“There are many students that are taking action on this topic in an innovative way, and we want to provide funding, space, mentorship and resources for students to continue to think about their ideas.”

The Yale OpenLab, which officially launches this week, has an ambitious vision: with a focus on scalable collaboration, it aims to incubate “bold projects that address our planet’s grand challenges.” As it begins to carry out this vision this fall, building collaborations across its home campus will be a priority.

"After incorporating in January and winning a $15,000 summer fellowship from the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, the social dining application Homecooked Inc spent the summer expanding its presence in the New Haven area.”

"When I came to Yale I was looking to discover what the university had to offer. I made some valuable discoveries: First, I need to mention the team at Tsai CITY....They embraced my enthusiasm and worked hard to create a place for me, so I could apply what I learned in class."

"A forest has sprouted from the asphalt in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood, complete with maple, oak, and elm trees that are familiar to the city’s neighborhoods. But these 'trees' weren’t grown — they were built. Second-year student Misha Semenov ’19 M.E.M./M.Arch., and Kassandra Leiva, a student at the Yale School of Architecture, have built what they call New Haven’s 'Urban Canopy Parklet.'"

On a Thursday night at the end of July, over 200 family members, friends, and community members squeezed into the Yale School of Architecture's Hastings Hall for Tsai CITY's 2018 Summer Fellowship Demo Day.

“Those who are closest to the problem are also closest to the solution. We want to highlight, center, and support their voices in order to build programming and structures to help them succeed.” — Onyeka Obiocha, inaugural director of innovation at Dwight Hall and current associate director of Tsai CITY

Tsai CITY has selected 15 teams to participate in its first Summer Fellowship. Over the course of the 8-week boot camp, which runs from June 4 through July 27, teams will work to move from early stages to launch with the help of intensive workshops, mentorships, and pitch opportunities. Each of the teams will receive $15,000 to test and develop products or scale existing business models.

On the Wednesday of Startup Yale, 16 teams participated in the Tsai CITY Accelerator Pitch Off. CITY’s own Ony Obiocha emceed the event (occasionally providing musical interludes to coax the audience back from breaks), and the pitches ranged from medical devices to cryptocurrency wallets to communication tools.