Historic First Cohort Graduates from Taubman College’s Urban Technology Program

The first cohort of students in Taubman College’s Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology graduated this May. The first-of-its-kind major provides a “future-focused” curriculum, combining instruction in technology, design, and city planning to prepare students for the modern challenges faced by cities.

The Taubman College Newsroom sat down with a few students from the cohort to learn more about the urban technology experience from the students who lived it.

Why did you choose to enroll in this brand-new program?

“I honestly liked urban planning better than I did, let’s say architecture, and I think urban technology was unique because the interdisciplinary nature allowed for me to explore options, not just in, let’s say, a public sector space, but also private sector space,” said Aakash Narayan, Urban Technology ’25. “I think the innovative mindset behind it was appealing to me. I think I’ve always liked being the first to do something, and so that part didn’t really scare me as much as excited me.”

“I knew I kind of had a gut feeling I wanted to go into planning, and I just rated the programs I got into and what my net experience would be, and Michigan kind of lined up,” said Theo Berry, Urban Technology ’25. “I’m being really frank, I learned about the program by an email from my college counselor two days before the deadline while camping in Joshua Tree. I wrote my essay on a hot spot from the car and submitted it the night beforehand, just in the middle of the desert. I knew nothing about Michigan; I didn’t even know the difference between Michigan and Michigan State before coming here.”

How did enrolling in the program turn out for you?

“I don’t consider myself a risk taker, but I would say that one of, like, the first big risks I’ve taken was choosing this major,” said Audrey Tang, Urban Technology ’25. “Right off the bat, I do not regret it.”

“I don’t know really what this program would be like without being a part of this cohort,” said Odiso Obiora, Urban Technology ’25. “And the people in it have taught me so much just from being in the room with people. There’s a range of interests, and so people are really good at really different things, and so getting to witness all of that separately has been so cool to see.”

“I’ve learned that I actually have a lot more interest in the policy side of the built environment,” said Urja Kaushik, Urban Technology ’25. “So that’s something that now I know is something that I’m good at, or something that I’m interested in. So that’s what I’m looking forward to doing, versus if I had gone into just a computer science or a computer engineering program, I wouldn’t have figured that out, and I would be in a very different place right now.”

What are some of the most impactful parts of the program?

“Talking to friends who are in other schools, no one has the relationship that we have been able to build with our program director, advisors, professors, instructors,” said Devin Vowels, Urban Technology ’25. “So I think that is something that’s extremely valuable. I don’t know how different younger cohorts’ experiences are with that, but I do feel like we’ve been able to build that relationship that most don’t get, most aren’t able to build.”

“Once we got into studio classes, understanding the kind of user research process was super helpful in helping me understand that, in the end, it’s people who make the places, and you’re engineering or manufacturing a place to allow people to live, work, play,” Narayan said. “And so I think that perspective, the human-centered perspective throughout the program, was reiterated and I was really happy to get to hone in on that.”

“We were kind of making the program, giving our thoughts and our opinions on everything,” said Enzo Mignano, Urban Technology ’25. “I think being able to have that space to share maybe ‘This didn’t work’ or ‘I really like this’ and having the opportunity to say ‘Hey, I hated this class, let’s not do it again.’ Like, I love having that opportunity.”

“I feel like many doors have opened,” Obiora said. “And most excitingly, I think I’ve seen the intersections of things I didn’t see before. So for example, how a community organization can affect energy policy. It feels so different when I was coming into the program, but you realize that there are actually a lot more dots to connect, both systemically and then also just in career fields and paths.”

How have you been able to use this program to further your interests?

Many students have had the opportunity to engage in internships, competitions, and travel through the Urban Technology program. A key part of the major is the Cities Intensive sequence, which takes students to cities across the Midwest to learn from the activists and planners on the ground. Students have interned far and wide to put their urban technology education into practice.

“One thing that I find a lot of success when networking and doing interviews, and is what kind of got me my last internship at Autodesk, is that we’re coming in with a very unique perspective,” Mignano said. “We’re in a very unique curriculum where we’re not working a lot in the theoretical, we’re working very much with real people and doing real projects. A lot of bachelor programs don’t have that.”

“A lot of people in real estate come from a business background or a finance background, and they don’t necessarily have the know-how to, you know, write code for X, Y, Z, or how to create certain processes that can streamline a lot of development processes,” Narayan said. “And so I think, to be honest, a lot of me getting jobs, in my opinion, was me getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people about urban technology.”

Students also excel on campus. Berry, who is heavily involved in the U-M Urbanism Club, was nominated by program director Bryan Boyer to participate in the UNESCO International Street Design Competition, a 48-hour competition in which students worked to improve a randomly assigned street. As the only undergraduate and urban technology student on his team, Berry initially felt out of place, but his expertise played a key role in the success of his team.

“It kind of came up that I knew the most about urbanism of the group, and I was the only person with 2D graphic design skills and video editing skills and the general skills that worked really, really well in the matter,” Berry said. “And so the fact is, I was kind of the one doing most of the project. It was over a 48-hour window, and so I basically had to pull two all-nighters for it. But it came together, and we got a nice honorable mention. We were the only placing team from the United States.”

19 members of the first cohort of Urban Technology students walked the stage on May 4, 2025.

– Story by Joshua Nicholson, May 5, 2025