The relationship between design and technology has never been more important to society, nor more fundamental to how we live, work, create, and interact with each other and the world now and in the future. The confluence of rapidly accelerating technologies — from AI and quantum computing to genomics and synthetic biology to digital manufacturing and simulated realities — is prompting unprecedented advancement across disciplines and scales. New intersections of the digital, the physical, and the biological are radically altering how we understand our world and humanity. As a result, design is becoming increasingly critical to actualizing technology as a means for advancing human progress.
In an era when we are witnessing one of the most significant paradigm shifts in the conceptualization and creation of our environments, objects, and interfaces, the Design + Technology Radical Collaboration Initiative will advance design research and education across disciplines and domains at Cornell and beyond. Through a series of Radical Collaboration hires that encompass and find generative intersections, the Design + Technology Initiative catalyzes multi-disciplinary expertise, exploration, innovation, and collaboration in several emerging technology areas, including design + interaction; design + materials; design + media, and design + environments. This synergistic and cross-disciplinary approach will pioneer new modes, methods, and applications, and redefine existing practices in the advancement of experimental design and technology.
The Design + Technology Radical Collaboration Initiative hinges on an understanding of the relationship between design and technology as mutually beneficial, and is founded on the following tenets:
- Technology is fundamentally human.
- Design is necessary to actualize technology.
- Design integrates pressing issues across disciplines.
- Leading in design is critical to technological innovation.
The Charge
ExcellenceCreate a program of excellence in Design + Technology at Cornell that fosters synergies across multiple colleges.
UniquenessCreate a unique interdisciplinary model for design education and design research.
OpportunityIdentify opportunities for undergraduate and graduate design degrees and courses.
CatalyzeCatalyze collaborations, research synergies, joint hires, industry engagement, and cross-college teaching in Design + Technology.
| Name | College |
|---|---|
| J. Meejin Yoon | Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) |
| Rachel E. Dunifon | Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology (CHE) |
| Kavita Bala | Dean of the Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Bowers CIS) | Lynden A. Archer | Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering |
| J. Gregory Morrisett | Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech |
| Name | Field | College |
|---|---|---|
| Jenny Sabin (co-chair) | Associate Professor, Architecture, Matter Design Computation | AAP |
| Wendy Ju (co-chair) | Associate Professor Information Science | Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech |
| Keith Green | Professor, Human Centered Design | CHE |
| Huiju Park | Associate Professor, Human Centered Design | CHE |
| Timur Dogan | Assistant Professor, Architecture | AAP |
| Guy Hoffman | Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Engineering |
| Rob Shepherd | Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Engineering |
| François Guimbretière | Professor, Information Science | Bowers CIS |
| Malte Jung | Associate Professor, Information Science | Bowers CIS |
| Uli B. Wiesner | Professor, Materials Science and Engineering | Engineering |
| Itai Cohen | Professor, Physics | Arts and Sciences |
| Mukti Khaire | Professor of the Practice | SC Johnson and Cornell Tech |