Cornell Tech Roosevelt Island Community Update - Demolition, Construction, Air Quality, Barging, PS/IS 217 & Community Communcations

Image From Future Cornell Campus

With the departure of former Cornell Tech Vice President Cathy Dove to a new position as President of the Paul Smith's College, the Roosevelt Island Community Report Ms. Dove wrote will now be an update provided by Cornell Tech.

Updates from Cornell Tech

Cornell Tech hosted a Town Hall meeting on Monday, December 8 to provide updates on construction and community initiatives as the campus development continues to take shape:

Construction updates from the Town Hall:

• Cornell began demolition of the former Goldwater Hospital buildings last winter and will soon enter the first phase of construction for the campus.
• Demolition of Phase 1 of the campus design will be completed by December 31, with Phase 2 demolition underway and expected to be completed by June 2015.
• Cornell is working with Barr & Barr to construct the First Academic Building, a NYC-based firm with a track record of quality work and a reputation for deep community engagement. Their experience with university projects includes Princeton University and Syracuse University.
• Roux Associates, an environmental consulting firm, reaffirmed Cornell Tech’s commitment to monitoring air quality during the construction process. Cornell is applying several proactive controls to reduce emissions, including:
• Reducing of diesel equipment
• Using ultra low sulfur diesel fuels
• Limiting construction equipment idle time
• Using equipment that meets the latest federal emission standards
• As of December 1, Cornell has moved approximately 10,200 tons of waste by barge, avoiding approximately 4,800-5,150 truck trips.
• For more information, visit construction.tech.cornell.edu. Please note we have a new section of the website for photos of the construction site and we will add photos to it on a monthly basis.

K-12 updates from the Town Hall:

• Diane Levitt, Cornell Tech’s K-12 Director, provided details on Cornell Tech’s continued support of education initiatives on Roosevelt Island. Cornell Tech is deeply engaged with PS/IS 217 and is committed to:
• Helping with teacher training and support
• Science, engineering, technology and mathematics education initiatives
• After-school programming
• Tech events
• Hardware and software programming development
• Cornell Tech has been involved in teacher training and curriculum development to help students understand computing and computational thinking. As a result, there is a coding class happening at the middle school, one period a week, where students learn critical computing skills.
• Cornell Tech has monthly meetings with Principal Beckman and her staff, and we are working to organize a Middle School Hackathon for Spring 2015.
• Cornell Tech looks forward to supporting two teams in the Continental Mathematics League computer science competition in early 2015.

As a reminder, Jane Swanson, Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations at Cornell Tech, is at Gallery RIVAA, 527 Main Street, every Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to visit and chat with Jane to learn more about Cornell Tech’s plans.

Cornell Tech Roosevelt Island Community Update - December 8 Town Hall Meeting, New President Elizabeth Garrett Visits, Barging, Saving Trees, Goldwater Murals Restoration & More

New Cornell President Elizabeth Garrett With Cornell Tech's Dan Huttenlocher and Andrew Winters Visits Roosevelt Island Oct 13

With the departure of former Cornell Tech Vice President Cathy Dove to a new position as President of the Paul Smith's College, the Roosevelt Island Community Report Ms. Dove wrote will now be an update provided by Cornell Tech.

Updates from Cornell Tech

As many of you already know, Cornell Tech opened a community space at Gallery RIVAA at 527 Main Street in September. Jane Swanson, Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations at Cornell Tech, is on site every Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Cornell Tech plans to bring its vision and its interplay of technology and creativity to the wider community through the space, and to host programming from the larger Cornell University community. Cornell Tech encourages everyone to stop by Gallery RIVAA to learn about the campus and see the amazing works of art on view at the gallery.

Other recent and upcoming Cornell Tech news:

Community: Cornell Tech volunteers participated in last month’s “Fall for Arts” Festival and Halloween parade.

Updates from the Cornell Tech Community and Construction Task force meeting:

• Cornell Tech has avoided 3,350 truck trips through our use of barging, and that number is growing every week.
• Cornell Tech continued the community conversation about tree conservation, which Cornell Tech is committed to. Cornell Tech and its engineer presented some modified designs and walked the task force through each configuration as they relate to pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic. Cornell Tech will continue to keep the task force updated as we work together to strike a balance between tree conservation, safety and the need to provide robust infrastructure to support the site.
• Cornell Tech showed images of the historic murals uncovered at Goldwater hospital that are currently being restored at two conservation studios. The murals will eventually be displayed on Cornell Tech’s campus.
• Cornell Tech continues to work with PS/IS 217, including after school programs on computational literacy.

Town Hall: Join Cornell Tech for a town hall meeting on December 8, 6 p.m. at Manhattan Park Community Center, 8 River Road.

Updates from Cornell Tech’s temporary campus at Google:

• More than 100 students are enrolled in three masters and PhD programs.
• Four new faculty members have joined the campus.
• The incoming new President of Cornell University, Elizabeth Garrett, has already visited Cornell Tech and Roosevelt Island. Ms. Garrett assumes the presidency on July 1, 2015. Cornell’s current President, David Skorton, will become the new Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute.

For more information, visit construction.tech.cornell.edu.

Last Report From Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove - Introduces K-12 Education Director Diane Levitt, Community Engagement, Barging And Demolition & Says Goodbye To Roosevelt Island

 Image OF Cathy Dove Waving At 2014 Roosevelt Island Day

As previously reported, Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove

 Cornell VP Cathy Dove and President David Skorton Before April 2012 Roosevelt Island Town Hall Meeting

is leaving Cornell and Roosevelt Island to become President of Paul Smith's College. Below is her final report to the Roosevelt Island community:

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! At Cornell Tech, we have had several great community meetings since we last checked in, most recently at our Cornell Tech Community and Construction Task Force meeting.

At the task force meeting, we were very pleased to introduce everyone to Cornell Tech’s Director of K-12 Education, Diane Levitt. Diane has great experience with K-12, and already is already making an impact at Cornell Tech and in the broader NYC educational community. Prior to joining Cornell Tech, Diane was the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Belkin, the global consumer electronics organization. She managed the company’s philanthropy, community engagement, employee volunteerism, and served as an advisor to the Chairman and CEO. She helped develop Belkin Education, products designed to maximize the learning opportunities technology offers and was deeply engaged in supporting the growth of high-achieving schools for low-income students in Los Angeles, including several STEM schools.

In the United States, there are 1.4 million computing jobs, yet only 400,000 computer science students. Implementing computer science programs in our schools is critical to our city and country’s future. Diane has been working closely with the principal, teachers and PTA at PS/IS 217 to identify programs that will enhance computational literacy learning in middle-school classrooms, to help students gain an understanding of software and hardware. This summer, a middle school math teacher is attending professional development on Bootstrap, a curricular module that teaches algebra and geometry concepts through computer programming. Diane is also working with the school to identify a coding/computational thinking curriculum for students, and looking for great tech-rich afterschool options for The Beacon Program. We hope to test new computing curriculum and professional development with PS/IS 217 teachers and students during the 2014-15 school year.

