Aakash Narayan
Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology
Hometown
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Degree Program(s)
Urban Technology
Real Estate Development Minor
Graduation Date
May 2025
Why did you choose the Urban Technology program at Taubman College?
So, from high school, I was very into design, and urban technology allowed me to not only do digital design but it also allowed me to focus my passion in on cities and learn a little bit more about technology and coding that I had not learned about before.
Can you describe your experience with the faculty and fellow students?
Whether it’s my class discussions or my one-on-one conversations with fellow students or faculty, we all have a passion for cities. We all enjoy talking about cities and urban systems, and then there’s the aspect of people, and we all care about people, and we all want to make cities and places better for people.
What do you value most about the program?
The idea of human-computer interaction human-centered design in every discussion we have in every research assignment in every design assignment, there’s the idea of will the people who will use this product like it, and I think that Focus has been really enjoyable to think about work with and goes with a lot of the trends that happen in real industry and real government.
What excites you about what you are currently doing?
Right now in my studio course, we’re working with the state of Michigan and trying to help population growth and so being able to work with real-world problems, real-world people real-world entities eventually we’ll get the chance to interview fellow Michiganders and we continuously have conversations with the Michigan economic team and the chief growth officer of the state and so having that access to real-world problems in our own backyard and making or trying to make tangible impacts has been something that I’m really excited about and looking forward to.
What are your aspirations after graduation?
My goal after college is to blend all the technology skills and design skills and coding skills that I’ve learned um through this program and apply it for my passion for cities and work to implement technology to elevate enhance uh the built environment.
What advice do you have for someone who is considering applying?
The best thing you can do is just apply and research the program and research the possibilities research the field of urban technology and it is a broad field, but if you find passion if you find a focus, then I think having an urban technology degree at the University of Michigan will really separate you from many of your students that you’re studying with right now.