NSF funds the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance

The U.S. National Science Foundation announces the launch of the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), a new organization that will convene the engineering community to identify important engineering research challenges and opportunities.

"Engineering has the power to transform people's lives, especially when it brings to bear a diversity of knowledge, perspectives and experience to solve important problems," says NSF Assistant Director for Engineering Dawn Tilbury. "With NSF's support, the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance will enable the engineering community to mobilize and make a difference in our country's future."

With a five-year, $8 million award from NSF, ERVA will obtain and integrate input on emerging opportunities and priorities in fundamental engineering research. ERVA will engage the engineering research community, including people and organizations in academia, government and industry, as well as professional organizations and the interested public.

Building on community ideas, ERVA will share compelling visions for future engineering research to address national needs and societal challenges, leading to positive impacts on people's lives.

"When engineers come together behind a big challenge, we create amazing discoveries and innovations that can lead to exciting new fields," says Tilbury. "Through ERVA, NSF wants the engineering community to come together to find ideas that will unite us, develop roadmaps for cutting-edge research agendas, and lead to game-changing impacts on our world."

ERVA's core partners are members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research/Institutional Development Award Foundation, and the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership. The American Society for Engineering Education and other affiliate partners will provide important connections beyond these core groups.

"With engineers and society in general increasingly conscious of the challenges facing our world and motivated to address them, the time is right to form this new organization," says ERVA program director Louise Howe. "ERVA will provide a conduit for the engineering research community to impact society through active participation in visioning activities."

The engineering community can get involved with ERVA and learn about its upcoming visioning activities.

ERVA is supported by the NSF Directorate for Engineering through the Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities.