January 29-30, 2025
Nashville, TN
This is an in-person visioning event for one and a half days.
This visioning event will convene top researchers from various sectors to discuss and articulate the engineering research strategic roadmap needed to revolutionize the workforce and transform the nature of work for neurodiverse Americans.
This event is intended for transdisciplinary experts with respect to engineering disciplines, sectors, and stakeholders interested in inclusion engineering to equip a neurodiverse workforce, including researchers, industry professionals, nonprofits, and venture capital firms. This is an opportunity for you to impact the nation’s engineering research priorities on this important topic.
Overview
The so-called “fourth industrial revolution” is transforming the nature of work, education, and modern life. Increasing interconnectivity and smart automation are driving rapid changes to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes. The future of learning and of work are increasingly characterized by a high degree of cyber-human integration and cooperation, the use of digital technologies to connect learners, workers and classrooms and workplaces across locations, languages, and cultures, and a rise in flexible learning and work arrangements. However, the modern classroom, workplace, home, and many public spaces are not universally designed to support thriving for people who sensorily experience the world differently, learn differently, communicate differently (verbally and non-verbally), express and perceive intent differently, or have cognitive profiles that are not compatible with traditional forms of teaching, workplace management, and daily living (e.g., autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurocognitive differences; “neurodiverse”). Almost 20% of the population is neurodiverse and, as a result of these environmental and cultural factors, are currently far from being fully included in the workforce or educated and employed under conditions that would support their creativity and productivity. For example, some 80% of autistic adults are either unemployed entirely or grossly underemployed relative to their capabilities. This prevents them from contributing their talents and represents a massive opportunity cost to society, estimated to be roughly $100 billion of economic productivity annually in addition to an enormous toll on individual quality of life.
The use of engineering tools, design, research, and thinking to create environments and capabilities whereby neurodiverse individuals are enabled to become fully productive and employed members of society, and thriving with the high quality of life expected of modern society, has been an implicit goal of decades of research. Progress in these areas has been greatly facilitated by the growing collaboration between engineering and researchers in other fields. However, these approaches have often been siloed into medical-model categories such as rehabilitation engineering. Reapproaching this grand challenge from a strengths-based “neurodiversity paradigm“ perspective to inspire innovations aimed at empowering individuals’ neurological differences—to contribute their abilities to the workforce specifically and to society more broadly—could ultimately pave the way to a new subfield of engineering that engineers solutions for inclusion even more broadly construed: Inclusion Engineering.
ERVA is now accepting nominations for visioning event participants. Nominees are strongly encouraged to provide a short statement on where engineering resources are most needed to equip a future neurodiverse workforce. Please follow the link below to nominate yourself or a colleague.
Decisions regarding nominee invitations to participate will be guided by the overall objective of ensuring a successful visioning event. Following a review of nominations, ERVA will notify candidates who are selected to participate. This could also include further contributions during or beyond the scope of the visioning event. Those nominees not selected for this event will be considered, as appropriate, for future ERVA visioning events and other activities.
The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation Engineering Directorate, will host a visioning event to roadmap critical areas of engineering that can have a significant impact. The goal of the event is to collectively develop a strategic plan spanning the next 20-50 years of high-impact, high-reward, pre-competitive engineering research-led opportunities that will advance United States competitiveness. The event outcomes will inform future research directions/resourcing across the nation in industry, academia, federal agencies, national labs, and other stakeholders.