Cornell Tech: A Purpose-Built Campus for the Digital Age

Presented by: Dean Greg Morrisett, the Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify innovative planning opportunities that can promote economic growth for your campus and community.
2. Integrate with a broad range of stakeholders in your local community, potential donors, and government officials to identify and advance shared planning strategies.
3. Creating the curriculum that would attract the right mix of students necessary for success.
4. Develop long-term strategies for keeping your institution economically viable and prepared for future challenges.

Presented by: Fernando Gómez-Baquero, Director of Runway and Spinouts

One core mission of Cornell Tech revolves around the Runway Startup Postdoc Program. It is part business school, part research institution, and part startup incubator. Based at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the Runway program ushers recent PhDs in digital technology fields through a paradigm shift — from an academic mindset to an entrepreneurial outlook. Fernando Gómez-Baquero will lead a discussion about how the program develops and nurtures entering Postdocs with ideas for unproven products and markets. The 12–24-month curriculum gives the budding entrepreneurs time and the specialized guidance to develop, including academic and business mentorship. Cornell Tech’s master’s students spend significant time at the Tata Center, attending Studio courses, participating in hackathons and demo days, and working on new products in the MakerLAB, building tech solutions, collaborating with companies on challenges, and launching new projects with real-time industry input.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Evaluate the outcomes of the Studio and MakerLAB that promote built solutions and product development.
2. Assess effectiveness of stakeholder collaboration efforts in entrepreneurial training.
3. Advance campus goals in meeting City of New York or other governmental objectives in local workforce development.
4. Describe a long-term strategy for keeping entrepreneurial programs economically viable and prepared for future challenges.

Introduction by: Diana Allegretti, Director of Design & Construction, Cornell Tech

Presented by: Colin Koop, Design Partner, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM); Karen Tamir, Principal, Field Operations

Cornell Tech is a new applied sciences university on Roosevelt Island that inverts the traditional, insular campus into an outward-looking and inviting place.  In collaboration with James Corner Field Operations, Cornell University, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, and the City of New York, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill created the master plan and served as the master architect for the campus—conceiving a place that knits seamlessly into the promenades and green spaces of the island while fostering interaction and creativity.

Diana Allegretti will introduce the campus planning team, highlighting the University’s goals and objectives for the campus.

Colin Koop will curate a design conversation around the broader campus theme: planning that supports true innovation.  His presentation will prompt the question: what does it mean to build a campus for the digital age?  From the definition of spaces for technological and scientific advancement, to the evolution of 21st century ideals, Colin will frame how cities, agencies and government are aiming to stimulate economic growth through partnerships with academic institutions towards innovation. Speaker Colin Koop will present the ideas behind the campus design—illustrating how an academic campus can become a microcosm of its surrounding city.

Karen Tamir will present the site-specific approach to Cornell Tech’s open space planning, she will describe the driving forces of resiliency sustainability, biodiversity and community and how these informed the design. Karen will talk about place-making that goes beyond the creation of traditional campus quads, how Cornell Tech Campus approach is different, as well as leveraging the campus unique location on the island. Karen will also discuss the process of working with multiple Architect/building teams to create a campus that is one of a kind yet cohesive and unified.

The presenters will open to Q&A at the conclusion of the presentation.

 Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify the integrated planning decisions needed to tie this new campus into the urban transportation system and civil infrastructure of Roosevelt Island and the greater New York City.

2. Adopt and maintain a multi-year master plan that ties the whole campus together and allows for flexibility in future development.

3. Integrate net-zero carbon, passive house and other green infrastructure to lessen the University’s carbon footprint.

4. Learn the specific challenges of design and construction in a marine environment to protect against rising sea levels.

Presented by: Juliet Weissman Chief Administrative Officer, Cornell Tech.

The task of conceiving and building a satellite campus offering highly innovative academic, research, and impact programs far removed from Cornell’s home on the shores of Lake Cayuga is no easy feat. Fulfilling that task while meeting the economic development commitments given by the City of New York, while aligning with an international academic partner added further levels of complexity to the task. Juliet Weissman will lead this discussion touching on topics such as:

• Preparing and implementing a strategic plan for this unique purpose.
• Planning to make the new campus successful and scalable as an on-going academic enterprise.
• Maintaining the financial controls for a multi-year development process.
• Operating the school from day one as a viable and sustaining institution.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Assess your institution’s resources and culture to determine whether an offsite campus conforms to the institution’s greater strategic plan.
2. Identify strategic issues that must be addressed and map strategies and tactics to address those issues.
3. Align plans both vertically with the overall strategic plan and horizontally with other unit plans so the entire institution works together towards goals.
4. Implement your plan and prepare for common implementation challenges. Describe a long-term strategy for keeping your institution economically viable and prepared for future challenges.