dives into a core challenge facing the domestic semiconductor ecosystem: how to reconnect research and manufacturing so that innovations developed in university and national labs can actually reach production at scale. Conrad explains the difference between traditional and advanced packaging, walks through the six technology focus areas driving the SWAP Hub’s work, and lays out why closing the “lab-to-fab” gap matters for workforce development and long-term national security.
