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The Raptor Innovation Summit is far from a typical conference experience. It’s not a sprawling expo where you spend all your time walking the floor, where you’re more likely to get a handful of business cards than have meaningful conversations. 

Now in its third year, New Eagle’s flagship customer and partner event has become a focused, two-day gathering for engineers, developers, and technology leaders working on embedded controls and the Raptor and OpenECU platforms. 

This year’s theme, Engineering for What’s Next, reflects what the event is all about: practical conversations, real-world experience, and the people building the tools and technologies that keep projects moving forward.

If you’ve never attended before, this guide will help you understand what the Summit is, what makes it worth two days on your calendar, and how you can join us in Detroit on September 30 and October 1.

What Is the Raptor Innovation Summit?

At its core, the Raptor Innovation Summit is a customer and partner conference built around a simple idea: bring together the people who use these tools with the people who build them.

Unlike a typical industry event, the Summit is intentionally focused. It’s a room full of engineers, customers, partners, researchers, and developers who share common challenges and often work with the same platforms. That creates a different kind of conversation. There’s less badge scanning and sales pitches, more technical discussions and practical problem solving.

The Summit centers on embedded controls and the Raptor and OpenECU ecosystems. Whether you’re developing electric powertrain systems, autonomous applications, connected solutions, or traditional vehicle controls, you’ll be surrounded by people working on similar problems and speaking the same language.

The group is smaller and more focused so conversations that begin during a session often continue over lunch or into the evening.

The Summit Format – and Why It Works

The two days of the Innovation Summit are designed with a clear rhythm.

Day 1: The Big Picture

Everyone comes together for a big-picture experience that’s focused not on details but creating a common understanding of where technologies, products, and customer priorities are headed. The main stage features New Eagle leadership sharing the vision and product roadmap, plus customer stories, partner perspectives, panel discussions, and fireside chats. 

For OpenECU users in particular, this is an opportunity to hear directly from the team about platform direction and roadmap priorities, as well as connect with the broader engineering organization behind the products you rely on.

Day 2: Build the Plan

The second day shifts from broad perspective to technical depth. We zoom out together on Day 1, then go deeper where it matters to you on Day 2. Attendees can choose the track that best fits their work, with sessions and workshops spanning the following applications:

  • EV/Electrified: Advance electrified platforms with the tools and expertise needed to accelerate development.
  • Autonomous: Bridge the gap between autonomous innovation and real-world implementation.
  • Connected: Develop secure, scalable solutions for an increasingly connected world.
  • Sustained: Keep legacy fleets and assets viable when full replacement isn’t on the table.

Instead of trying to attend everything, spend time digging into the topics that matter most to your projects. With both days taking place at the same venue-the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in downtown Detroit-conversations continue naturally throughout the event.

The Partner Showcase

A hallmark of the Summit is the Partner Showcase, which runs throughout the two-day event. Rather than being separated from the rest of the experience, partner exhibits are located close to the main stage and woven into the flow of the Summit. That makes it easy to stop in between sessions, reconnect with partners, and continue conversations.

The showcase is carefully curated with Raptor users in mind and features New Eagle partners whose technologies complement the broader platform ecosystem. Attendees can see solutions in context and talk directly with the people behind them, helping them discover capabilities, integrations, and approaches they might not otherwise encounter.

What Attendees Love Most

Ask previous attendees what stands out, and one answer comes up again and again: the conversations. The Summit provides the opportunity for people to ask real questions, get direct answers, and compare notes with peers facing similar technical challenges. It’s the place to engage in the kinds of informal discussions, war stories, lessons learned, and practical insights that never make it into a spec sheet.

One attendee described last year’s Summit as:

“An excellent event that brings together like-minded industry professionals that are technology focused. A focus on product improvements, actual use cases and real-world challenges drives valuable discussions.”

Those conversations matter. In the 2025 attendee survey, 45 out of 46 respondents rated networking as valuable or very valuable, and every respondent said they would recommend the Summit to a colleague or peer.

Don’t worry if this would be your first time attending. You’ll be in good company. Most attendees in 2025 were first-timers themselves.

Who’s in the Room?

The Summit brings together customers, partners, vendors, researchers, and the New Eagle engineering team from across automotive, commercial vehicle, off-highway, and adjacent industries. You’ll find tool developers alongside practitioners. Startups alongside established manufacturers. Public and private organizations sharing lessons learned and discussing what’s next.

For OpenECU users, the Summit is also an opportunity to connect with the broader community you are now part of. You’ll hear about platform roadmaps, meet the engineers behind the products, and gain visibility into the ecosystem supporting future development.

If you build on OpenECU, these are your people.

Where the Raptor Community Comes Together

From roadmap discussions to technical workshops, the Raptor Innovation Summit brings together the engineers, customers, and partners building with these platforms every day. Whether you’re part of the OpenECU or Raptor ecosystem, or you’re just beginning to explore it, join us in Detroit, September 30 – October 1.

Two days. One location. A community built around solving real problems. Registration is free, and we’d love to see you there.

Register today and join us for Raptor Innovation Summit 2026: Engineering for What’s Next.

Read on Globe Newswire.

