Cornell Tech

05/29/2026

Cornell researchers, including Cornell Tech assistant professor Angelina Wang, are teaming up with the Toyota Research Institute as part of a new phase of the institute’s collaborative University Research Program focused on advancing artificial intelligence and robotics, among other research areas.

Wang’s project examines how AI chatbots personalize interactions with users and how those systems can be designed responsibly. The project will study how personalization affects trust, comfort and user experience while developing methods to evaluate and improve chatbot behavior.

Learn more:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/05/toyota-research-institute-cornell-partner-ai-projects

Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science | Cornell Engineering

05/29/2026

Congrats to Cornell Tech Ph.D. candidates Yuzong Chen and Michael Shen, who were named 2026 MLCommons Rising Stars — a prestigious honor recognizing standout early-career researchers from around the world working at the intersection of machine learning and systems.

Yuzong Chen, a final-year Ph.D. student advised by Assistant Professor Mohamed Abdelfattah, focuses on algorithm–hardware co-design for machine learning acceleration, including work on quantization, FPGA architectures, and processing-in-memory.

Michael Shen, a Ph.D. student co-advised by Assistant Professor Udit Gupta and Professor G. Edward Suh, focuses on computer architecture and systems for efficient machine learning, including work on inference pipelines for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and agentic AI systems.

The Rising Stars program brings together emerging leaders across academia and industry for collaboration, mentorship, and career development.

Learn more about the award: https://mlcommons.org/2026/05/2026-rising-stars/

Cornell Engineering

Meet the 2026 MLCommons Rising Stars: 39 early-career researchers from 26 global institutions shaping the future of machine learning and systems research.

05/28/2026

That’s a wrap on the inaugural Frontiers of AI Summit!

The afternoon session featured insightful keynote conversations with Sanjeev Arora, Director at Princeton Language and Intelligence and Charles C. Fitzmorris Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, and Robert Kleinberg, Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, on the path toward superhuman AI mathematical reasoning, and with Mert Sabuncu, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell Tech and Vice Chair of AI and Engineering Research at Weill Cornell Medicine Radiology, and Kilian Q. Weinberger, Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, on building polymathic foundation models for scientific discovery.

The afternoon’s Lightning and Spotlight talks featured Jorge Colindres, Co-Founder at Radical AI, on self-driving labs and materials discovery; Ania Musial, Head of AI Platforms Product at the Chief Technology Office at Bloomberg, on trustworthy AI infrastructure and MCP; and Robert Brennan, Chief Executive Officer at OpenHands, on the rise of AI agents in engineering workflows.

Additional talks highlighted emerging approaches to AI infrastructure and performance engineering from Eugene Bagdasarian, Assistant Professor at the UMass Amherst; Natalie Serrino, Co-Founder at Gimlet Labs; Erik Bernhardsson, Chief Executive Officer at Modal; and Mohamed Abdelfattah, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell Tech and Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Makora.

The Summit concluded with a keynote conversation between Andrew Ross Sorkin, award-winning journalist, Founder and Editor at Large at The New York Times DealBook, Co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box, and member of the Cornell Tech Council, and Cornell University Provost Kavita Bala, exploring the current AI landscape, its investment cycle, and the questions shaping the future of the field.

Cornell Tech and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute thank all of our speakers, moderators, attendees, and partners for helping make the inaugural Frontiers of AI Summit a day of thoughtful, forward-looking dialogue across research, industry, and impact, and to the Secunda Family Foundation for making the Summit possible.

05/27/2026

This morning at Cornell Tech’s inaugural Frontiers of AI Summit, researchers and industry leaders explored what’s next for AI — from global reasoning and multimodal learning to open-source innovation and AI-driven scientific discovery.

The session opened with welcome remarks from Greg Morrisett, Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost at Cornell Tech, and Yoav Artzi, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech, followed by a keynote from Kilian Q. Weinberger, Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, on the future of language models, highlighting new approaches to external memory and long-range reasoning beyond next-token prediction.

Lightning talks featured insights from Saining Xie, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at New York University and Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at AMI - Advanced Machine Intelligence; Sasha Rush, Researcher at Cursor; Roshan Rao, Research Scientist at Biohub; and Carl Vondrick, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, on multimodal world modeling, coding agents, protein biology, and artificial perception systems — showcasing the breadth of AI research shaping the future.

The morning concluded with a keynote conversation between Helen Nissenbaum, Andrew H. and Ann R. Tisch Professor at Cornell Tech, and Yoav Artzi on how human extinction is realistically not the worst thing that can happen with the progression of AI models.

Cornell Tech and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute thank all of our speakers, moderators, attendees, and partners for an engaging start to a day of thoughtful conversations at the frontiers of AI, and to the Secunda Family Foundation for making the Summit possible. We look forward to enjoying an engaging afternoon session!

05/26/2026

As robots enter hospitals and care facilities, questions remain about whether they actually make care easier for the people who give and receive it.