Cornell Tech and several of other Cornell organizations were pleased to participate in this year’s Roosevelt Island Day, I know we join many Islanders in thanking Urban American, RIOC and the many Roosevelt Island organizations and businesses who contributed to this day and made it so special. Everyone had something unique to offer the day. Among the many healthy food and fitness activities was the “smoothie bike” that Cornell University Cooperative Extension 4-Hers demonstrated – energy expended by the rider runs a blender that makes a smoothie. Participants got a little exercise and were immediately rewarded with a smoothie of their own making! It was amazing to see such enthusiasm among young and old alike who walked away wearing Cornell Tech pedometers and counting their steps to a healthier life. And I was one of many who took a lesson in hands-only CPR, sponsored by Weill Cornell’s Clinical and Translational Science Center and the Perelman Heart Institute. More than 100 people were trained in this life-saving technique. Hats off to the American Heart Association and the Roosevelt Island CERT organization for coordinating so much of this effort.

As demolition on the campus is well underway, I wanted to provide an update on our barging efforts. As you know, at the beginning of the year we launched the largest voluntary barging operation in New York City. I’m sure many of you have seen the barge arriving at and leaving the island, located on the east side of the construction site. I am very happy to report that through our aggressive use of barging, we have avoided over 1,500 truck trips to-date, and that number is growing every week.

Finally, on a personal note, it is with mixed emotions that I inform you that this will be my last column. Recently I accepted a position as president of Paul Smith’s College located close to Lake Placid in Upstate New York. I treasure the friendships I have made on Roosevelt Island, and will miss living here. But I’m not worried about our campus development - we have a wonderful team who is fully committed to Cornell Tech being a great addition to the Island. I will be watching their progress, and keeping abreast of all the Roosevelt Island news from afar. Many thanks to all of you for making me feel so welcome, and please look me up if you are ever in the beautiful Adirondack region.

During July 28 meeting of Roosevelt Island Cornell Construction & Community Task Force, Cornell NYC Tech Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations Jane Swanson reviewed Cornell's Roosevelt Island community engagement this summer. Here's what Ms. Swanson said.



During the same meeting, Cornell NYC Tech Director of Capital Planning Andrew Winters provided an update on the barging operation for the campus demolition



and construction.

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President And Roosevelt Island Resident Cathy Dove Leaving Position And RI To Become President Of Paul Smith's College In The Adirondacks

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President and Roosevelt Island resident Cathy Dove

 Image of Cathy Dove From Crains NY Business

is leaving her position at Cornell to become President of Paul Smith's College. The Cornell Chronicle reports:

Cathy Dove, vice president of Cornell Tech in New York City, has been named the 10th president of Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks. The first female president of Paul Smith’s, she will begin her new position Sept. 1.

As vice president of Cornell Tech since 2012, Dove has been responsible for all administrative, operational, outreach, capital planning and construction functions for the campus currently under construction on Roosevelt Island and at its temporary location in Manhattan....

Cornell Provost Kent Fuchs adds:

Cathy has been a core part of Cornell Tech since its inception. She worked with me, Dean Dan Huttenlocher and a team of others at Cornell to form the unique vision of Cornell Tech and help make it a reality. In the 2 1/2 years since Cornell Tech was born, Cathy has worked with Dan, university leadership and our partners at The Technion to build a team on the ground in New York City that includes more than 50 faculty and staff. We’ve graduated two classes already with master’s degrees in engineering and computer science, and expect more than 100 students to be enrolled this fall as we add an MBA and master’s in information science to the program, and continue to get ready to move to our permanent Roosevelt Island home in 2017. That great team and all of these efforts, now years into this endeavor, will continue to build and innovate for many years to come. Cathy’s leadership helped insure that, and we are grateful for all she helped accomplish here.

Cornell NYC Tech Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations Jane Swanson told the Cornell Roosevelt Island Construction and Community Task Force last night about Ms. Dove leaving her position.



Here's Ms. Dove and Cornell President David Skorton (soon to be President of the Smithsonian Institution) in April 2012 about to attend their first Roosevelt Island Town Hall Meeting

Cornell Vice President Cathy Dove and President David Skorton Before Town Hall Meeting

and my interview with them about the Cornell NYC Tech Roosevelt Island project.



Ms. Dove was an excellent representative of Cornell to the Roosevelt Island community. She will be missed.

Best of luck to her in her new position.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Partnership With Technion, K -12 Grade Education Director, Integrating Queens Organizations, Free Health & Nutrition Program, Relay For Life And Demolition/Barging Update

 Image of Cathy Dove From Crains NY Business

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

As the Cornell Tech population continues to grow – we’ll have approximately 100 students on our temporary campus this fall – we are establishing ways to become an active part of the Roosevelt Island community. I hope that Islanders are beginning to see more and more of us around town, doing community service projects, meeting with community organizations and just talking to Islanders about our campus.

I was pleased to be part of a team of Cornell Tech participants in the Relay for Life event at the Octagon on April 26. Relay for Life is the signature fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, and our team of Cornell Tech students, administrators, faculty (and even two Cornell Tech children) walked the track for this worthy cause. Our next community service opportunity will be Roosevelt Island Day on June 21, so please look for all of the people in Cornell Tech t-shirts along with our Cornell family partners, Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell Cooperative Extension. There will be interesting demonstrations, a raffle and helpful information for you and your family so don’t miss it!

We also continue to keep the Island up to speed on how our academic program and construction projects are evolving. On April 28, the latest quarterly meeting of the Construction and Community Task Force was held. We were joined on the Island by Adam Shwartz, the Director of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute. The Jacobs Institute is the part of Cornell Tech that is a partnership between the two universities, which will offer dual degrees from Cornell and Technion beginning this fall. Adam joined the Institute from the Technion earlier this year, where he is a professor in the department of electrical engineering.  He shared our vision for the Institute as a place for experimentation and innovation, and answered questions from Islanders in attendance. Diane Levitt, Cornell Tech’s new Director for K12 Education will present at our next task force meeting on July 28.

Under the leadership of Jane Swanson, Cornell Tech's Assistant Director of government and community relations, we are also working closely with Cornell Cooperative Extension's New York City Programs to bring exciting programming to the Island. CUCE-NYC has already been holding free health and nutrition courses at the senior center, complete with food preparation demonstrations. This program has been brought back twice by popular demand.

Looking just beyond the Island, we are also partnering with Queens organizations to ensure that our campus – and Roosevelt Island – will truly become the center of a vibrant citywide tech sector. In April we met with leadership of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Queens Economic Development Corporation and the Coalition for Queens to discuss how we can work together to encourage more tech companies to locate in Queens, in addition to the industry growth we expect to occur directly on the Cornell Tech campus.  To that end, at the last task force meeting, the group chose to add a representative from the Queens Borough President’s Office to further integrate Queens into the process.

Finally, as many of you may have noticed, the demolition project on the site is well underway. The barging is going very well. Thus far we have removed about 1,000 tons of debris from the site – 100% of which has left by barge! Please continue to sign up for construction updates and visit our website at construction.tech.cornell.edu for the latest information on the project.

Here is the fascinating presentation made by Adam Shwartz,the Director of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, to the Roosevelt Island Community and Construction Task Force referenced by Ms. Dove.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Reviews Roosevelt Island Town Hall Meeting And Thanks Former RIRA President Ellen Polivy As Tireless Advocate For Community

Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove Introducing Feb 5 Roosevelt Island Construction Town Hall Meeting

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

Many thanks to everyone who braved this crazy winter weather to join us at the Cornell Tech town hall meeting earlier this month. Despite the slush and bitter cold, more than 125 Islanders came out to hear the latest progress on campus construction and to take part in a great discussion. We were also honored to be joined by our new Council Member, Ben Kallos, and Deputy Borough President Aldrin Bonilla.