LEXINGTON, Ky., Feb. 03, 2026 – MiddleGround Capital, an operationally focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American and European headquartered middle-market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, today announced it has acquired Pi Innovo, from Dana Incorporated. Pi Innovo, a designer and developer of open platform electronic control systems and control software, will be integrated into MiddleGround’s portfolio company, New Eagle – a provider of proprietary hardware and software controls technology for the automotive, commercial vehicle, off-highway, aerospace and defense industries.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered near Detroit, Michigan, Pi Innovo designs embedded software solutions and electronic control units for electrification, clean fuel, and specialty mobility applications. Pi Innovo’s OpenECUTM product portfolio includes off-the-shelf and project-specific controllers with embedded software as well as application and systems engineering services that support commercial and specialty vehicle OEMs and Tier-1s.

Acquired by MiddleGround in November 2021, New Eagle is an innovator in engineering solutions, delivering electronic systems and control software for automotive, commercial vehicle, off-highway, aerospace and defense industries. The platform focuses on mechatronic controls and supports developers with project management and supply chain coordination, its proprietary Raptor software toolchain and off-the-shelf hardware control solutions. New Eagle’s engineering teams bring extensive experience in designing and deploying electronic systems for electric vehicle propulsion and autonomy programs, guiding projects from initial concept through full production.

“We’re very excited to welcome the talented Pi Innovo team to New Eagle,” said John Stewart, Managing Partner at MiddleGround. “This acquisition offers the opportunity to pursue growth initiatives while broadening the flexible, secure, open functional-safety solutions we provide to customers. It further reinforces our commitment to partnering with innovative technology and engineering companies aligned with our Mobility Thesis.”

“As a long-standing partner to OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers in commercial transportation and specialty mobility, Pi Innovo delivers open platform, configurable ECU solutions with integrated functional safety and cybersecurity capabilities for electric vehicle charging, clean fuel propulsion, and hybrid applications –helping customers accelerate development timelines and reduce time to market,” said Adrian Carnie, Head of Business Development at Pi Innovo. “We aim to enhance collaboration opportunities with customers in partnership with New Eagle by combining our next-generation ECU platforms with New Eagle’s flexible RaptorTM software toolchain and established controls capabilities. Together, we aim to broaden our range of functional safety and cybersecurity-enabled solutions, and to expand into new electrification programs, increasing the support we offer across the full lifecycle of controls development and integration.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Pi Innovo to the New Eagle family,” said Kevin Alley, Chief Commercial Officer, and Parker Mosman, Chief Product Officer, at New Eagle. “Pi Innovo’s controls hardware, software, and engineering services complement New Eagle’s proprietary RaptorTM platform and aims to broaden the range of solutions we offer across both ICE and electrified vehicle programs, supports our focus on the low- to medium-volume automotive segment, and enhancing our ability to bring next-generation solutions to market, with the goal of enabling customers and providing solutions that meet their needs.”

With the acquisition of Pi Innovo, MiddleGround is continuing its focus in the mobility sector, building on its investment in New Eagle in 2021.

About Pi Innovo
Pi Innovo is an expert partner for the design and development of electronic systems and control software for the automotive, transportation, defense, industrial, and aviation industries. Pi Innovo’s multi-skilled engineering teams can develop vehicle electronic systems from concept to production and have applied this capability in recent years to the challenges of vehicle electrification. OpenECU TM is Pi Innovo’s range of adaptable, modular, reusable field-ready products that are implemented to volume production standards, and are fully “open” to custom configuration, adaptation, and further development. The OpenECU TM family includes ECUs, prototyping accessories, electronic circuit libraries, platform base software, model-based control strategies, and application software.

About New Eagle
New Eagle is a pioneer and trusted partner in engineering solutions, specializing in electronic systems and control software development for a wide range of industries, including automotive, transportation, industrial, military, aerospace, and off-highway. New Eagle specializes in mechatronic controls, assisting developers in managing project development, supply chain, cost, and achieving success using our Raptor. eMBD” software platform and off-the-shelf hardware control solutions. Our versatile engineering teams are skilled in developing electronic systems for the electric vehicle propulsion and autonomy markets, from concept to production. For more information, please visit: https://neweagle.net/.

About Dana Incorporated
Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) is a leader in the design and manufacture of highly efficient propulsion and energy-management solutions that power vehicles in all mobility markets across the globe. The company is shaping sustainable progress through its conventional and clean-energy solutions, supporting nearly every vehicle manufacturer with drive systems, electrodynamic technologies, and thermal and sealing solutions.

Based in Maumee, Ohio, USA, and with a history dating back to 1904, the company reported preliminary sales of $7.5 billion in 2025 and employs 28,000 people in 24 countries across six continents. Learn more at dana.com.

About MiddleGround Capital
MiddleGround Capital is a private equity firm based in Lexington, Kentucky with over $4.1 billion of assets under management. MiddleGround makes control equity investments in middle market B2B industrial and specialty distribution businesses. MiddleGround works with its portfolio companies to create value through a hands-on operational approach and partners with its management teams to support long-term growth strategies. For more information, please visit: https://middleground.com/.