Cornell NYC Tech today announced that New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Qualcomm Founder Irwin Jacobs, and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will provide ongoing guidance on the programmatic and physical development of the new world-class tech campus in New York City, including the Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute -- the premier academic partnership at Cornell NYC Tech. This senior group brings together three of the world's leading tech entrepreneurs to lend unparalleled expertise to the campus in this critical early stage.

Mayor Bloomberg, who is serving ex-officio in his official capacity as mayor, Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Schmidt -- will provide advice to tech campus leadership on the educational, research, economic development and community engagement functions of the campus, helping to promote new national and international models connecting academia and industry. The group's focus will include critical elements that will shape the campus and its programs, including topics such as the interface between the campus and New York City, the role of the local and global tech community, the approaches to intellectual property and commercialization of technology, and the creation of partnership strategies.

"New York City's growing tech industry is about to be infused with new talent, thanks to the historic investments made by the City and Cornell for the new campus on Roosevelt Island," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Ensuring that the new campus is connected in the right way to the thriving entrepreneurial sector is important to delivering on the promise of economic growth that is at the center of this project. I look forward to advising the university leadership on how we can achieve these goals."

"Throughout my career as an educator and as founder of two companies based on innovation, I have experienced great satisfaction in developing unique products and growing large markets by exploiting rapid advances in applied science and engineering," said Irwin Jacobs. "I am excited by this opportunity to work with Mayor Bloomberg and Eric Schmidt in guiding Cornell NYC Tech and the Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute through a rapid transition from startup to major player in applied science education and the formation of impactful new companies. Both Cornell, where I received an excellent undergraduate engineering education, and Technion, which has trained many of the engineers working at Qualcomm Israel in Haifa, have the energy and experience to surpass our great expectations."

"I am pleased to join the steering committee for Cornell NYC Tech as they build their presence in New York City," said Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. "This campus is an important step forward for the development of the city's tech sector and its continued economic growth."

"Cornell University is honored to have the wisdom and guidance of three legends in tech entrepreneurship as we develop and shape this groundbreaking new campus," said Cornell President David J. Skorton. "Our vision for Cornell NYC Tech is already bold, and Mayor Bloomberg, Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Jacobs are leaders who will raise the bar even higher. We are committed to harnessing this extraordinary brainpower as we establish a center of technology leadership in the heart of New York City."

"This is a dream team of three of the best entrepreneurs in the world," said Technion President Peretz Lavie. "Their guidance will ensure that the Roosevelt Island campus will become a world leader in technology innovation with a global impact. I cannot think of a better guiding team."

The new campus is offering a distinctive model of graduate tech education that fuses educational excellence with real-world commercial applications and entrepreneurship, rooted in the latest academic research. Students, faculty and industry experts will learn and work together to launch ideas and create new ventures that have global impact. The campus will attract the best and brightest in technology, immerse them in an entrepreneurial culture with deep ties to the local business community, and spur the creation of new companies and new industries in New York City.

The addition of this senior-level guidance is another major milestone for the campus. Cornell NYC Tech is now accepting applications for a "beta" class of computer science master of engineering students, which will begin classes in January in temporary space donated by Google in its New York City headquarters building. The campus soon will be launching additional academic programs including interdisciplinary Technion-Cornell dual degrees, is actively recruiting star faculty, developing a distinctive new model of tech entrepreneurship, and designing its permanent campus on Roosevelt Island.

The City's groundbreaking Applied Sciences NYC initiative was designed to capitalize on the considerable growth presently occurring within the science, technology and research fields in New York, and builds on the Bloomberg Administration's record of creating a more diversified and competitive economy for the future. In July of 2011, New York City Economic Development Corporation issued the Request for Proposals seeking a university, institution or consortium to develop and operate a new or expanded campus in the City in exchange for City capital, access to City-owned land -- at the Navy Hospital Campus at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Goldwater Hospital Campus on Roosevelt Island, or on Governors Island -- and the full support and partnership of the Bloomberg Administration. In October, the City received seven responses from 17 world-class institutions from around the globe. In December of 2011, the Cornell and Technion partnership was selected by the City as the first winner of the competition and was provided with land on Roosevelt Island and $100 million in City capital to build the $2 billion, 2 million-square-foot tech campus. When completed, the new Roosevelt Island campus will house approximately 2,000 full-time graduate students.