This week’s column is devoted to recapping the town hall, but first, I would like to acknowledge and thank Ellen Polivy as she steps down from the Roosevelt Island Residents Association. For more than two years now, Ellen has been a constructive critic and tireless advocate for Islanders, helping us understand what is important to her neighbors. She has always acted in the best interests of the community, while working with us constructively and collaboratively to ensure our campus will be an asset to the Island. We will miss Ellen in her role at RIRA, but are grateful that she will continue to be an active member of the Cornell Tech Construction and Community Task Force.

The town hall meeting was held on February 5th and was co-hosted by the Construction and Community Task Force, which was instrumental in putting together what proved to be a very productive and engaging agenda for the meeting. The task force is a critically important group, providing advice for our team, a forum for keeping the community updated and a group of knowledgeable citizens to raise questions in real time.

Our team made three presentations at the town hall. The first was given by Andrew Winters, Cornell Tech’s Director of Capital Projects and Planning. Andrew is overseeing the campus construction and he gave a broad overview of the project phasing, timeline and design, noting the arrival of the first barge on January 21. He reminded everyone that we are committed to using barges for all aspects of the demolition and abatement phase, which is scheduled to go for almost a year. He also described the fencing around the site and the need to close the eastern roadway and promenade in order to ensure the barging operation is conducted safely. In the near future, the western roadway will be turned into a two-way street, with a turn-around at the end to accommodate vehicular access to Southpoint and Four Freedoms parks. Finally, Andrew filled everyone in on the water main break that occurred on the campus site. A team focused on doing test borings hit an active water line. Residents’ water was never polluted nor compromised, but the incident has led us to revise our drilling procedures and also revisit procedures with RIOC to get immediate and clear information out to the community.

Aric Domozick of PAL Environmental Services then gave a detailed presentation on the work his company is overseeing related to the abatement and demolition of Goldwater Hospital. Aric stressed the focus on safety that his company and the entire Cornell Tech team are bringing to the project, beginning with the abatement but continuing throughout the project. He also described the sequence and approach to demolition.

Then Karen Tamir, our landscape architect from James Corner Field Operations (the group who designed the High Line among many other outstanding projects), gave a quick update on the exciting open space plans for the campus. While these plans are not yet final, Karen and her team are designing a unique set of urban public spaces that will be open to the community, populated with native species of beautiful plants, and take advantage of the spectacular views. This is one of the most exciting aspects of the campus and we look forward to sharing final designs soon.

The last half of the meeting was an opportunity for Islanders to ask questions, provide input and hear directly from the Cornell Tech team. As always, there was a terrific energy and enthusiasm in the room and we appreciate everyone’s participation. I hope that the town hall was informative and helpful to those who attended, and I look forward to seeing even more people at the next town hall meeting later this year. In the meantime, all of the latest information on the campus and the construction process is available on our website at construction.tech.cornell.edu. Stay warm and dry! 

Here is the full video of the February 5 Cornell NYC Tech Roosevelt Island Town Hall Meeting.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Barging Construction Materials Begins For New Campus, Jane Swanson Joins As Community Liaison And Town Hall Meeting February 5

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

Happy New Year!

2014 is barely underway but it is my great pleasure to share two exciting announcements related to construction of the Cornell Tech campus here on Roosevelt Island: the official start of barging operations, and the addition of a new team member who should be very familiar to Islanders.

Earlier this week, we launched the largest voluntary barging operation in New York City with the arrival of our first barge from New Jersey. The first barge brought over construction materials, empty containers to be filled with demolition materials, and the large crane that moves the materials to and from the barge. By the time this column is published we will likely have begun installation of a site fence, and removed our first load of demolition material via barge, signaling the start of construction and our ongoing effort to minimize the impact of construction on the Island. The first demolition work will be interior demolition, which will include the removal of partitions, walls and ceilings. All of the debris from the interior demolition that needs to be removed will be placed in containers and transported from the site by barge.

In order to maintain public safety during barging operations, the east roadway and promenade will be closed for the duration of the abatement and demolition project – anticipated to be about one year. In order to accommodate traffic to South Point Park and Four Freedoms Park, the west roadway will be modified to accommodate two-way traffic, including the creation of a temporary vehicle turn-around near the west entrance to South Point Park. The roadway modification and construction of the turn-around is expected to take several weeks and, during that time, the west roadway will be closed to all but emergency vehicles. Following the completion of this work, no later than April 1, the west roadway will be re-opened. The west pedestrian promenade will be opened for the entire duration of the abatement and demolition project, including the time when the west roadway will be closed.

The second piece of exciting news is the addition of Jane Swanson to the Cornell Tech team. Many of you know Jane from her years of service to the Island, most recently as chief of staff to Council Member Jessica Lappin. Jane joins the campus as Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations and will work directly with Islanders and others in the City as Cornell Tech’s community liaison. She will spend time at Cornell Tech’s Chelsea Campus and on Roosevelt Island. We couldn’t think of a better person for this role and I know that you will join me in welcoming Jane.

Now that construction is underway, I hope that you will take advantage of the opportunities Cornell Tech is providing to keep informed on the progress of the work. The central clearinghouse for all information related to campus construction is a new website that Cornell Tech created, construction.tech.cornell.edu. On the website you can view a map of the worksite, sign up to receive a bi-weekly look-ahead via email that will contain updates on our progress, milestones, and occasional meeting notices; and contact us.

In addition, we will be hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, February 5, from 6-8 p.m. at the Manhattan Park Community Center. At this forum, we will introduce ourselves and our partners, provide a full briefing on our plans, and answer any questions that you may have.

We have spent over a year doing detailed planning on our approach to construction, with the goal of minimizing the impact of construction on the community. As construction kicks off I hope that you will keep in touch with us, sharing any questions or concerns, and I hope to see many of you on February 5th.

Here's more on the Roosevelt Island construction barging process from Cornell NYC Tech Director Of Capital Planning Andrew Winters.

Letter From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Roosevelt Island Construction & Community Task Force Town Hall Meeting February 5, You're Invited To Come Learn What Is Going On And Ask Questions

Image From Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island Construction Project Web Site

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends the following letter to the Roosevelt Island community:

Dear Neighbor:

As we get close to beginning construction, we want to make you aware of the activities that will be occurring in the coming weeks and months. This is an exciting time, and we know that Islanders will have questions and will want to keep informed on the progress of the work. Therefore, along with our Construction & Community Taskforce, we’re hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, February 5, from 6-8 p.m. at the Manhattan Park Community Center. At this forum, we will introduce ourselves and our partners, provide a full briefing on our plans, and answer any questions that you may have.

The central clearinghouse for all information related to campus construction is a new website that Cornell Tech created, construction.tech.cornell.edu. On the website you can view a map of the worksite, sign up to receive a bi-weekly look-ahead via email that will contain updates on our progress, milestones, and occasional meeting notices; and contact us.

We have spent over a year doing detailed planning on our approach to construction, with the goal of minimizing the impact of construction on the community. We are so pleased that we are able to commit to the largest voluntary barging program in New York City. We are beginning to fulfill this commitment by putting a plan in place in which all demolition materials will be removed by barge. In addition, our plan includes many other important construction-related approaches, such as strict oversight of environmental conditions and public reporting on these topics.

We wish you a very Happy New Year and we hope you can join us on February 5th.

Sincerely,

Cathy Dove
Vice President
Cornell Tech

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Roosevelt Island Campus Construction To Start Soon, All Demolition Materials To Be Removed By Barge And Community Communications By Web And February Meeting

Image From Cornell Tech Roosevelt Island Construction Project Site

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

I hope everyone is having a terrific holiday season. At Cornell Tech we have had an enormous amount to celebrate in 2013, including launching the first of our innovative academic programs, engaging more deeply with the community, and hiring terrific faculty and staff.

