Introduction + Proposal: CUNY AI Student Innovation Showcase Pilot (Spring 2026)

Hi DAIA community,

I’m Ngoc Cindy Pham (she/her), Associate Professor at Brooklyn College. Dean Evan Silberman recently suggested I connect here, thank you!

This semester, I’ve been leading the CUNY AI Literacy & Professional Readiness initiative (AI Innovation Fund-supported), with a bootcamp series seeing strong participation. Just last week (March 12), we hosted a joint CUNY–NYU leadership session at NYU Tandon on “Applying AI to Enterprise Consulting” (with Matt Lentz from Monks), bringing together students and faculty from both institutions. Great energy, strong cross-campus connections, and students earned Joint CUNY–NYU AI Leadership Badges.

Students are now asking for more hands-on application, especially project showcases. As a next step, I’m planning a small pilot CUNY AI Student Innovation Showcase this spring, where student teams can build and present simple AI-driven solutions across business, marketing, and social impact, with faculty and industry guests.

I’d love your feedback, potential collaborators, or ways this could align with DAIA’s human-centered network, whether through cross-promotion, shared resources, or connecting to upcoming initiatives. Happy to share a short concept note or continue the conversation.

Excited to learn from and contribute to this community.

Warmly,<br data-start=”1467″ data-end=”1470″ />Ngoc