Greetings!

As we near the end of another successful semester, we are excited to share some of our highlights and accomplishments! We kicked off the semester with an inspiring Transdisciplinary Design Roundtable and a productive Advisory Board meeting in NYC. In addition, we're excited to share the results of our Student Photo Contest, which highlights our students' unique perspectives on the theme “Peace by Design”.

Newsletter Highlights:

Healthy Futures Minors’ Projects and Achievements

Student Photo Contest Results

Holiday Open House

Take a look below for updates on our students’ achievements, upcoming events, and ways to connect with CIHF!

All the best,

CIHF Leadership Team

CIHF Events & Announcements

Fall Photo Contest Results

2024 Theme: Peace by Design

The 2024 Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures Student Photo Contest was open to all Cornell students. We received over 150 submissions from 55 student participants. Voting commenced during our Advisory Board meeting.

Congratulations to all finalists!

1st place: Pathways to Peace by Maëlle Tholomé ’26

2nd place: Nature’s Breath by Alice (Alisa) Gudkova ’26

3rd place: Doors to Peace by Heather Kitchens ’24

Honorable mention: Silent Harmony by Annie Wang ’28

Honorable mention: Leaf by Dhruva Gajanan Sakhare ’25

Honorable mention: Naturally Happy by Kenza Daoudi ’27

Join us to celebrate the end of another semester and the upcoming holidays!

Date: Thursday, December 5

Time: 3-4:30 PM

Location: CIHF Suite, 3520 MVR Hall

Food and beverages will be provided.

Looking for a unique winter course?

DEA 1112: Change-Making – Designing Healthy and Hospitable Environments is open for enrollment! This course invites you to explore how design thinking, customer service, and facility planning can transform personal and professional spaces. Dive into innovative design strategies that make an impact across industries like hospitality, healthcare, senior living, and more. Don’t miss the chance to gain multidisciplinary insights into creating environments that support well-being and functionality!

This introductory course is open to designers and non-designers alike. No artistic abilities are required.

For more information and to enroll, visit winter.cornell.edu.

This fall, the Cornell University Healthy Futures (CUHF) student chapter kicked off an exciting semester, connecting students to careers and innovations at the crossroads of health, hospitality, and design. With events including a general body meeting, an insightful speaker session by Erin Peavey from HKS, and a popular painting social at Indian Creek Farm, CUHF has engaged students across disciplines. Upcoming site visits to Kendal at Ithaca and the Inns of Aurora will provide real-world insights into health-focused hospitality.

Are you a student looking for fun opportunities such as these? Join CUHF as they continue fostering professional growth and community connections in this dynamic field!

Healthy Future Minor Julia Zhang has established a new student club, IIDA Cornell Campus Center! 

IIDA Cornell Campus Center is the student chapter of the Commercial Interior Design Association (IIDA) at Cornell University, with 27 registered IIDA student members and growing. It is a community that brings together students across all grade levels who share a passion for interior design and hosts events that inspire creative growth and career exploration. Follow @iidacornell on Instagram to see the exciting events they are hosting!

Find out more here.

Discover how Jiayi Guo, a Healthy Futures minor, spent the summer as a social and environmental innovation volunteer in Mexico City! Read her collaborative blog posts to learn about her work helping a plastic recycling company digitalize its documentation and expand its outreach. A real-world impact in sustainability and community engagement!

Blog posts:

July 31

August 13 Part I

August 13 Part II

August 17

The HPH conference went very well. Our workshop was well attended by people from over 7 different countries across Europe, North America, and Asia, and it was amazing to see the attendees come up with similar takeaways about the impact of design on health despite their vastly different backgrounds. It was a beautiful reminder of how design is such an incredible unifier as it is a deeply human experience we all share. 

The rest of the conference was also fantastic! It’s always fascinating to meet healthcare leaders from around the world and realize we are all going through very similar challenges. 

I thought the organizers also did a fantastic job of honoring the powerful history of Hiroshima throughout, once more emphasizing the need to progress towards a more equitable, empathetic, and peaceful world. We had time to visit the Peace memorial after the conference which was a very emotional and deeply humbling experience. 

I am so grateful to you and CIHF for making this worldview enhancing experience possible, and I was proud to represent our shared mission throughout.

- Peyton Fort

We’re thrilled to share that the Cornell Chronicle recently featured a story on our Academic Director, Mardelle Shepley, and her groundbreaking new book Peace by Design, which explores how thoughtful design can foster peace and well-being.

In addition to her role at CIHF, Mardelle is a professor in the Department of Human Centered Design (HCD) within the College of Human Ecology.

Read the full article to learn more!

Welcome New CIHF Members!

Francis is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Cornell, where he teaches and researches in the areas of energy efficiency, alternative energy, sustainable transportation, and green building. 

He is also the lead author of the textbooks Energy Systems Engineering: Evaluation and Implementation (fourth edition 2021) and Sustainable Transportation Systems Engineering (first edition 2014), both from McGraw-Hill, New York. 

Find out more about Francis here.

Wendy’s inexhaustible drive is fueled by her passionate belief that there is a direct correlation between maintaining the value of a property and offering facilities and services that provide residents with the opportunity for a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Find out more about Wendy here.