For me, though, 2014 will be even more exciting, because in addition to all of the great program activity, we will begin the physical development of the new campus on Roosevelt Island. So as we get close to beginning construction, we want to make you aware of the activities that will be occurring in the coming weeks and months.

We have spent over a year doing detailed planning on our approach to construction with the goal of minimizing the impact of construction on the community. We are so pleased that we are able to commit to the largest voluntary barging program in NYC. We are beginning to fulfill this commitment by putting a plan in place where all demolition materials will be removed by barge. In addition, our plan includes many other important construction-related approaches such as strict oversight of environmental conditions and public reporting on these topics.

Starting very soon we will begin delivering materials to the site in preparation for the start of construction. In January we will be installing an 11-foot high fence around the perimeter of the site and will be closing the eastern portion of the esplanade to enable the barging. Soon after, we will begin abating and demolishing the interior of the former Coler-Goldwater Hospital. We are starting with the removal of interior materials. Following that, the structure will be demolished using large equipment. There will not be any blasting. Demolition will be done by the end of 2014.

This is an exciting time and we know that Islanders will have questions and will want to keep informed on the progress of the work. We have put together a comprehensive communications plan to ensure that the project is fully transparent and that you’re kept up to date throughout.

The central clearinghouse for all information related to construction is the new website that Cornell Tech has created for the project, http://construction.tech.cornell.edu/. On the website you can find the latest information and sign up for bi-weekly email blasts that will contain updates of our progress, milestones and a general two-week look ahead of what will be occurring on the future campus site.

There will also be regular opportunities to hear about the construction in person. The first of many community meetings on our construction activities will be held on Wednesday, February 5 from 6-8 pm at the Manhattan Park Theatre Club. At this forum we will bring together all of our construction partners to provide a full briefing on our plans and answer any questions that you may have.

We have also created a Construction and Community Task Force with members who include Christina Delfico, Jonathan Kalkin, Matthew Katz, Mark Lyon, Larry Parnes and Ellen Polivy. Also, every City, State and Federal local elected official has staff representation on this committee. We look forward to meeting with this group of Island leaders on a very regular basis.

On behalf of the entire Cornell team, my best wishes to you and your family for a happy and safe holiday season. Thank you for your continued support of Cornell Tech, and I look forward to the opportunity when we can invite you onto campus!

As reported last Friday, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) approved the transfer of RIOC controlled land for the Cornell NYC Tech Roosevelt Island campus contingent upon NY State signing the agreed upon funding memo.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Roosevelt Island Campus Construction Starting Soon, Community Construction Task Force Formed And Construction Web Site Launch Next Week

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove

 Image of Cathy Dove From Crains NY Business

sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

After much planning, everyone at Cornell Tech is excited to be nearing the start of construction on the Island, expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014. In anticipation of this significant milestone, we are now setting in motion a series of activities designed to keep all Islanders fully informed and to ensure we fulfill our commitments to the community.

Next week we will convene the Cornell Tech Community & Construction Task Force. The twelve member task force includes a number of Island community leaders, including representatives appointed by and representing: Community Board 8; Council Member Lappin; Assemblyman Kellner; Senator Serrano; Congresswoman Maloney; and Borough President Stringer.

The goal of the task force is to provide a forum for these representatives of the community to be well versed in the campus development, to bring issues forward, and to have an ongoing dialogue with members of the Cornell Tech team. It will be a place to provide forward-looking information and to ensure that the campus and residents are in close communication throughout construction.

In addition to creating this task force, we want to ensure that all members of the community have direct access to information about the construction project. Next week we will launch our new construction website. The website – construction.tech.cornell.edu – will be a repository for detailed information about the construction process, and will be updated regularly so Islanders know exactly what’s going on at the site and what to expect in the days and weeks to come. Once construction starts, I encourage everyone to check the site regularly for updates.

All of this activity is a precursor to the anticipated start of construction early next year. Detailed planning for the first phase of the campus is going very well – such as how barging will be accomplished, and bringing on Forest City Ratner as a development partner. We look forward to sharing these exciting plans and new images of our buildings in the coming months.

Keeping the community informed is just one of the important commitments that Cornell Tech has made to the community. Cornell has a proud history of being a good neighbor and community partner, and we intend to exceed those expectations on Roosevelt Island. In addition to the measures I’ve already described, we will implement a robust communications program that will include announcing a designated community liaison and conducting regular town hall meetings. For the construction itself, we have taken extraordinary measures to minimize the impact of construction on the Island, including significantly reducing truck trips by re-using demolished materials on-site, implementing an aggressive barging program and adhering to the most stringent air quality standards and monitoring.

As we approach the start of construction – and really establish a physical presence on the island – I thank everyone again for all of the great support you have shown. By bringing a state-of-the-art sustainable campus, beautiful new public open spaces, increased economic activity, educational programs for public school students and access to university programming to Roosevelt Island, Cornell Tech plans to be an integral part of the Island’s future success.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove, Announces New Masters Program In Connective Media Offered By Irwin Jacobs Technion Cornell Innovation Institute - Aim Is To Transform Industry For Digital Age

Cornell Technion's Dan Huttenlocher and Craig Gotsman Announcing Dual Connective Media Masters Program

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

Last week Cornell Tech made a big announcement that I wanted to share with all of you, because it sheds more light on how we’re approaching several of the most exciting aspects of our academic program: the partnership between Cornell and Technion, our focus on the industries that make New York tick and the campus’ intensive collaboration with companies large and small.

The announcement was the launch of the first degree program to be offered by the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII) at Cornell Tech. This degree program will join the master of engineering in computer science that began in January 2013, and the MBA that was announced earlier this year and that will launch in fall 2014.

Beginning in Fall 2014, the JTCII – a key component of Cornell Tech – will offer a Master of Science degree in Information Systems, with a specialization in Connective Media. Graduates of this dual degree program will receive a degree from Cornell University and from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. We are now accepting applications for a first class of students. There are a lot of exciting aspects of this program, starting with the collaboration between Cornell and Technion.

The JTCII brings the best of Cornell and Technion, offering the unique opportunity to earn degrees from two world-class research universities. The JTCII is organized around hubs focused on New York City’s leading industries, starting with Connective Media, Healthier Life and the Built Environment. JTCII students enroll in a two-year program that allows for not only top technical education, but also full immersion in real-world projects in collaboration with industry. By focusing in one topic area, students benefit from in-depth exposure to leading subject matter experts, in addition to top technical faculty.

It was only natural that the first hub program to launch here in the media capital of the world would be Connective Media. As Mayor Bloomberg and industry leaders said at the launch event last week, New York will only maintain this distinction if our media companies can transform themselves for a digital age and adapt to the new and exciting ways that people are consuming media, from publishing, advertising, news and information, and entertainment.

This novel program addresses the huge need for more tech talent in the media-related businesses that play such an important role in New York City. The Connective Media degree combines technical, social science and media industry expertise in a broad interdisciplinary two-year program, with an immersive semester-long industry project and extensive engagement with digital media companies in New York City. The program will train a new generation of talent to develop technologies, applications and experiences that take advantage of the constant access to, and sharing of, online information in the digital and mobile world. Graduates of the program will be equipped to help lead the digital transformation of the city's and the nation's media industries.

