Engineers Could Help Solve Humanity’s Biggest Problems

Ready to tackle some tough issues? The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is seeking engineers who can “think futuristically.”

Daphne Allen, Editor-in-Chief

October 9, 2024

2 Min Read
Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA)
"We need a broad group of people with varying talents and expertise,” says Spike Narayan, interim executive director of The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA).CANVA

What can you as an engineer do to help solve humanity’s biggest problems? Dig out your favorite science fiction and envision the future.

Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan, an engineer and former IBM Research executive who just joined The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) as interim executive director, tells Design News that the alliance needs engineers to think futuristically when working to tackle today’s challenges. 

“I urge the engineering community to think about the future. Go to science fiction books, envision what the future could be like, and then go back to today and figure out how to make it happen,” he explains. “Spending a fraction of your day thinking futuristically could help you contribute to long-term solutions."

Launched in April 2021, ERVA brings engineers and other experts together at “visioning events” to collaborate on engineering solutions to challenges such as climate change, sustainability, healthcare, and artificial intelligence. Each event brings a group of about 50 experts together to focus on a specific challenge. The output is a visioning report, which is public, that outlines directions for researchers and organizations to consider for adoption. 

“ERVA’s mission is to find a diverse group of voices such as engineers, academics, and non-engineer experts and be as inclusive as possible to work out a problem,” Narayan says. “To understand issues, we need a broad group of people with varying talents and expertise.”

Related:How to Succeed as a Medtech Design Engineer

It's particularly important for engineers, however, to get involved. “The distinction between a scientist and an engineer is that once a scientist has found an idea, it often takes an engineer to help make it into a product or solution we can all benefit from,” says Narayan.

For the visioning events, ERVA seeks to “identify and develop ideas that are big, transformative, nascent, and underfunded or under researched,” he says. “We then catalyze the engineering community to think futuristically.”

Past visioning reports include those on AI, distributed manufacturing, and more. And in the next few months, ERVA will be releasing its 2024 reports on:

  • Engineering Opportunities to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

  • Quantum-Enabled Technologies

  • Transforming Women’s Health Outcomes Through Engineering

  • Strategic Engineering for Next-Generation Wireless Competitiveness

Visioning event topics planned for 2025 include:

  • Engineering Design to Equip a Neurodiverse Workforce

  • Engineering Research to Catalyze Resilient Rural Communities

  • Energy 2050: Engineering the Future of Radiant Energy

Related:Encouraging the Next Generation of Robotics Engineers

“These topics are very broad in reach,” says Narayan. “It will be a promising year.”

ERVA also accepts suggestions for future events. “Look for open calls—they are open to anyone, and you can go on our website at any time to submit an idea,” he says. 

In the meantime, Narayan is excited about his role with ERVA. With a PhD in materials engineering, he spent 41 years at IBM in R&D “focused on taking ideas from the lab to the workplace,” he says. “ERVA fits me like a glove.”

About the Author

Daphne Allen

Editor-in-Chief, Design News

Daphne Allen is editor-in-chief of Design News. She previously served as editor-in-chief of MD+DI and of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News and also served as an editor for Packaging Digest. Daphne has covered design, manufacturing, materials, packaging, labeling, and regulatory issues for more than 20 years. She has also presented on these topics in several webinars and conferences, most recently discussing design and engineering trends at MD&M West 2024 and leading an Industry ShopTalk discussion during the show on artificial intelligence. She will be moderating the upcoming webinar, Best Practices in Medical Device Engineering and will be leading an Automation Tour at Advanced Manufacturing Minneapolis. She will also be attending DesignCon and MD&M West 2025.

Daphne has previously participated in meetings of the IoPP Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee and served as a judge in awards programs held by The Tube Council and the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council. She also received the Bert Moore Excellence in Journalism Award in the AIM Awards in 2012.

Follow Daphne on X at @daphneallen and reach her at [email protected].

Sign up for Design News newsletters

You May Also Like