Cornell Tech Update

It’s an incredibly exciting time for Cornell Tech. Last year, we started out with just seven students in our Masters of Engineering “beta class,” and this fall, we  welcomed over 100 students in three masters and Ph.D. programs. We are undergoing a significant expansion—in academic programs, student body, faculty, staff and physical space.

At Cornell Tech, we are reinventing graduate tech education and research, bringing together like-minded faculty, business leaders, tech entrepreneurs, and students.  Students study in a catalytic, intense, highly integrated and connected environment with significant industry engagement.  And researchers collaborate across disciplines with a focus on producing breakthrough research that is relevant to today’s digital economy.

This fall, the multidisciplinary programs that make Cornell Tech unique will come together: our M.Eng program and two new programs, the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA and a dual degree Masters of Science in Information Systems administered by the Jacobs Institute--the embodiment of the academic partnership between Cornell and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology on the Cornell Tech campus.

The Johnson Cornell Tech MBA program fuses business, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in a fast-paced, hands-on learning environment. The Jacobs Institute’s M.S. in Information Systems focuses on Connective Media, one of Cornell Tech’s planned three “hubs” or focus areas. This first Institute-sponsored degree program is designed to educate students to understand not only the technology behind our ever expanding digital media, but the psychological, social and business forces at play in today’s connected media.

Students from all of the programs came together this past August for an entrepreneurial intensive before formal classes begun. And they continue to work together— Master’s students from the engineering and business programs work in teams on company and start-up projects, and over 1/3 of their curriculum is shared resulting in a deep understanding of what it takes to be successful in today’s digital age.

To support these new and growing programs, we are thrilled to welcome four new faculty members to campus, all experts in their fields: Vitaly Shmatikov and Ari Juels in computer security and privacy; Jonah Berger in viral marketing and social contagion; and Shiri Azenkot in accessibility and human-computer interaction.

To accommodate our growth, we are also occupying additional space at our temporary campus at Google’s building in Chelsea. Demolition, in preparation for our permanent sustainable campus on Roosevelt Island began earlier this year, with a first phase due to open in 2017.

While we look ahead, we are very proud of the great work of our students who just graduated in late May. As has become our tradition, we wrapped up our semester with Open Studio, an event to share and celebrate the work of our students, faculty and staff. The students presented their innovative start-up projects demonstrating great progress in just one semester’s time, tackling problems large and small. Projects included new software to help small businesses better manage data, an app to pay your restaurant tab using your cell phone, a tool for the media to better tell stories using data visualizations, a mobile platform to share and comment on digital conversations, and much more. 

Some of the students are pursuing their start-ups after graduation, whether it’s full time at a competitive accelerator or during their spare time while working at established tech companies or local start-ups. We look forward to following and sharing news of their success. 

We will continue to bring you periodic updates on exciting campus news, but you can also access news at our website tech.cornell.edu or follow us on Twitter @cornell_tech for up-to-the-minute updates.