Cornell Tech to open first phase of its new campus in summer 2017

Cornell Tech campus under construction on Roosevelt Island.

The first phase of Cornell Tech, which aims to be a model for a new kind of high-tech university as well as an engine for the local economy, is on track to be completed in the summer of 2017, according to a briefing Wednesday, marking the start of the 12-month countdown of the opening of the graduate program's Roosevelt Island campus.

The presentation, at the school's temporary quarters inside Google's offices in Chelsea, touted the school's progress so far. Since the first class launched in January 2013, nearly 200 Cornell Tech alumni have graduated and 29 startups, of which 93% are headquartered in New York, have been created. The new companies have collectively raised $12 million in funding.

More than 70% of the graduates have remained in New York, contributing their advanced computer science and business skills to small startups as well as big companies like Google and Verizon, according to Cornell Tech Dean and Vice Provost Daniel Huttenlocher. Cornell Tech also includes an M.B.A. program.