Lance C. Pérez, Fred Hunzeker Dean of Engineering at UNL, has been named a co-principal investigator for a renewed five-year agreement to support the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
ERVA brings together leaders from academia, industry, government, national laboratories and the broader engineering community to identify emerging opportunities and develop strategic research initiatives. The award provides close to $8 million in funding from Sept. 1, 2026through Aug. 31, 2031, and is administered by the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP).
Recent ERVA reports have addressed topics ranging from engineering food systems to enable precision nutrition and commercial fusion energy to key engineering bottlenecks in wave-based computing. ERVA’s next visioning event, scheduled for December 2026, will explore engineering research priorities for in-space manufacturing.
Pramod Khargonekar of the University of California, Irvine, will continue as principal investigator Pérez joins additional co-principal investigators Anthony Boccanfuso of UIDP, Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Charles Johnson-Bey of Morgan State University.
“Nebraska Engineering brings a collaborative, solutions-focused perspective to the national research enterprise,” Pérez said. “ERVA is a thought leader that engages the engineering community to set ambitious research priorities and that enable the United States to maintain its technological superiority and economic competitiveness.”
To learn more about ERVA, visit ERVAcommunity.org.
About ERVA
The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is a neutral convener that helps define future engineering research directions. Funded by the NSF Directorate for Engineering, ERVA is an engaged partnership that enables an array of voices to impact national research priorities. The initiative convenes, catalyzes and enables the engineering community to identify nascent opportunities and priorities for engineering-led innovative, high-impact, cross-domain research that addresses national, global and societal needs.
