Convergence Design Studio - an Everyone's Backyard
The TZStats Convergence Design Studio at Columbia is envisioned as an Everyone’s Backyard : a shared, open space where faculty, students, and technical partners come together to experiment, build, and learn with Data Science and AI in ways that are grounded in resarch collaborations.
The Studio aims to become an innovation engine for research–education integration in AI, serving faculty across all disciplines. Rather than positioning AI as a specialized or siloed expertise, the Studio treats it as shared infrastructure—something cultivated collectively, maintained openly, and made accessible to the entire academic community
What We Mean by “Everyone’s Backyard”
A backyard is not a finished product. It is a space for iteration, care, and shared responsibility. This framing reflects my own academic trajectory—moving across disciplines, methods, and institutional roles—where learning has consistently happened at boundaries rather than within fixed silos. I describe this journey, and the intellectual motivations behind it, in my recent reflection for Columbia College Today (Fall 2025).
The Convergence Design Studio extends this philosophy institutionally: AI education should be something we grow together, through hands-on collaboration and sustained experimentation, rather than something outsourced wholesale.
What the Studio Does
- Co-design AI learning experiences by pairing faculty with student interns to develop research-integrated modules, applied AI demos (e.g., agents, RAG, GPU workflows), and reproducible computational environments.
- Develop open, transferable infrastructure including standardized templates, shared repositories, and best practices for cloud-based or containerized learning environments.
- Train the next generation of AI-polymaths, enabling advanced students to develop leadership skills in interdisciplinary collaboration, design, and project management while supporting faculty innovation.
Why This Matters Now
AI is reshaping how knowledge is produced faster than traditional curricular structures can adapt. Faculty need to integrate AI meaningfully, ethically, and rigorously into teaching.
The Convergence Design Studio addresses this gap by:
- Creating a reproducible model for AI-integrated curriculum development,
- Building a talent pipeline of AI-capable student collaborators,
- Sustaining a research-aligned teaching ecosystem that evolves alongside the field,
- And fostering a culture of shared ownership around AI education.
An Invitation
As “everyone’s backyard,” the Convergence Design Studio is not meant to serve any single department or discipline. It is a shared space for cultivating AI literacy, experimentation, and responsible innovation for all.
Support the Converence Design Studio
To help make this shared “backyard” sustainable, I welcome your support via the studio’s Columbia’s giving page. Each contribution strengthens our ability to build open, research-grounded AI learning experiences for the broader academic community.