The Connective Media launch also illustrated our commitment to working hand-in-hand with industry. We were proud to announce that a number of leading media companies – both longstanding and newly started – will be collaborating with us on this program. The list includes Hearst, Medium, Facebook, Betaworks, Tumblr, WordPress, and The New York Times.

We are proud to be working with all of them in educating a new generation of tech professionals in this space. The collaborating companies will provide input and guidance this year to refine the curriculum for this new degree. When the program launches next fall, companies in the Connective Media space will provide real-world projects, mentorship, and industry knowhow for students.

I’m also excited to report that we recently hired the first full-time faculty member in the Connective Media hub, Mor Naaman. Professor Naaman is a perfect fit for what Cornell Tech is all about – he is an academic but also an entrepreneur. His startup, Seen (http://seen.co), helps make sense of the real-time Web by summarizing and organizing social media content. In his first year at Cornell Tech, Professor Naaman will split time evenly between teaching and working on growing his startup. (Mor is also a former professional basketball player who I expect to be in high demand for pickup games on Roosevelt Island in coming years).

In this column I focused on the latest news about our academic programs, but I will be back in the next issue with updates on the construction of the campus. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of autumn.

Here's video of the full October 1 Press Conference announcing Cornell Technion Connective Media Masters program and



press release from Cornell NYC Tech.

Cornell NYC Tech was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and leading media companies today to launch the first degree program to be offered by the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII) at Cornell Tech. The two-year masters degree in Connective Media is designed to train the entrepreneurial engineers and technologists desperately needed in the media sector. The Connective Media program will produce the next generation of tech talent to respond to, and drive, the digital transformation of publishing, advertising, news and information, and entertainment. Graduates of this dual degree program will receive a degree from Cornell University and from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Corporate collaborators who will help shape the novel Connective Media hub include Hearst, Medium, Facebook, Betaworks,Tumblr, WordPress, and The New York Times.

“The Connective Media program we are announcing today is the first of the dual degree programs to be offered at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute at Cornell NYC Tech, the innovative collaboration between Cornell and the Technion,” said Daniel Huttenlocher, Dean of Cornell NYC Tech. “This novel program addresses the huge need for more tech talent in the media-related businesses that play such an important role in New York City.”

“The Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute is organized around hubs focused on key New York City industries, and there is no better place to start than in themedia space,” said Craig Gotsman, Director of the JTCII. “We are aware of the critical need for deep tech talent to lead the digital transformation within the traditional and new media companies and are proud to be working with many of them in educating a new generation of tech professionals in this space. Thanks to the exposure to the entrepreneurial world that these professionals will also receive as part of their experience at JTCII, they will be in an excellent position to start their own ventures within this space.”

“New York City is the world’s media capital, but we can't take that position for granted because the way media is produced and consumed is changing dramatically,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Media creators and tech companies have a lot to gain from a strong, collaborative working relationship, and I am proud that Cornell and the Technion will be training the next generation of tech talent in New York City to work with the media industry. We will reap the benefits of that partnership in the form of job creation and global competitiveness.”

The JTCII – a key component of Cornell Tech – will offer a Master of Science degree in Information Systems, with a specialization in Connective Media. It is now accepting applications for a first class of students to begin studies in the fall of 2014.

The Connective Media program is aimed at meeting the growing need for technologists in media-related industries, to respond to, and to drive the digital transformation of publishing, advertising, news and information, and entertainment. The Connective Media degree combines technical, social science and media industry expertise in a broad interdisciplinary two-year program, with an immersive semester-long industry project and extensive engagement with digital media companies in New York City. The program will train a new generation of talent to develop technologies, applications and experiences that take advantage of the constant access to, and sharing of, online information in the digital and mobile world. Graduates of the program will be equipped to help lead the digital transformation of the city's and the nation's media industries, and will receive degrees from both Cornell and Technion.

The JTCII also announced a series of corporate collaborators who will help shape the Connective Media hub, including Hearst, Medium, Facebook, Betaworks, Tumblr, WordPress, and The New York Times. The collaborating companies will provide input and guidance this year to refine the curriculum for this novel new degree that combines technology expertise at the level of a software engineer, computer scientist or data scientist, with media industry expertise at the level of product manager, product designer, or editorial staff member. When the program launches next fall, companies in the Connective Media space will provide real-world projects, mentorship, and industry knowhow for students.

"As we re-imagine the media industry, one of our big obstacles is a shortage of skilled and experienced technologists who have deep technical expertise and also understand our industry," said Philip Wiser, Chief Technology Officer at Hearst Corporation. "That’s why we are excited to work with Cornell Tech on the new Connective Media program. The campus’ close collaboration with industry in tackling pressing problems ensures that students are prepared to have a powerful impact on our future."

JTCII recently hired its first full-time faculty member in the Connective Media hub, Mor Naaman. Professor Naaman exemplifies what the campus and Connective Media hub represent – he is an academic but also an entrepreneur. His startup, Seen (http://seen.co), helps make sense of the real-time Web by summarizing and organizing social media content. In his first year at Cornell Tech, Naaman will split time evenly between teaching and working ongrowing Seen.

This is another major milestone for Cornell Tech, which was created as part of the City’s Applied Sciences NYC initiative. The campus welcomed its first fall class last month to its temporary campus in space donated by Google at its headquarters in Chelsea. The Johnson MBA at Cornell Tech was announced over the summer and will welcome its first class in Summer 2014. Plans are moving forward for the permanent campus on Roosevelt Island, set to break ground next year and open in 2017. When completed, the Roosevelt Island campus will house approximately 2,000 full-time graduate students.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Creating A Vibrant, Open Roosevelt Island Campus, Corporate Co Location Building And Partnering With Developer Forest City Ratner

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove 

 Image of Cathy Dove From Crains NY Business

sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

Creating a Vibrant and Open Campus

Now that we have completed the Cityʼs land use review process for the Cornell Tech campus, our planning is advancing and our vision for the campus is coming into clearer focus every day as we move toward aground breaking early next year. In this column we are stepping back from some of the details weʼve been focused on for the past few months and are taking a look at how weʼre working to make the campus active, open and engaging from the day we open in 2017. We made great progress on that front this week with the announcement of a partnership with Forest City Ratner to build one of the key buildings on campus, which Iʼll describe in greater detail below.

When we open our doors in 2017 itʼs important that the campus feel like a complete and wonderful place for students, faculty, staff, Islanders, companies and visitors. This is true both from a design perspective – with attractive and usable open space and a mix of building types and activities – and from a program perspective – with all of the components needed to achieve our academic mission.

When you approach the campus in 2017 and beyond, youʼll be welcomed by the first academic building at the campusʼ main entrance at the northwest corner of the site. As you may know, this building is being designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis. We released some very exciting renderings early this year. Since then the building has evolved and improved through the design process as we get closer to a final design. We will have new renderings to share in the fall and we couldnʼt be more excited about how this signature building is coming together.

The campus is designed to be open – and the architecture of the academic building also follows this principle. It will be open and permeable, inside and out. Inside, it will promote collaboration and an open exchange of ideas between students, faculty, researchers and the industry partners who will work with us. Outside, the building is being designed to welcome the community, with transparent lower floors and a public cafe that spills out on to the open space in warm weather.

The next key piece of the campus is the corporate co-location (“co-lo”) building. This building is a big part of what differentiates Cornell Tech – it will bring private companies directly onto the campus, promoting collaboration between academia and industry, helping to remove friction that can inhibit innovation. Industry plays a key role throughout the curriculum – companies are already partnering with us on special projects, weekly practicum courses and as mentors – but it is also important to have significant interaction as part of the overall campus activity. The way to do that is to provide space for relevant organizations to “co-locate” at the Cornell Tech campus.

