Cities aren’t siloed — and thanks to a new program at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, urban technology education won’t be either.
The pioneering new Urban Tech Hub is an academic concentration aimed at making cities more livable, adaptable, and connected. Students will be able to pursue studies in emerging sectors such as intelligent buildings and infrastructure, urban community technology, and real estate/proptech and construction.

An Innovative Approach

With the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute campus in the heart of New York City, it was only natural to offer an academic concentration that addressed the complex and pressing real-world challenges students observe every day.
When the inaugural class begins in fall 2020, students will use machine learning, data science, human-computer interaction, and product design to address the multifaceted challenges of a city while gaining first-hand insight from New York City leaders, planners, and entrepreneurs.

Like the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute’s other immersive hub programs for health and media, Urban Tech will develop leaders, products, and technologies that make a positive impact on urban life around the world.

The Latest in World-Class Offerings from the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute

The Urban Tech Hub is the first Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute program designed to transform master’s students into the next generation of urban technologists. But it’s not the only program at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute that’s equipping scholars to tackle the complex demands facing our cities.

The Runway Startup Postdoc Program works with recent Ph.D. graduates to turn deep research into startup companies. It has already produced four startups, including Maalka, a data management platform to ensure buildings are meeting their ambitious sustainability goals, and OnSiteIQ, which provides 360-degree visual monitoring of construction sites developed by experts in machine learning and computer vision.

And as of last fall, 17 teams of graduate students from Cornell Tech’s seven master’s programs are working on urban technology projects in the Product Studio course, tackling real-life challenges posed by businesses and organizations. In partnership with the Arup Group (an independent firm of engineers, architects, and technical specialists in the built environment), New York State’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York City Mayor’s Office, the City of Mount Holyoke, and other entities, students are developing new technologies in response to questions such as:

• How might cities reduce gas consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as we move towards a renewable future?
• How might we improve access to transportation for people with special needs?
• How might we enhance safety for domestic violence survivors in their homes and communities?