A new Cornell Tech-led study approaches that challenge by inviting healthcare workers, long-term care residents, and community members to help design the robots themselves.

Over three months, 22 participants met weekly in Cornell Tech’s MakerLAB (pictured) — a hands-on learning environment dedicated to creative exploration, prototyping, and collaborative making.

The paper was co-authored by doctoral students Yuanchen Bai and Ruixiang Han, Professor Wendy Ju, Assistant Professor Angelique Taylor, and Director of Learning Spaces and MakerLABs Niti Parikh.

Learn more: https://tech.cornell.edu/news/healthcare-robots-co-design/

Weill Cornell Medicine | Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science

05/26/2026

Check out the student spotlight featuring Tobias Weinberg, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Cornell Tech and Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science!

Recently named a 2026 Apple Scholar, Tobi studies how augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology can be reframed as a powerful medium of expression. He conducts his research under the guidance of assistant professor Thijs Roumen in the Matter of Tech Lab at Cornell Tech.

Learn more about his research: https://gradschool.cornell.edu/spotlights/student-spotlight-tobias-weinberg/

05/22/2026

Join us on Thursday, May 28, at 6:30 p.m. for a virtual info session about Cornell Tech’s Summer Innovation Intensives — a new three-week summer experience in New York City designed to give rising high school juniors and seniors hands-on, project-based experience in cutting-edge technology fields.

During the session, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the Summer Innovation Intensives, hear what makes the program unique, ask questions about academics, projects, and student life, and receive guidance on the application process and next steps.

Register to attend: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4iphJedZEOWzfNp4SIsTv2ewGU0c7_HBcbnfMA_d9c5zzKw/viewform

The final deadline to submit all application materials is June 12. We hope you’ll join us and take this opportunity to explore whether the Summer Innovation Intensives is the right fit for you!

05/21/2026

Backslash is proud to announce Jose Sanchez as Backslash’s new Faculty Director. Sanchez is an architect, game designer, and media artist practicing in New York City. He is the director of the Plethora Project, and the creator of video games Block'hood and Common'hood. His current research, “Mediated Assemblies,” designs and interrogates simulation and interactive media as a collaborative, embodied, and situated practice.

Backslash Founder Greg Pass says, “Jose embodies the kind of adventurous, interdisciplinary practice that Backslash was created to champion. We’re thrilled to welcome his leadership into this next chapter of the initiative.”

Backslash is Cornell's initiative for art that escapes convention. Discover more at backslash.org.

05/20/2026

This month, Cornell Tech hosted a sold-out NY Hardware Meetup, sponsored by Autodesk, focused on assistive technology and inclusive design.

The evening brought together an inspiring group of speakers and builders advancing accessibility in meaningful ways. Cornell Ph.D. student Yunting Yan, who studies assistive robotics with assistant professor Tapomayukh Bhattacharjee in Ithaca, shared his open toolkit for smart assistive technologies. Elaine Young and Tamara Morgan from the Adaptive Design Association showcased their work creating low‑tech adaptations that improve daily life for people with disabilities.

Beyond the talks, the energy continued with hands‑on demos throughout the night. TOM Tikkun Olam Makers led participants in assembling a toddler mobility trainer, the ADAPT Community Network presented interactive demonstrations, and Cornell Tech master’s and Ph.D. students shared their ongoing research and projects.

This event was organized as part of the Cornell Initiative on Accessible Technology and AI and the Cornell Tech MakerLAB, hosted by MakerLAB Director Niti Parikh and Assistant Professor Thijs Roumen. We’re grateful to our speakers, partners, and attendees for making the evening such a powerful conversation around accessibility, hardware, and impact.

05/20/2026

Cornell Tech was thrilled to welcome NYC leaders, partners, and members of our community yesterday to celebrate new spaces for interdisciplinary innovation on the AI Campus of NYC.

For the first time, we showcased new spaces for Cornell University’s Design Tech program and the new home of the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center — designed to bring together technology, design, and real-world impact under one roof at the Tata Innovation Center.

Greg Morrisett, Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech, and Bob Balder, Director of the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, opened the doors to the Tata Center's newly-completed 4th floor with a special opening ceremony. From a morning of networking and remarks to a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and tours of cutting-edge labs and studios, the day highlighted the power of collaboration across academia, industry, and the public sector.

Special thanks to Julie Menin, New York City Council Speaker; Mark Levine, New York City Comptroller; Ebony Young, Deputy Borough President of Queens, NYC; and Daria Siegel, Senior VP of Innovation Industries at NYCEDC, for celebrating this milestone with us.

Here’s to the ideas, partnerships, and breakthroughs these spaces will spark!

Cornell AAP NYC

05/20/2026

One week to go!

On May 27, the inaugural Frontiers of AI Summit will explore the ideas shaping the future of AI.

The summit is intended for technical industry leaders, including research directors, engineers, principal scientists, AI-focused venture capital leaders, AI heads, and chief technology officers.

Learn more and request to attend: https://tech.cornell.edu/frontiers-of-ai-summit