2023 Cooper Union Grant Program Recipients

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023/2024 Cooper Union Grant Program. In all, we accepted 20 competitive proposals this year based on the criteria outlined in the application, awarding a total of $133,000 in funding.

This year's accepted projects included several that are funded through AACE Lab Grants, sub-grants of the Cooper Union Grant Program, with generous support from the IDC Foundation. These grants, totaling $39,500, support proposals that leverage the IDC Foundation Art, Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Lab (AACE Lab) resources to explore, develop, and implement projects and activities that will further exploration of digital fabrication, increase engagement with the AACE Lab, inspire and facilitate imaginative new ways of thinking, and/or advance diversity and inclusion efforts in the curriculum.

In addition, a total of $54,000 was awarded to several projects this year through the generous support of the Benjamin Menschel Faculty Fellowship Program.

As in prior grant cycles, the selection process considered proposals' potential to advance The Cooper Union’s organizational goals and strategic priorities, with preference given to projects that address a societal challenge or civic need; involve at least two of Cooper's four areas of academic study; relate to the development or enhancement of courses that are open to all students; utilize the AACE Lab; and/or involve a mix of faculty, staff, and students.

COOPER UNION GRANT PROJECTS:

Artists of The Met
Cerena Parkison
Jessie Salinas
Awarded Amount: $2,500

Cooper Union Summer Research Community
Abigail Raz
Michelle Rosen
Alice Pisani
Fabiola Barrios-Landeros
Awarded Amount: $3,500

CU Energy and Carbon Footprint Dashboard
Melody Baglione
Julio Santillana
Amount Awarded: $5,000  

Data Visualization and FeedbackLoops, a Kinetic Sculptures Showcase
Michael Giglia
Douglas Thornhill
Melody Baglione
Iso Vento
Harrison Tyler
Jeannette Circe
Dylan Clark
Jacob Koziej
Amount Award: $5,000

Mobile Satellite Ground Station and the E-Ink Microsatellite project
Hyeonseo Daniel Kim
Michelle Rosen
Anthony Belladonna
Benjamin Meiner
Amount Awarded: $7,500

Towards a Sustainable Darkroom Practice
Jennifer Williams
Poline Grishina
Justin Lubliner
Amount Awarded: $6,500

Revitalizing Cooper’s Outdoor Spaces to Cultivate Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Novel Research
Aerin Chavez
Arav Sharma
Denise Cholula
Manhim Liu
Brandon Bunt
Ani Vardanyan
Rebecca John
Grace Ballo
Sarah Ilich
Ru Jia
Julia Penchaszadeh Robert
Martina Duque Gonzalez
Razaq Al Mughni
Daniel Park
Jihoo Ahn
Julius Yoh
Hye Jun Kwon
Isaac Amar
Amount Awarded: $9,500

AACE LAB GRANT PROJECTS:
 
Exploration of 'Fashioning' Different Digital Fabrication Methodologies
Judy Li
Lauren Kogod
Patrick Rearden
Martina Duque Gonzalez
Sofia Mercado
Daniel Luo
Conrad Moore
Amount Awarded: $9,000
 
Interdisciplinary Robotic Fabrication Course Development
Zach Cohen
Harrison Tyler
Amount Awarded: $7,500
 
Single Point Incremental Forming Research
Yinqing Zhu
Benjamin Aranda
Harrison Tyler
Amount Awarded: $10,000
 
Tikkun Olam Makers [TOM]: Assistive Technology
Michelle Meiner
Benjamin Meiner
Amount Awarded: $3,000
 
Transdisciplinary Design Activism
Laela Baker
Ezekiel Binns
Aerin Chavez
Sara Ilich
Earl Kwofie
Andrew Lam
Sarah Saad
Amount Awarded: $10,000

MENSCHEL FACULTY FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS:

“A Shared Language”
Grace Ballo
Harrison Tyler
Martina Duque Gonzalez
Razaq Alabdulmughni
Ji-Hoo Ahn
Laela Baker
Daniel Park
Jiayi Chen
Sara Ilich
Tate Liang
Oriol Almela Freitas
Awarded Amount: $4,000

Interdisciplinary Symposium on Generative Methods for Architecture and Art
Sam Keene
Ben Aranda
Amount Awarded: $10,000

Investigating the Frame
Belinda Lin
Intellect Chen
Amount Awarded: $2,800

Lecture and exhibition on remote sensing for environmental monitoring
Sam Keene
Krishna Karra
Amount Awarded: $6,000

Plasma Engineering Architecture: Implementing ionized gases into our design world.
Kamau Wright
Amount Awarded: $7,200

Public Art as Alimentary Infrastructure
Nora Akawi
Ninad Pandit
Amount Awarded: $10,000

The Cooper Union Multidisciplinary Housing Initiative
Daisy Ames
Guido Zuliani
Nina Pandit
Fia Backström
Jasper Townsend
Amount Awarded: $10,000

Finelines and Shadows Drawing Group
Asialy Bracey-Gardella
Mauricio Higuera
Amount Awarded: $4,000

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.