Cities in Motion: Student Showcase

The Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) at NYU Tandon welcomes you to attend a showcase featuring student work from the Fall 2026 "Cities in Motion: Urban Design through Digital Twins" course taught by Industry Assistant Professor Rishabh Chauhan. The event will be held at 370 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY, in the CUSP Learning Commons (Floor 13). Presenters include: AWA: Alan Chen, Diyu Zheng, Justin Lu, Kaizhen Tan, Yeji Choi Brooklyn Heights: Iheanyi Kalu-Okere, Mary Catherine Aylward, Nalini Kantheti, Sandy Gui Canal Street: Anna Xu, Guanyu Chen, Krystal Wang, Wenjie Yang, Yuan Zou Downtown Flushing: Huayan Yu, Tianze Liu, Zihang Jiang Farragut Houses: Chenyu Song, Haoyi Liu, Haozheng Liu, Kevin Lin Lefferts Boulevard Bridge: Adam Rahman, Wenqi Zhang, Yamama Amir ​About the Course Cities are dynamic, layered systems where human behavior, spatial design, and temporal change intersect. This course examines the urban environment through interdisciplinary lenses, combining urban design, cognitive geography, sociology, architecture, and digital technology to understand and shape the human experience of cities. Students will engage with foundational texts by thinkers such as Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs, Yi-Fu Tuan, Jan Gehl, and Christopher Alexander, exploring concepts including mental mapping, topophilia and topophrenia, pedestrian flows, street design, urban patterns, social inclusion, and spatial justice. The course integrates immersive technology and digital twin modeling to bring cities to life. Using Unreal Engine, students will create interactive, navigable urban environments that embed temporal layers, soundscapes, movement simulations, and speculative design elements.  These hands-on, in-class exercises connect theoretical urban concepts to applied design, digital visualization, and interactive storytelling, fostering both analytical and creative thinking. Through this course, students will be able to produce urban simulations that are not only visually compelling but also socially informed, temporally aware, and analytically grounded. Learn more about the course in this video! ​​Visitor Information Please visit the NYU Tandon website for directions and a campus map. Advance registration through Luma is required for campus access at NYU for external guests. Attendees who are not current students, faculty, or staff at NYU, including alumni, are asked to register using a personal email address. ​​About CUSP at NYU Tandon The Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) at NYU Tandon is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to applying science, technology, engineering, math, and social sciences to serve urban communities worldwide. Founded as a partnership between NYU and the City of New York, CUSP leads research, educational, and entrepreneurial initiatives that advance the science of cities. By applying novel insights to urban issues, we develop data- and technology-driven approaches that drive positive impact. With an additional focus on training future leaders, CUSP offers interdisciplinary academic programs in applied urban science and informatics for graduate students and professionals. CUSP also engages with stakeholders across city agencies, start-ups, industry players, community-based organizations, and nonprofits to address urgent socioeconomic, environmental, and infrastructural challenges. The center’s ultimate objective is to improve urban quality of life by using data to innovate and refine inclusive, equitable, and sustainable practices for cities everywhere.