The co-lo building will include between 150- 200,000 square feet of flexible space, with a diverse mix of tenants including both start-ups and established organizations. There will be a balance of incubator space, innovation centers for bigger companies and adaptable space for relevant organizations to spend time on the campus. The building will include flexible, open floor plans with common spaces to facilitate meetings and serendipitous, informal interactions between students, faculty and companies. We expect that leading-edge companies of all sizes and life-stages will be drawn to the innovation and energy of Cornell Tech, helping to accelerate the already rapid growth of New Yorkʼs tech sector. Cornell Tech will also occupy space in the building, further cementing the connection between academics and industry on campus.

We announced a major advancement regarding this building this week with the selection of Forest City Ratner Companies to develop the building, subject to finalizing plans and terms. Forest City Ratner would also oversee development of the first academic building, the open space and related infrastructure for the first phase of the campus, ensuring a coordinated approach to construction. The award- winning architecture, landscape and urbanism firm, WEISS/ MANFREDI will be the architect of the co-location building, furthering Cornell Techʼs commitment to innovation in design for this campus. Early concept drawings reflect a design that is equal to the significant architecture of the first academic building, and the overall beauty of Roosevelt Island. Now that the team is in place, we will begin the design process in seriousness, and look forward to sharing preliminary concepts with the community later this year.

This announcement was a major milestone for a number of reasons. The participation of a great partner in Forest City Ratner ensures we will be working with an extraordinarily capable firm. In addition, our plan always envisioned working with partners such as Forest City Ratner as a way to meet our aggressive timeline and to have a vibrant mix of activities when the campus opens in 2017.

We hope to have similar news to share about the first residential building and possibly our executive education center in the coming months, which would round out the first phase of the campus. I look forward to keeping everyone updated as this exciting new campus moves forward!

How Will New Cornell NYC Tech School Support Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 - Find Out Tonight At Community Board 8 Meeting

Video From Roosevelt Island G&T Blog

The Manhattan Community Board 8 (CB 8) Youth & Education (Y&E) Committee will be meeting tonight to discuss an issue of great importance to Roosevelt Island - what will Cornell NYC Tech do to help Roosevelt Island students attending PS/IS 217. According to the CB 8 Y&E meeting agenda for tonight:

Meeting Date:
Monday, June 10, 2013 - 7:00pm
Meeting Location:
Hunter College
SW Corner of 68th Street & Lexington Avenue - West Building, 3rd Floor North Cafe
New York, NY

Introductions
Featuring PS/IS 217 Principal Beckman with the PTA Co-President(s)
Discussion of new Cornell Tech program with IS 217—joined by Cathy Dove of Cornell Tech...

Image From CB 8

As previously reported Cornell NYC Tech has agreed to:

... Partner with New York City middle schools to create Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics (STEM) programs, with a special focus on girls. Initial pilot programs will begin at P.S./I.S. 217 on Roosevelt Island, M.S. 406 in East Harlem, and I.S. 204 and P.S. 111 in Long Island City, Queens. Starting this summer, Cornell NYC Tech will sponsor an immersion program for girls in these schools to learn coding, web design, robotics and mobile development under the mentorship of some of the industry’s top engineers and entrepreneurs.

"Adopt" the local school on Roosevelt Island, PS/IS 217, by providing programming such as teacher training and support, after school programming, tech events, career day options, and hardware and software programming development....

The issue of what type of support Cornell NYC Tech will provide Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 was discussed during the May 21 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Community Coalition (RICC).  RICC Board member Joyce Mincheff reported not much is currently known about what Cornell's adopting 217 means but for now it appears to be focused on older students in middle school rather than younger students in the elementary school.

RICC Co Chair Ellen Polivy added that Cornell's agreement to adopt PS/IS 217 was made at the very last minute before the ULURP approval by NYC Council Land Use Committee and described testimony given by the PS/IS 217 Principal to the Land Use Committee about Cornell's plan for PS/IS 217 as:

... you've been giving us lip service about adopting our school ... and not much else and just a small program that is going to serve a very small group of people. What we're asking for is you to really adopt our school and give our teachers ongoing support for the life of the school and give them mentoring and training and ongoing support for every grade....

Ms. Polivy told those attending the RICC meeting that Cornell has agreed to provide such support to PS/IS 217 but she has yet to see what Cornell will actually do.

Here's the RICC PS/IS 217 discussion.



Hopefully, we will learn more about Cornell NYC Tech's plan for supporting Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 at tonight's CB 8 meeting.

More on the RICC Cornell NYC Tech update meeting here and questions and answers here.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove, ULURP Application Approved By NYC Council - Cornell Intends To Adopt Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 And Minimize Construction Impact As Much As Possible She Says

Ms. Dove Speaking at May 8 NYC Council Approval of Cornell NYC Tech ULURP Application

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

I am so pleased to report that last week we reached a significant milestone – the completion of the formal land use review process (ULURP) for Cornell NYCTech.

We are very grateful to so many members of the Roosevelt Island community for the constructive and meaningful input throughout the process. Ultimately, your great support for the vision and mission of the campus set the tone for the entire process, reflected in very strong endorsements from the Community Board, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission and finally the City Council. We all owe a special thanks to Council Member Jessica Lappin for her tireless work in ensuring community needs were addressed.

We worked diligently throughout the public review process to incorporate feedback from the community into our approach – your input resulted in a more meaningful set of commitments from us. As a result of this constructive process, we were able to understand and address those topics that are most important to Islanders, resulting in a plan that maximizes the campusʼ benefit for all. The faculty, staff and students of Cornell Tech are looking forward to being an active partner in so many ways: researching ways that technology can enhance the lives of the many Island populations; providing computers and training to senior center members and the disabled community; providing a tech fair to advance technology education for the disabled; and working with the community to program outdoor space for children, among many others.

Many of you know that one of our primary goals is to help advance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in New York City public schools. Of course, the Roosevelt Island school is of special interest. Recently, Council Member Lappin made a wonderful suggestion during the land use review process that we embraced immediately – we will “adopt” PS/ IS 217! That means that we will engage with teachers and students in many ways, such as providing training and support, after school programming, tech events, career day options, and hardware and software programming development.

We canʼt wait to start this relationship and engage the Islandʼs young people in embracing innovation and tech. Itʼs just one piece of a larger commitment to working with schools around the City on exciting new programs. Our initial focus will be on middle school students. We will kick off the effort this summer with an immersion program for middle school girls (including some from PS/ IS217) to learn coding, web design, robotics and mobile development under the mentorship of some of the industryʼs top engineers and entrepreneurs. Classes will be held on Roosevelt Island, with special thanks to our friends at Urban American for providing space at Roosevelt Landings and logistical support for this great program.

In addition to hearing a great deal about ways our programs can benefit the community, throughout ULURP we were asked to find ways to minimize the impact of construction as much as possible. I appreciate your patience as we worked through the analysis around some very complex issues, as we did not want to disappoint the community by committing to approaches that we would later discover would not be feasible. One of the most challenging topics was to identify methods for reducing the number of trucks – especially the heaviest trucks – in order to limit the impact of construction on residents and on the Islandʼs infrastructure. Consistent with Cornell Techʼs focus on innovation in everything we do, Iʼm very proud to announce that we will be undertaking the most aggressive voluntary barging program in New York City. As a result, we expect to reduce truck trips by more than half as compared to traditional building techniques. The barging will specifically target the heaviest materials, further lightening the load on Main Street and the Helix .

