Duffield Engineering 2030

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duffield hall rendering
Rendering of the expanded Duffield Hall, scheduled to be completed in 2027.

“Our world is more connected now than at any time in history, and the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering is uniquely positioned to un-silo engineering and unlock innovation. Committed to developing the people and knowledge necessary to forge a better future, we are engineering to make a difference. Launched in 2021 and refined in 2026, our Duffield Engineering 2030 plan builds upon our nearly 160-year-old reputation for rigor and excellence in teaching and discovery — as well as our deeply ingrained culture of collaborating across disciplines — to forge new paradigms for engineering education, research, and technology translation. ”

Lynden Archer Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering
Lynden A. Archer

Six Pillars of our Strategic Plan

  1. Nurture, reward, and celebrate excellence of students and faculty

  2. Build strength at interfaces between fields

  3. Develop a cohort of teaching excellence fellows and faculty

  4. “One Cornell” engineering: Build bridges to our New York City campuses

  5. Modernize our spaces, building by building

  6. Lead Cornell in creating “Living Laboratory” experiences

Priority Research Directions and Impact Areas

  • A student works with wires and computer software

    AI, Machine Learning, and Data-Driven Decisions

    How can we generate, collect, and curate unprecedented volumes of data to make sound decisions, train machines, and decipher broader meaning in the output from artificial intelligence?

  • Biomedical researcher wearing face mask and helmet works in lab

    Biotechnology and Precision Medicine

    How can we leverage Cornell’s legacy of excellence in engineering and medicine to improve patient outcomes?

  • Scientist with hardhat points toward windmill at construction site with large swath of dirt roads

    Climate, Energy, and the Environment

    How do we tap into Cornell’s deep reservoir of expertise in energy and earth systems engineering to innovate, adapt, and thrive?

  • Collage of students working at desks surrounded by blueprints, and a professor writing equations on chalkboard

    Engineering Education

    How do engineering students best learn and retain technical subjects, form identities as engineers, and enter engineering career fields?

  • Researchers in lab coats and gloves work in lab with test tubes and protective glass panel

    Materials and Molecular Design

    How are we creating new paradigms for developing materials and systems that match unmet needs and drive advances in a wide range of fields and industries?

  • A professor works with a student in a dark lab with a tabletop laser setup

    Quantum Information Science and Technology

    How do we leverage Cornell’s rich traditions in optics, nanofabrication, oxide and nitride materials, and information science and technology to create quantum devices, sensors, information networks and systems?

  • two students hold a wheeled robot, to the left is a small robot perched on a rock

    Robotics and Autonomous Systems

    How can we advance and develop a deeper understanding of the autonomous technologies and systems that will drive innovation in nearly every industry?

  • hands solder a cubed spacecraft, to the right a satellite orbits earth

    Space Technology and Exploration

    Is space the new ecosystem? What is possible in spacecraft innovation, exploration, systems engineering and entrepreneurship?

Featured Initiatives

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