With over 20 years of experience in creating diverse environments, Siobhan is a nationally recognized architect and leader specializing in senior living design. Her passion is centered on crafting spaces that enrich the lives of seniors, offering them context-driven environments that extend beyond the physical property line. Siobhan has led numerous high-profile, award-winning projects and is celebrated for her innovative approach to designing engaging, comfortable, and purposeful spaces for aging populations. 

Find out more about Siobhan here.

Transdisciplinary Design Roundtable Recap

The Transdisciplinary Design Roundtable brought together faculty, students, and staff to celebrate design's impact at Cornell and explore collaborative teaching and research opportunities.

Ideas were generated regarding ways to enhance collaboration and access to design-related courses. A new transdiscisplinary pilot grant, funded by the College of Human Ecology, was announced.

During the event, attendees engaged in vibrant discussions, exchanged ideas, and showcased their recent projects through papers, books, and images. Chairs from various departments shared insights on how they support design within their programs, highlighting the work of faculty and students who incorporate design into their disciplines. They emphasized the transdisciplinary nature of design, showcasing its relevance across diverse fields and its potential to bridge gaps between traditional academic boundaries.

Departments represented:

Human Centered Design

Architecture

Design Tech

Media and Performing Arts

Landscape Architecture

Operations, Technology, and Information Management

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The event ended with a maker charette focusing on "visions of transdisciplinary design at Cornell".

This exciting roundtable provided a valuable platform for networking within Cornell's design community, fostering a shared vision for the future of design across disciplines.

Enjoy our photo highlights below!

On October 18, 2024, CIHF held its Fall Advisory Board Meeting at HKS Architects in NYC. Board members along with CIHF directors Heather Kolakowski and Mardelle Shepley gathered to discuss recent initiatives and opportunities to maintain momentum and drive innovation​. 

Key highlights included a review of the annual report and voting on finalists in the CIHF student photography contest. 

Find out more about board membership here.

What's New in Research?

Blue Space: Extracting the Sensory Characteristics of Waterscapes as a Potential Tool for Anxiety Mitigation

Co-authored by CIHF Academic Director Mardelle Shepley and CIHF Faculty Fellow, Anthony Ong, Professor in the Department of Psychology 

The purpose of this study is to investigate if there is a physiological stress response to the visual and auditory characteristics of waterscapes. Biophilic research suggests that the presence of water can reduce stress, reduce blood pressure, and increase circulation. However, water has largely been omitted from healthcare design due to concerns of cost, maintenance, waterborne pathogens, and contamination. Existing research has not yet provided a design methodology to incorporate the healing effects of water without the potential diseases, contamination, and maintenance issues associated with physical water. Given the current technological capabilities, the isolation of the auditory and visual sensory stimuli has potential to re-introduce the healing benefits of water into healthcare design. 

Read the full article here.

Circadian Effective Luminaire

Co-authored by CIHF Academic Scholar, Marie Elf, Associate Professor at Dalarna University at the Department of Nursing and at Chalmers University of Technology at the Department of Architecture

A luminaire includes a frame, an ambient light source positioned within the frame adjacent a first end of the frame, a downlight light source positioned within the frame adjacent a second end of the frame, a diffuser connected to the frame and at least partially surrounding the ambient light source, and a reflector configured to direct light emitted by the downlight light source. A first driver is in electrical communication with the ambient light source and is configured to adjust the illuminance of the ambient light source. A second driver is in electrical communication with the downlight light source and is configured to adjust the illuminance of the downlight light source. A controller is in electrical communication with and send control signals to the drivers to change the light sources between a plurality of illuminance modes, which includes a circadian effective mode and a circadian ineffective mode.

Read the full article here.

CIHF Minor and eCornell Certificate Programs

Minor in Healthy Futures

The Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures and the Department of Human Centered Design (HCD) offers a minor in Healthy Futures open to all undergraduate students. This minor provides a high caliber, transdisciplinary education in the fields of health, hospitality, and design. This innovative transdisciplinary focus has the potential to change industry practices and professional attitudes by breaking down the silos that often undermine creative solutions. This minor may be of particular interest to students enrolled in design, health, wellness, policy, and hospitality related majors, or students interested in applying their education to problem-solving in the population health and wellness space.

CIHF has partnered with eCornell to create 3 online certificates that focus on senior living management and healthcare facilities design:

Senior Living Management

Design Considerations for Healthcare Facilities 

Healthcare Facilities Planning & Design 

Information on these and other online certificates that focus on healthcare can be found at eCornell.com. If you are interested in using these programs or any of our as professional development training opportunities for your team or employees, your organziation might be eligible for corporate pricing. Please reach out to Catherine Perkins cp227@cornell.edu for further information. 

Cornell University Healthy Futures (CUHF)

Who Has News?

CIHF Advisory Board

Composed of senior-level leaders in industry from around the globe, Advisory Board members are representatives from Corporate Members. This diverse network collaborates with CIHF academics on projects and initiatives with a focus on integrating the fields of hospitality, health management, policy, and design. Advisory Board members participate in bi-annual meetings and conferences, as guest lecturers, speakers, and mentors to students, and as collaborators with Cornell faculty, researchers, and student groups. Membership provides a platform for industry professionals to connect, build lasting relationships, and collaborate across academia and business.

Learn about the benefits of becoming a Corporate Member

Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures | 3250 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall | Ithaca, NY 14853

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