Soon we will be creating a construction task force with residents and other stakeholders to keep the community updated during construction, to answer questions, and to discuss topics that arise. We will also launch a website with project and construction information as we get closer to our start date, and will provide contact information so all community members can reach us directly with questions and comments. We are committed to being accessible throughout this process.

Thereʼs still a lot of work to do before we break ground in early 2014, but we are on schedule and building momentum toward a real presence for Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island. We canʼt wait!

Below are questions and answers following May 8 announcement of NYC Council Cornell NYC Tech ULUPR approval.

Report From Cornell Vice President Cathy Dove, The Technion - Cornell Partnership At Roosevelt Island Cornell NYC Tech

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

The Technion-Cornell Partnership at Cornell Tech

Happy spring! I can’t imagine a place more beautiful than Roosevelt Island in April - everything from the blossoming cherry trees to the fuzzy goslings in Southpoint Park is spectacular. In addition to the weather transitioning, I am happy to report that plans for the Cornell Tech campus are coming together well. The City Planning Commission in March approved our project, and we are now in the midst of review by the City Council, the final stage in the land use review process.

I would like to thank the many Islanders who have taken the time to participate in each step of the process. Your input and dedication has been constructive and most helpful, and you have informed many important aspects of our planning. Thank you especially for understanding our approach to studying complex issues rather than always having immediate answers. In particular, we have been examining how construction can proceed with the least possible impact, ensuring that we are a good neighbor from the outset. I am pleased with what we have learned (more details to come in our next column) and hope that you will find our approach to be thoughtful and innovative, a standard we will aim for with every aspect of Cornell Tech.

The academic program for the campus is also moving forward quickly. Our “beta” class of masters students in computer science will finish its first semester in May. In this column, I want to provide more detail on another important part of the academic program – the partnership between Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Technion, it is one of the world’s leading research universities and a hub of innovation. In fact, the Technion has been a pioneer in training tech entrepreneurs and helping translate academic research into businesses. Amazingly, Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ than all of Europe, and fully half of those companies are led by Technion graduates. Israel has become known as “start-up nation,” and the Technion may be the biggest catalyst.

The partnership between Cornell and the Technion is manifested in a key component of Cornell Tech, the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII). When the campus is fully up and running, about 1/3 of the students and faculty will be affiliated with the JTCII, while the rest of the campus will be taught exclusively by Cornell faculty and receive their degrees from Cornell (for example, the students who enrolled in January 2013 are in a one-year Cornell master degree program). In addition, Cornell alone is responsible for the development of the physical Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island.

However, the partnership between our two institutions is a centerpiece of the academic mission. The Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute will launch its first formal program in the coming months – a novel program for Postdoctoral Innovation Fellows. The aim is to support researchers who seek to commercialize their research ideas in the stimulating environment at the JTCII while taking full advantage of the entrepreneurial network of Cornell Tech and the proximity to New York City-based markets.

Beginning in Fall 2014 the JTCII will offer an innovative two-year interdisciplinary program where students earn dual master degrees concurrently – one from Cornell and one from the Technion. This degree program will allow students to specialize in applied information-based sciences in one of three hubs focused around leading New York City industries – Connective Media, Healthier Living and The Built Environment – while honing their entrepreneurial skills. The first area of specialization will be in Connective Media. JTCII research will also be focused on the hub areas.

The Institute is named for Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Cornell alumni and long-time donors to both Cornell and the Technion, who recently announced a significant gift to support the Institute. Their gift will help support ongoing JTCII curriculum initiatives, faculty and graduate students, and industry interactions in the program. We are incredibly grateful for the Jacobses’ generosity, since as a non-profit we have to attract a great deal of philanthropy in support of the new campus and we have a long way still to go!

It is particularly appropriate that the JTCII is named for the Jacobses, because Irwin Jacobs embodies the type of tech leader we hope to produce at Cornell Tech. He is the founder of Qualcomm and a strong believer in the power of connecting academia and industry. For more than 20 years, Qualcomm has maintained a major research and development operation in Israel – not in cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, but in Haifa, adjacent to the Technion’s campus. Not surprisingly the innovations that have come from this research campus have included major technological breakthroughs – in much the same way we believe will happen at Cornell Tech.

We could not be more excited about the Cornell-Technion academic partnership and believe that the Institute will be a significant contributor to the many innovative programs that Cornell Tech will bring to Roosevelt Island.

As previously reported, here's Mayor Bloomberg announcing



the $133 million gift to the Technion component of Cornell NYC Tech by the Jacobs Family.

Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove Introduces Faculty Members Deborah Estrin, Rajit Manohar and Dan Huttenlocher - Video Presentation To NYC Planning Commission On Academic Goals And Everything Else

Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove Presentation To Feb 6 NYC Planning Commission Public Hearing

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

As winter slowly transitions to spring, the Cornell Tech team continues to work on both our campus development plans as well as our academic program. Regarding the formal land use review process (ULURP), in January Borough President Stringer echoed the Community Board in supporting the approval of the campus plan. The plans are currently under review by the City Planning Commission, which is expected to vote later this month. The next and final step in the City’s land use review process is consideration by the full City Council, and we look forward to working with Council Member Lappin and her colleagues to continue what has been an excellent and serious discussion that has included many members of the Roosevelt Island community. We remain on track for groundbreaking early next year.

Regarding our academic programs, at the last time of writing we had just welcomed our inaugural “beta” class of computer science master degree students to the temporary campus in Chelsea. It’s been an exciting and rewarding couple of months as both the students and faculty jumped right into exploring the new academic model that we’re introducing at Cornell Tech. The students have already established close contact with a number of industry partners, learning about various facets of entrepreneurial life at the practicum sessions held each Friday. Sessions have included presentations from a wide array of disciplines, including architects, tech entrepreneurs and even a group of attorneys who helped the class understand the intricacies of tech transfer and intellectual property. The students are also working in teams on semester-long projects in direct collaboration with private companies. It is terrific having active students, faculty and community partners interacting at our site.

In the long term, as in any organization, the success of our campus is dependent on the people we attract – faculty, students and staff. Today I want to highlight our early faculty hires. We have been gratified to see the amazing level of faculty talent that has been attracted to Cornell Tech. Currently we are interviewing faculty in six fields that span areas as diverse as computer science to operations research to marketing. We are looking for a very special kind of faculty member – someone with established academic credentials in an area that is compatible with our campus, together with entrepreneurial/commercialization interests, and a demonstrated commitment to societal good. We want faculty that want to make an impact. Our first two full-time,tenured faculty members,Rajit Manohar and Deborah Estrin, are great examples, as is Dan Huttenlocher, founding Dean of Cornell Tech.

Dean Huttenlocher has been on the faculty at Cornell since 1988, most recently serving as Cornell’s Computing and Information Science (CIS) Dean, but it is his mix of academic and industry experience that makes him the perfect fit for Cornell Tech. He has worked at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and served as CTO of Intelligent Markets, and serves as a Trustee of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He has taught in both the Department of Computer Science and the MBA program at Cornell, and has won recognition as the New York State Professor of the year, a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.

