Dean Shih-Fu Chang and Helen Lu pose with representatives from Gotham Foundry, Green Economy at NYCEDC, the CUNY Graduate Center, and Genspace at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
From left to right: Gotham Foundry Director Helen Lu; Co-Director Theanne Schiros; Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang; Sam Jung (NYCEDC); Joshua Brumberg (CUNY Graduate Center); Casey Lardner (Genspace); Co-Directors Kate Ascher, and Rein Ulijn.

Image credit: Sirin Samman/Columbia Engineering
 
From left to right: Gotham Foundry Director Helen Lu; Co-Director Theanne Schiros; Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang; Sam Jung (NYCEDC); Joshua Brumberg (CUNY Graduate Center); Casey Lardner (Genspace); Co-Directors Kate Ascher, and Rein Ulijn.

Image credit: Sirin Samman/Columbia Engineering

Campus

Gotham Foundry Symposium Showcases the Future of Materials

Gotham Foundry marks its first year with a Climate Week symposium, convening stakeholders, thought leaders and civic leaders to showcase materials innovation in health, construction and fashion sectors, and discuss how academia-city-community partnerships can accelerate regenerative materials innovation and transform the green economy.

October 13, 2026

Gotham Foundry convened its inaugural annual symposium Sept. 23 on Columbia University's Morningside campus, one year and a day after its launch during Climate Week NYC 2025. The program brought together researchers, entrepreneurs, city leaders, and community innovators to brainstorm together on how New York City can accelerate the regenerative material industry, from lab innovation and market implementation to reskilling and upskilling a diverse workforce.

Headquartered in West Harlem, Gotham Foundry is a partnership between Columbia University, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Genspace, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), and SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Led by Director Helen Lu, Percy K. and Vida L.W. Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia, Co-Directors Theanne Schiros, Kate Ascher, and Rein Ulijn, as well as Casey Lardner, Gotham Foundry works closely with 20+ city-wide community partners to turbocharge sustainable materials innovation and workforce training, for three leading New York industries: fashion, construction and health.

Helen Lu speaking to an audience from a podium at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Gotham Foundry Director Helen Lu speaks to a packed room in Carleton Commons for its first symposium. Credit: Sirin Samman/Columbia Engineering.

“These kinds of public-private frameworks represent how we can best achieve our vision of Engineering for Humanity and make a real-world impact,” Shih-Fu Chang, dean of Columbia Engineering, said in opening remarks. 

“Gotham Foundry gives us a glimpse of what that future can look like, a more sustainable economy, new industries, good jobs, and opportunity that reaches more New Yorkers,” said Sam Jung, Senior Vice President and the head of NYC-EDC’s Green Economy division. “It takes researchers willing to take ideas beyond the lab, entrepreneurs willing to build their next company here across the five boroughs, investors willing to bet on New York City talent, educators willing to open doors, and employers willing to create pathways into these new industries.”

Josh Brumberg, President of CUNY Graduate Center and Casey Lardner, Executive Director of Genspace, also gave opening remarks, celebrating a remarkably successful first year of the Gotham Foundry partnership.

From Construction to Cosmetics: Materials Science and Green Manufacturing Transcend Industries

The first session, “Accelerating Regenerative Materials Innovation,” moderated by Gotham Foundry Co-Director Rein Ulijn and Amy Myers Jaffe, the director of NYU’s Global Energy, Climate, and Sustainability Lab at the NYU-SPS. Jonsara Ruth from Parson’s Healthy Materials Lab, kicked off the session with healthy materials for the home environment, from paints to interiors and importantly, how ancient circular practices can inform modern design of the built environment.

This session highlights how ideas in the academic labs are translated into products in the market, from sustainable concrete to drug-infused hydrogels and bioderived nail polish formulations. 

Shiho Kawashima speaking from a podium while Diandian Zhao stands to the side looking toward the speaker at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Associate Professor Shiho Kawashima (at podium), with Diandian Zhao, present on their startup Carbon Infuse. Credit: Sirin Samman/Columbia Engineering.

Shiho Kawashima, an associate professor in civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia Engineering, and her former PhD student Diandian Zhao presented their work on a new method for making concrete from solid waste and fossil fuel emissions. After Zhao earned his degree, he and Kawashima co-founded Carbon Infuse, a startup that uses their method to transform waste into valuable minerals for use in construction. 

“Sustainable materials are often more expensive than their conventional counterparts,” Zhao said. “We’re trying to bring the cost of our product down as low as possible — construction requires large amounts of material.” 

Another academic inventor, Jin Kim Montclare, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU Tandon, is the founder of ProViZiGen. This innovative company is developing a bioactive hydrogel to treat forms of osteoarthritis. After successful trials in an animal model, the team led by is preparing to begin clinical trials in humans.

