---
title: "UNO secures $8 million NSF award to launch Nebraska Center for 3D Innovation"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/uno-secures-8-million-nsf-award-to-launch-nebraska-center-for-3d-innovation/
date: 2026-08-01
modified: 2026-08-01
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is establishing the Nebraska Center for 3D Innovation (NE3D), a new statewide research hub for developing 3D printed healthcare technology. The new facility..."
categories:
  - "3D Printing Processes"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/UNO-NSF-funding-01-640x427.jpg
word_count: 317
---

# UNO secures $8 million NSF award to launch Nebraska Center for 3D Innovation

[The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/tethon-3d-nebraska-ceramic-metal-dlp/) is establishing the Nebraska Center for 3D Innovation (NE3D), a new statewide research hub for developing 3D printed healthcare technology.

The new facility is being made possible by an $8 million award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Incubators for STEM Excellence program (E-RISE), part of the agency's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

NE3D will be based at UNO's Biomechanics Research Building, but the award establishes a wider research ecosystem linking a number of high-profile collaborators across facilities, educational programs and investigators statewide.

Jorge Zuniga, Ph.D., of UNO, initiated NE3D in 2016 with a small group of scientists and academics, and the project has grown since.

## Three research priorities

![UNO secures $8 million NSF award to launch Nebraska Center for 3D Innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/UNO-NSF-funding-02-340x227.jpg)

The center will focus on three areas: [3D printed prosthetics and assistive devices](https://www.voxelmatters.com/3d-printed-prosthetics-gain-u-s-reimbursement-status-following-hp-backed-initiative/) aimed at more human-like, responsive designs; [antimicrobial materials intended to reduce harmful microbes](https://www.voxelmatters.com/copper3d-organizing-global-campaign-to-3d-print-antimicrobial-masks-on-a-global-scale/); and patient-specific anatomical models and surgical planning that combine artificial intelligence, medical imaging and 3D printing.

“What makes NE3D particularly important is that it combines these research areas with education, workforce development, and industry partnerships,” Zuniga said.

“The long-term goal is not simply to produce individual technologies. It is to build research capacity in Nebraska so that researchers, students, clinicians, educators, and industry partners have the infrastructure and collaborative network needed to develop the next generation of healthcare technologies,” he added.

## Education and workforce development

NE3D will provide mentored interdisciplinary research opportunities to graduate, undergraduate and high school students in fields including biomechanics and soft robotics, computer-aided design and prototyping, prosthetic and assistive-device development, medical imaging and AI-enhanced medical technologies.

“The E-RISE program is specifically designed to help states such as Nebraska strengthen research infrastructure, develop scientific talent, build collaborations, and become more nationally competitive in strategically important STEM fields,” Zuniga said.

“We are incredibly grateful to the National Science Foundation for their support of this important research, education, and problem-solving endeavor.”