ERVA Open Call for Visioning Theme Submissions

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering, the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is a neutral convener that helps to identify bold and transformative new engineering research directions. We do this by engaging experts in a visioning workshop.

Our call to action for you is to share Big Ideas--research problems for ERVA visioning. We greatly appreciate your insight on ideas that can shape exciting future engineering research with impacts that affect our entire ecosystem. Please help ERVA identify bold new engineering research problems that are:

Emerging or nascent research areas that are currently under-resourced;
Challenges that engineering can solve;
Capable of major societal impact;
Involve broad engagement of the engineering research community;
Distinct from the previous visioning themes: The Role of Engineering to Address Climate Change, Leveraging Biology to Power Engineering Impact, Engineering R&D Solutions for Unhackable Infrastructure, and Sustainable Transportation Networks.

Please use the prompts below to describe your research problem. Please be as concise as possible and avoid jargon.

The information you provide will be used, without attribution, by the ERVA leadership (Executive Committee, Standing Council, and Advisory Board) and staﬀ to assess the potential for a visioning workshop theme. To ensure we have broad engineering representation, we kindly ask that you provide your aﬀiliation and role at a minimum. We welcome your name and email so we can contact you to be a co-chair or co-host should your idea be chosen to be a visioning theme.

Feel free to forward this survey to your colleagues in the engineering research community.

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* Provide an abstract that, from a national perspective, explains the significance of your proposed research theme. What is the need and potential growth for high-impact engineering research?

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* What are the top three specific research goals to achieve long-term (10-, 20-, and 30-year time frames) to address this problem? Articulate concrete research goals that are inspirational and ambitious, yet not impossible.

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* What are the top three specific research goals to achieve long-term (10-, 20-, and 30-year time frames) to address this problem? Articulate concrete research goals that are inspirational and ambitious, yet not impossible.

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* Why is this the right time? Are there recent breakthrough or catalytic advances in adjacent domains of science/engineering that increase chances of success?

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* Which engineering disciplines will be necessary to achieve the research goals? Please be as specific as possible, e.g., instead of broad fields such as electrical or mechanical engineering, name subdisciplines within them.

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* What are the anticipated technological and societal benefits? What difference will it make? What is the impact on the technology field and on society?

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* Are you aware of current funding for research addressing this problem? Please share known funding sources.

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* Are you aware of other background information to support that your idea is an emerging research area with societal impact (from congressional committees, industry associations, vision/position/perspective papers, strategy/roadmap documents, etc. from the National Academies, engineering journals/conferences, professional societies, international agencies, etc.)? Please insert links to the relevant content.

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* Please enter keywords relevant to the proposed research theme.

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* Please recommend one or more research leaders in your proposed topic who would be an exceptional technical chair leading an ERVA visioning workshop.