Jiye Son, the founder and CEO of Anew Material, spoke about her journey from working in a nail salon to earning a PhD in chemistry and launching a line of safer nail polishes. 

“Nail technicians are three times more likely to have children with birth defects due to prolonged exposure to chemicals in nail products,” she said. “While doing my PhD, I realized that nail techs are using the same chemicals that we were in the lab – but without the [safety precautions],” she said. 

Anew’s products don’t contain dangerous components like volatile organic compounds or microplastics. Instead, they rely on an ingredient derived from mushrooms to create attractive coatings that adhere to the nail surface. Jiye was part of the Gotham Foundry Pitch Competition in Spring 2026 and benefitted from the program’s mentorship and community-building activities. 

Supporting NYC's Green Economy and Linking to City-State Partnerships

The symposium convened on two additional pillars of Gotham Foundry: workforce development and building materials innovation pathways. 

In “Training a Skilled Workforce for New York’s Green Economy,” Casey Lardner and NYC workforce training expert, Jennifer Tausig and community leader, Janet Rodrigues from SoHarlem, shared their efforts to train the next generation of workers for high-skilled and high-paying jobs in the materials economy and Gotham Foundry industries. The presentations and panel discussion, moderated by Nicole Spina, the vice president for climate innovation and industry development at NYCEDC, focused on programs that upskill job seekers to meet the evolving needs of every changing industry, as well as community-centric practices supporting the trainees for the long run. 

Highlights from Gotham Foundry’s Inaugural Symposium

Photos by Sirin Samman

Dean Shih-Fu Chang speaking and gesturing to an audience from a podium at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang delivers opening remarks.
Helen Lu speaking from a podium as audience members raise their hands at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Gotham Foundry Director Helen Lu speaks to a packed audience in Carleton Commons.
Rein Ulijn speaking to an audience from a podium at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Rein Ulijn, co-director of Gotham Foundry, professor of chemistry at Hunter College, and director of Nanoscience Initiative at Advanced Science Research Center-CUNY.
Shiho Kawashima speaking into a microphone while seated beside Diandian Zhao during a panel discussion at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Shiho Kawashima, associate professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia, on the mic during the panel on “Accelerating Regenerative Materials Innovation.”
Gotham Foundry Co-Director Theanne Schiros speaking from a podium alongside other symposium participants at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
At the podium, Gotham Foundry Co-Director Theanne Schiros, a professor of materials science at FIT and New York Fashion Innovation Center consortium member.
Sam Jung speaking to an audience from a podium at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Sam Jung, senior vice president of Green Economy at NYCEDC.
Casey Lardner speaking to an audience from a podium at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Casey Lardner, executive director at Genspace.
Four panelists during the “Training a Skilled Workforce for New York’s Green Economy” session at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Panelists in the session, “Training a Skilled Workforce for New York’s Green Economy.”
Panelists participating in the “Turbocharging the Fashion Ecosystem in New York” session at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
Featured speakers in the symposium’s final session, “Turbocharging the New York Innovation Pathway from City to State.”
Attendees talking in small groups during a networking session at the Gotham Foundry symposium.
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The final session, “Turbocharging the New York Innovation Pathway from City to State,” led by Theanne Schiros and co-organized with the New York Fashion Innovation Center based in Troy, New York, tackled high-level questions on scaling technologies and growing startups from New York City to state and beyond. This esteemed panel included representatives from NYFIC, NYCEDC, Empire State Development, as well as fashion start-ups Cellsense and Uncaged. Maria Gotsch, president and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, and Kelley Kizzier, the director of materials and manufacturing innovation at the Bezos Earth Fund, moderated this session.

“This inaugural symposium celebrates the breadth of industries that Gotham Foundry supports and showcases the different pathways for academic inventors and most importantly, asks the question: how can Gotham Foundry and partners make a difference? It will take both the city and state working together to fuel the sustainable material revolution for all New Yorkers”, said Helen Lu, Director of Gotham Foundry.

Across the day’s events, attendees showed enthusiasm for the speakers’ new technologies, the real-world impact of their programs, and drive to make New York the epicenter for material innovation.. As New York City’s first open-source, open-door hub for sustainable materials, Gotham Foundry is a home for a diverse community of scientists, innovators, business and community leaders, all working together to build a green and equitable economy. The sessions demonstrate that just one year after its founding, the partnership is already supporting ventures that stand to strengthen the city and benefit humanity. 

“I congratulate Gotham Foundry on a year of tremendous success, and we look forward to seeing all that you will achieve together in the coming years,” Dean Chang said.