About the Department
The Department of Design Tech is a multicollege, transdisciplinary initiative pioneering innovation, research, and teaching on topics at the intersection of design and emerging technology that most greatly impact research, industry, and practice in a changing world.
Bridging expertise and catalyzing exploration, innovation, and collaboration in emerging areas, including design + interactions, design + materials, design + media, and design + environments, Design Tech is a generator of new modes, methods, and applications that redefine design practice and research.
Participating Cornell colleges: The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Cornell Bowers), Cornell Human Ecology (CHE), Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, and Cornell Tech in New York City.
Degree Program
Inside the M.S. in Design Technology

Upcoming and Ongoing Events
-
Aug 13–Dec 10
Graduate Admissions Fall 2026 Events
Join AAP Graduate Admissions this fall for a series of sessions designed to introduce prospective students to master’s programs offered at AAP.
-
Nov 3
Design Tech Virtual Open House, Fall 2026
The Design Tech Virtual Open House will showcase the M.S. in Design Technology program with presentations and a Q&A led by faculty, students, and department Chair Jenny Sabin.
-
Nov 11
Virginia San Fratello: From Code to Craft
Attend a lecture by Virginia San Fratello that explores her work on how objects and spaces carry coded and cultural narratives and how design can engage questions of memory, labor, and environmental transformation.
-
Mar 22–24
HUMAN AI Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking
AI is changing not only what learners produce, but how they think, validate knowledge, and demonstrate understanding. This summit explicitly integrates learning, teaching, and evaluation, recognizing that these domains must co-evolve in AI-mediated educational systems.
Stories Cornell-Developed Particles Supercharge Cancer Immunotherapy
Uli Wiesner, Professor in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Design Tech, collaborated on the study, which reports that the nanoparticles can reprogram the tumor microenvironment, transforming immune-resistant tumors into ones that respond far better to treatment.
Stories Students Show Off New Machines at Sciencenter Demo Day
Students in Professor of Information Science at Cornell Bowers and Design Tech faculty François Guimbretière’s spring Introduction to Rapid Prototyping and Physical Computing course shared their team projects at a community demonstration day on May 9.
Stories Underwater 3D Printing Could Transform Maritime Construction
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Design Tech faculty Uli B. Wiesner and Architecture Professor and Design Tech Chair Jenny Sabin were part of the interdisciplinary group that collaborated on the research.
Stories Redesigned Fire Gear Offers Potentially More Cooling, Less Toxicity
Associate Professor of Apparel Design in the College of Human Ecology (CHE) and Design Tech faculty Heeju Park and graduate students in his lab interviewed more than 50 firefighters as part of a yearlong project to develop more versatile firefighting gear.
Stories
VR-Based Demonstration
Harald Haraldsson, Design Tech Associate Professor of the Practice at Cornell Tech, demonstrates how virtual reality can transform the way students learn complex 3D concepts.
Stories Jeanne Gang: Idealism in Practice
This fall’s Rubacha Featured Speaker is Jeanne Gang, founding partner of the internationally acclaimed architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang. In advance of her public lecture on October 14 in the Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium, Gang shared insights into her personal inspiration, the studio’s distinct approach to practice, and a little guidance for the next generation.
Stories Extended Reality Tool Lets Dancers Analyze Movement
Professor of Information Science at Cornell Bowers and Design Tech faculty François Guimbretière coauthored a paper on the development of “DanXeReflect,” a tool that uses video and extended reality headsets to create an immersive environment for dancers to analyze and refine their movements.
In the Media Europe Has a Major Heat Problem and It’s Only Getting Worse
CNN — Associate Professor of Architecture Timur Dogan comments on how heat trapped inside buildings during European heat waves poses significant public health threats.
Stories SplatOverflow Enables Remote Hardware Troubleshooting
Professor of Information Science at Cornell Bowers and Design Tech faculty François Guimbretière is among the team of researchers who developed a new tool that aims to address a major gap in hardware maintenance.
In the Media How Far Can Driverless Cars Take Us?
City Journal — Wendy Ju, Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech and Design Tech faculty comments on the need to better model pedestrian behavior when designing interactions for automated vehicles.
Announcements PAMM Digital Art Commissions
Associate Professor of Design Tech at the Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Cornell Tech Jose Sanchez has been named one of the winners of PĂ©rez Art Museum Miami’s inaugural open call for digital art commissions.
Student Work
-
Group Work
-
-
Group Work
-
Group Work
-
Group Work
- Keep Browsing