DAY 1 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH

HAZARDS, IMPACTS, AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

  • Check in and enjoy complimentary coffee before the program begins.

    • Rohit Aggarwala - Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Chief Climate Officer, New York City

  • How can we tap machine learning (ML) to map and mitigate urban heat islands?

    This panel will explore how ML and artificial intelligence (AI) can augment efforts to identify, analyze, and mitigate urban heat islands—areas within cities that experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding regions. We’ll look at emerging insights on the health impacts of extreme urban heat, how AI can help governments develop more targeted cooling strategies, and opportunities for tech to support richer engagement and collaboration with communities.

    • Moderator: Chethan Sarabu - Director of Clinical Innovation, Health Tech Hub at Cornell Tech; Co-founder, Climate Health Innovation & Learning Lab (CHILL)

    • Mehdi Heris - Assistant Professor of Urban Data Analytics & Climate Resilience, Hunter College

    • Katie MacDonald- Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Tailwind

    • Anna Bershteyn - Associate Professor of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

    • Siqi Zhu - Director of Planning and Urban Technology & Associate Principal, Sasaki

    • Kristin Fontenot - Director, Office of Environment and Energy, Housing & Urban Development

    • Francisco Sanchez - Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster Recovery & Resilience, Small Business Administration

  • How can AI improve resilience and inform adaptation to coastal flooding and severe storms?

    With a sneak peek at the next generation of flood models that will shape urban adaptation plans and a deep look at the data needed to support equitable relocation of  people, homes, and infrastructure from climate-vulnerable locations, this session will explore how AI-driven models can improve early warning systems, optimize infrastructure planning, and facilitate more effective emergency response, all while fostering stronger partnerships between city officials, climate scientists, and local communities.

    • Marquise Stillwell - Co-founder, Urban Ocean Lab

    • Hayley Elszasz - Climate Science Advisor, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice

    • Timon McPhearson- Professor of Urban Ecology & Director of the Urban Systems Lab, The New School

    • Meenakshi Chabba - Ecosystem and Resilience Scientist, The Everglades Foundation

  • Explore the Cornell Tech campus, network with attendees, and enjoy a boxed lunch, included with admission for all attendees.

  • How will new sensing and sensemaking tools enhance our capacity to adapt?

    New technologies for life-like visualizations of real-time urban data promise a better understanding of climate impacts, potential solutions, and collaborative decision making among key stakeholders. But how should digital twins be designed, delivered, and used to promote innovation, ensure transparency, and maximize effectiveness? This session will explore the experiments, ethical challenges, and technological state of the art of urban digital twins for resilience.

    • Moderator: Anthony Townsend - Senior Research Associate, Cornell Tech Urban Tech Hub

    • Farzin Lotfi-Jam - Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of Realtime Urbanism Lab, Cornell University

    • Mark Mutter - Product Director, Climate Risk Nexus & Digital Twins, Arcadis

    • Rawad Choubassi -  Managing Director & Senior Partner, Systematica

    • Amy Boncelet - Transportation Electrification Data Scientist, ICF

    • Workshop 1: Cultivating Trust with AI Climate Risk Tools - Presented by Urban Systems Lab, The New School

    • Workshop 2: AI Empower - A Toolkit to Help Communities Utilize AI to Drive Climate Action

  • How will people and AI work together to design, engineer, and build resilient systems?

    The rapid evolution, excitement, and colossal investments in generative AI models offer new opportunities for sensing, simulating, and streamlining urban adaptation efforts. How might cities take advantage of these tools, and how should humans and AI work together to make the most of the latter’s enormous potential (and carbon footprint)?

    • Elijah Hutchinson - Executive Director, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice

DAY 2 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20

BUILDING RESILIENT URBAN SYSTEMS

  • Coffee will be available.

    • Raj Pannu - Founder and CEO, Emergence Creative

  • How can AI help us build faster, cheaper, cleaner, and more resilient systems?

    As cities prepare for a hotter, wetter, lower-carbon future, what technologies can help us construct, retrofit, and future-proof structures that are durable and affordable? This panel will look at how AI, automation, and robotics are enabling new approaches to construction, maintenance, and land use for a resilient future.

    • Moderator: Bryan Boyer - Faculty Director of the Urban Technology Degree Program, University of Michigan

    • Timur Dogan - Associate Professor & Director of Environmental Systems Lab, Cornell University

    • Tanaya Srini - Senior Advisor for Innovation, Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

    • Nick Novelli - High Performance Building Specialist, AECOM

    • Marc Zuluaga - Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Cadence OneFive

    • Jen Hensley - Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Con Edison

  • How will we optimize resilient, distributed energy resources at scale?

    Power networks in cities are going through unprecedented transformation, with more renewable energy sources coming online just as climate change is making our infrastructure more vulnerable. This panel will zoom in on new approaches and tools for decentralized energy and risk management that can smooth the transition.

    • Micah Kotch - Partner, Blackhorn Ventures 

    • Tim Dumbleton - Chief Operating Officer, MicroGrid Networks

    • Kelly Sanders - Assistant Director for Energy Systems Innovation, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

    • Victoria A. Beard - Professor of City and Regional Planning & Director of Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities, Cornell University

  • Explore the Cornell Tech campus, network with attendees, and enjoy a boxed lunch, included with admission for all attendees.

  • How can we use AI to reduce climate risk and increase resilience for mass transit?

    Amid post-pandemic shifts in demand, increasing climate risks, and setbacks for innovative financing tools, mass transit is being asked to do more than ever with less. This panel will look at emerging urban tech solutions for innovating in and around mass transit systems to reduce risk and increase resilience.

    • Moderator: Sarah Kaufman - Executive Director, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation

    • Leo Tsang - Principal Transportation Planner & Modeler, The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

    • Eric Wilson - Vice President, Climate Resilience and Sustainability Planning, MTA Construction & Development

    • Stacey Matlen - Senior Vice President for Innovation, Partnership for NYC

    • Jingqin (Jannie) Gao - Assistant Director of Research, C2SMARTER University Transportation Center, NYU

  • How can technology enable seamless, sustainable, and fair movement of goods 24/7/365?

    With e-bikes taking the city by storm and tectonic shifts in retailing transforming the flow of goods in large cities, this panel will focus on visions and realities for the future of urban freight. How is AI enabling new networks and modes to serve city residents and businesses, and what new data and tech are needed to ensure a seamless, sustainable, and equitable logistics system?

    • Moderator: Tara Pham - Co-Founder & CEO, Numia; Urban Tech Fellow, Cornell Tech

    • Tiffany-Ann Taylor - Vice President for Transportation, Regional Plan Association 

    • Kaan Ozbay - Professor & Director, C2SMART Center, NYU

    • David Hammer - President & Co-Founder, PopWheels