While Dean Huttenlocher is an outstanding academic and entrepreneur in his own right, it is unlikely he will be able to spend much time teaching and conducting research, as he is quite busy serving as the chief academic officer of the campus. Thus, our first full-time “true” faculty member is Professor Estrin, a pioneer in networked sensing, which uses mobile and wireless systems to collect and analyze real time data about the physical world. Deborah joins Cornell Tech from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was a professor of computer science and the Founding Director of the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS). Her work has shown how the data streaming from networks of devices such as smartphones and cameras can enrich our understanding and management of complex problems – from personal and public health, to traffic patterns and civic engagement.

Professor Estrin brings an award-winning pedigree to Cornell Tech, as the winner of the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame Award, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and one of CNN’s “10 Most Powerful Women in Tech”, among many honors. She is also a co-founder of Open mHealth, a non-profit organization working to create an open-source infrastructure for the growing field of mobile health, which uses the wealth of live data made possible by mobile technology to revolutionize patient care. Professor Estrin is already lending her expertise not only to our students but to clinicians from Weill Cornell Medical Center, as we all work together in an effort to use technology to improve healthcare. She has also shown a commitment to K-12 education, spearheading a groundbreaking internship program for Los Angeles high school students in mobile technologies and data.

Professor Manohar is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs on the campus, and he joins us from the main Cornell campus in Ithaca, where he served as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in Engineering. Professor Manohar is the recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation Career award, five best paper awards, seven teaching awards, and was named to MIT technology review's top 35 young innovators under 35 for contributions to low power microprocessor design.

In addition to being an outstanding teacher, Professor Manohar is a great fit at Cornell Tech due to his experience partnering with private industry and building companies. He is currently part of a team with engineers from IBM that has worked to create microchips that help computers think more like the human brain. He has also created his own start-up firm: Achronix Semiconductor.

These amazing faculty are among the team that is shaping the academic program for the campus. Many of us will be on Roosevelt Island this year for some special programming, and we all look forward to joining you at our permanent campus in 2017, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed “meeting” a few of the key members of our team. I’ll be back next month to provide another update on the review process and everything that’s happening with Cornell Tech.

Below is Academic presentation by Dean Dan Huttenlocher to the February 6 NYC Planning Commission Pubic Hearing.

Report From Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove On Academic Goals And Vision For Roosevelt Island Campus - Video Presentation Of Project At CB 8 Land Use Committee Hearing With Questions And Comments From Residents Including 9 Year Old Girl Asking For Cornell's Help

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove

Image of Ms. Dove at December 12 CB 8 Land Use Committee Public Hearing

sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

It was almost exactly one year ago – December 19, 2011 – that Cornell was chosen to build the applied sciences graduate campus on Roosevelt Island that we have now named Cornell Tech. For everyone at Cornell Tech, and for me personally, it has been a whirlwind year as we’ve worked hard to create an innovative new academic program and plan an open, sustainable physical campus here on the Island.

So for this week’s column I wanted to take a step back and share some thoughts about why Cornell is so committed to this campus and the impact it will have on economic development and higher education in New York and beyond. Over time we estimate that the impact from this campus alone will create thousands of jobs and have a huge impact on New York’s economy. Our mission is important and so we wanted to share some details of our approach with you.

First, though, let me share a quick update on our conversations with the Roosevelt Island community that are occurring right now as part of the official land use review process (ULURP). It has been wonderful to see so many people attend each of the meetings we’ve held with Community Board 8. We’ve heard a clear and consistent message from the community: Roosevelt Island strongly supports Cornell Tech but wants to make sure that the construction and operation of the campus are handled in a way that protects, respects and welcomes the rest of the Island.

We’ve been working hard to fully answer every question that we’ve received, and we’re pursuing potential solutions on some of the most commonly raised issues, including barging of materials to reduce the impact of construction. As I’m writing this column we’re preparing for a Community Board hearing on December 12, and I hope to see many of you at future meetings throughout this process.

But my goal for this column is to provide a deeper understanding of the academic goals and vision for the new campus, which can sometimes get lost in all of the vital conversations going on about the details of planning the physical campus.

Cornell Tech is designed to address two significant issues slowing innovation and economic development in New York and around the country. The first issue, identified by the City, is that the enormous growth of our tech sector is being held back by a shortage of top-level tech talent in New York. The second, broader challenge is that the way we innovate and commercialize research ideas in this country is changing, and universities and companies both need to adapt to remain at the forefront of technology innovation. It is time for new thinking about how industry and academia work together.

Cornell Tech is being designed with these challenges in mind. It is a graduate- level campus focused on the applied sciences and engineering, particularly those areas related to the information economy that play such a central role in New York City. With a burgeoning tech sector, the City is increasingly home to local technology firms as well as offices of national and global technology companies. In addition, almost every NYC-based industry is highly reliant on technology to drive its business. Cornell Tech is creating the academic environment to help power these companies, grow new companies, and develop whole new industries driven by technology and information.

We’re creating a distinctive approach to graduate education and research in technology. Our campus will foster the development of technologies that are rooted in the latest academic research and address real-world problems. We will create a campus culture that blends academic excellence and commercial impact together with societal good. Students and faculty – in close collaboration with industry experts – will learn and work together. And, befitting New York City’s role as the “capital of the world”, Cornell has forged an academic partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Together the two universities will be offering dual degrees and innovative programs on the campus.

Research and education at Cornell Tech will be undertaken with potential commercial and societal outcomes in mind from the outset. The campus will be highly interdisciplinary, bringing both deep disciplinary excellence in core technology fields such as computer science and electrical engineering, and creating cross-cutting focal areas that we term “hubs”. Initially three hubs are planned, in Connective Media, Healthier Life, and the Built Environment.

The hubs serve as focal points for the research and educational mission of the campus, bringing together particular sets of disciplines that are most relevant to domains of particular commercial relevance in New York City. Thus all three initial hubs focus on areas where information technology is rapidly affecting large industry sectors in the city – the advertising, media and entertainment industries for the Connective Media hub, the health care and insurance industries for the Healthier Life hub, and the building, architecture and urban planning industries for the Built Environment hub. As technology and its relation to particular industry sectors changes, so will the interdisciplinary focal areas; thus the lifetime of hubs is expected to be from a few years to a decade or two.

In addition to conducting research that addresses real-world problems, the campus will offer a number of graduate degrees. The State of New York has approved five one year professional degrees including Masters of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Operations Research, a Master of Professional Studies in Information Science, and an Accelerated MBA for students with technical backgrounds. We are launching the first of these – the M.Eng. in Computer Science, in January 2013 on our Chelsea campus. In addition to these Cornell degrees, with Technion we anticipate offering three unique two- year dual degrees focused on the hub areas, which will result in both a Cornell and Technion diploma. Finally we will also have a number of Ph.D. students on our campus.

This is a new approach and a rare opportunity to create a new campus and curriculum from scratch. We’re extremely excited about the possibilities and so grateful to be creating this campus in a community with a history of innovation.

Below is video from the December 12 Community Board 8 (CB 8) Land Use Committee meeting referenced by Ms. Dove. During the meeting a motion was approved to vote on Cornell NYC Tech's ULURP application at the December 19 CB 8 Full Board Meeting. Also, here's a 40 page question and answer sheet on the Cornell NYC Tech Project and a letter from Ms. Dove setting forth the benefits of the project to Roosevelt Island and the rest of NYC.

The December 12 CB 8 Land Use Committee meeting began with a young Roosevelt Island girl asking for Cornell's help and continued with Ms. Dove and other Cornell NYC Tech representatives presenting their plan



followed by questions and statements from Roosevelt Island residents



and Community Board





8 members.