Cornell Tech: A nesting ground for new technologies

NEW YORK: In the rush to get to class, Eliza Harkins used to forget the things she needed most: notebooks, eyeglasses, phone charger and lunch. 

So Harkins teamed up with a classmate, Sarah Le Cam, to do something about it. They came up with a device that slips inside a bag, backpack or suitcase and keeps track of items using radio-frequency identification technology. If a wallet is not returned to the bag, the device sends a cellphone alert. If the cellphone is missing, the device beeps .. 

The women are part of a new generation of technology whizzes emerging from Cornell Tech, a graduate school on Roosevelt Island in the East River that started with just seven students in 2013. Since then, Cornell Tech has become one of the most visible symbols of New York City’s booming technology sector — and a major selling point in the bid to persuade Amazon to build a headquarters in Queens. 

Cornell Tech’s dean and vice provost, Daniel Huttenlocher, sits on Amazon’s board of directors, and Amazon executives visited the campus as part of the city’s efforts to woo the company. Ferries provide direct service between the Cornell campus and Long Island City, Queens, where the company will build the headquarters. 

The school’s graduates and researchers have parlayed their ideas, skills and ambition into more than 50 startup companies that have raised a total of $60 million from in .

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