Department of Design Tech
Top right: Shuhan Liang (M.S. DT '26) presenting his work during review. Bottom right: Xylo (2022) by Lucas Hitch (M.S. MDC '24), Ivania Rivera (M.S. MDC '24), and Ariana Rosario '24.
The new Department of Design Tech is a multicollege, transdisciplinary initiative pioneering innovation, research, and teaching on topics at the intersection of design and emerging technology that most greatly impact research, industry, and practice in a changing world.
Bridging expertise and catalyzing exploration, innovation, and collaboration in emerging areas, including design + interactions, design + materials, design + media, and design + environments, Design Tech is a generator of new modes, methods, and applications that redefine design practice and research.
Participating Cornell colleges: The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Bowers CIS)Opens a Cornell link, Cornell EngineeringOpens a Cornell link, Cornell Human Ecology (CHE)Opens a Cornell link, and Cornell TechOpens a Cornell link in New York City.
Highlights
Degree Program
Master of Science, Design Technology (M.S. DT)
A two-year research and project degree offered jointly by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Cornell Tech.
Student Work
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Thursday, May 1, 2025
'Robotability Score' Ranks NYC Streets for Future Robot Deployment
Design Tech Associate Professor Wendy Ju and a team of Ph.D. candidates developed a novel metric that quantifies how suitable urban environments are for autonomous robot navigation.
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Thursday, April 24, 2025
Ratan N. Tata Posthumously Honored with Inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award
Milstein Hall's auditorium was at capacity for the April ceremony, during which speakers shared personal reflections on Tata's wide-ranging impact and legacy.
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Cornell Researchers Are Developing Flexible "Sun-Tracking" Material
Dezeen: A team of Cornell researchers led by Professor of Architecture and Design Tech Chair Jenny Sabin is developing a flexible solar material called HelioSkin that is integrated with sun-tracking capabilities similar to the biomechanics of sunflowers.
Friday, April 11, 2025 -
Jenny Sabin Develops Pliable PV Panel System Using Plant Biology
Archinect: A profile of HelioSkin, a collaborative, interdisciplinary project by Professor of Architecture and Design Tech Chair Jenny Sabin and Professor of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences and Design Tech faculty Itai Cohen.
Thursday, April 10, 2025
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Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Bottom-Up Urban Building Energy Model for Evaluating Thermal Load Electrification Measures
Architecture and Design Tech Associate Professor Timur Dogan's paper in the Journal of Building Performance Simulation introduces a fully automated UBEM framework that integrates diverse data to model energy performance, evaluate retrofit and electrification scenarios, and advance decarbonization planning, demonstrated with over 5,000 buildings in Ithaca, NY.
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Friday, January 17, 2025
Bioinspired and Biobased 4D Printing for Adaptive Building Facades
Design Tech Assistant Professor Tiffany Cheng coauthored a paper on a 4D-printed weather-responsive shading system currently installed on the south-facing skylight of the livMatS Biomimetic Shell.
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Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Virtual, Mixed Realities Converge in New Driving Simulator
Portobello, a new driving simulator developed by a research team led by Design Tech Associate Professor Wendy Ju, blends virtual and mixed realities, enabling drivers and passengers to see virtual objects overlaid in the real world.
