Cornell Tech

08/28/2026

Huge thanks to Forbes and reporter Neha Mehra for featuring Cornell Tech’s 2026 Startup Award winners (shown here) in a new feature exploring how student founders are turning ideas into startups!

The article begins… "Four student teams walked away from Cornell Tech's May 2026 Startup Awards with $100,000 checks each, pitching tools that block AI exam fraud, secure financial transactions, and organize medical device compliance data in front of nearly 600 people on the Roosevelt Island campus…That's not a hypothetical pitch deck. That's real capital going into real student-run companies this year.”

“The pattern across recent cohorts, from Cornell Tech to MIT Sloan to Babson, points to three winning shapes: AI-powered tools that automate one annoying task for a specific industry, physical products sold first to fellow students, and service businesses that piggyback on university infrastructure.”

Through Cornell Tech’s signature Studio Program in the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, we support founders as they take their ideas from the classroom onto the stage and then into our Runway program, which has helped to launch nearly 140 companies collectively valued at over $1.3 billion!

We’re grateful to Forbes for highlighting the growing momentum around student entrepreneurship, and we’ll be cheering on all of our founders as they continue to build! 🚀

Read the article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neha-mehra/2026/08/27/the-student-startup-ideas-that-are-actually-making-money-right-now/

08/26/2026

Recently, Cornell Tech and the Roosevelt Island Branch Library hosted a Community Conversation, bringing together a full house of community members for a conversation about AI and emerging technology.

Nikolay Lukyanchikov, a researcher in the Runway Startup Postdoc Program at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, discussed real-world health data implications for AI, how wearable technology can support independent living, and ways privacy-preserving technology can enable new ways to quantify mental health.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and to the Roosevelt Island Library for partnering with us to make this Community Conversation event a success. We look forward to creating more opportunities for the community to learn, ask questions, and connect.

08/22/2026

We were excited to see today's headline that New York is now North America’s #1 market for tech talent—with AI helping to power the surge. For the first time in CBRE’s 13-year ranking, New York has overtaken the Bay Area, with nearly 400,000 tech workers and more than 20,000 AI-specific jobs added in the past year. Cornell Tech is proud of its students, faculty, alumni, and startup founders who have contributed to NYC's tech talent growth!

Read more via CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/21/new-york-san-francisco-tech-talent-cbre.html?utm_source=technycdigest.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=friday-august-21-2026&_bhlid=ef18b64c9233f7833b7b688697569f6a7d04c9be

CBRE

08/20/2026

Orientation is underway at Cornell Tech!

Right in the heart of New York City, students are stepping into a genuine hub for innovation, working at the intersection of AI, health, urban systems, media and democracy, and public interest tech.

08/18/2026

A collaboration between Cornell Tech researchers and New York City Public Schools is helping students make more informed, and often more ambitious, choices in one of the nation’s largest and most complex high school admissions systems.

Each year, more than 60,000 NYC eighth-graders navigate a centralized process with hundreds of options – a level of choice that can quickly become overwhelming.

In partnership with NYC Public Schools, the team is applying its research through a personalized, email-based system that offers tailored school suggestions during the application process. Early results suggest the approach is encouraging students to explore options they might not have otherwise considered.

Read more in the Cornell Chronicle: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/08/research-helps-nyc-students-aim-higher-public-high-school-applications Cornell Engineering Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science

08/18/2026

AP News spoke with James Grimmelmann, professor at Cornell Law School and Cornell Tech, in its coverage of a landmark trial over social media's impact on young users.

Grimmelmann provided expert analysis on the potential financial ramifications of the case against Meta, helping audiences understand the legal and policy issues at stake. The story was syndicated widely through outlets including ABC News, Gizmodo, CTV News, The Seattle Times, The Independent, and others.

Read the AP story:

Of the thousands of lawsuits Meta faces over child safety on its platforms, none may be more consequential than one going to trial this week in California.

08/17/2026

Six new faculty members will join Cornell Tech during the 2026-27 academic year, bringing expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, programming languages, and operations research at a pivotal moment for the future of computing.

Their work tackles some of the field's most pressing questions: How can AI systems become more trustworthy, adaptable, and efficient? How can they learn from data more responsibly? And how can advances in computing drive breakthroughs across science, industry, and society?

"We're thrilled to welcome this exceptional cohort of faculty to Cornell Tech," said Greg Morrisett, Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech. "These scholars have already established themselves as leaders in fields ranging from machine learning and AI safety to programming systems and operations research, producing work that is influencing both academic research and industry practice."

Learn more: https://tech.cornell.edu/news/cornell-tech-new-faculty-2026-2027/ Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science Cornell Engineering

08/17/2026

What happens when a security tool designed to protect users creates new risks?

A new Cornell study highlights how passkeys can be exploited by someone with access to a victim's device and password, making account compromise difficult to detect and remediate. The research was led by Alaa Daffalla, a Ph.D. student at Cornell Tech, and co-senior-authored by Nicola Dell, associate professor at Cornell Tech, and Thomas Ristenpart, former Cornell Tech professor.

The findings build on years of work through the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA), co-founded by Dell and Ristenpart, which supports survivors of intimate partner violence and helps researchers better understand emerging threats to digital safety.

Read the Cornell Chronicle story: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/08/surprising-risks-online-passkeys Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science

08/14/2026

Join Cornell Tech and the Roosevelt Island Branch Library for our new Community Conversations Series! 💬

Our first talk, on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 2–3 p.m., will explore how AI and wearable technology are shaping healthcare, supporting independent living, and protecting privacy.

📍 Roosevelt Island Library, 504 Main St.
🎟️ Free and open to the community—no RSVP required.

08/14/2026

About three months ago, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell Tech MBA welcomed the Class of 2027! 🎉

Today, they officially wrapped up their Summer core semester. While classes kept them busy, the cohort also participated in 15+ career events and made the most of their summer exploring NYC! 🗽

We’re so proud of everything they’ve accomplished so far and excited to welcome the rest of the Cornell Tech community next week! Here’s to an exciting Fall semester ahead! 🚀