Public Interest Technology Fellows in Action: Building Accessible Tech Together

By Grace Stanley

At Cornell Tech, the Public Interest Technology (PiTech) Ph.D. Impact Fellowship challenges doctoral students to move beyond academic research and work directly with communities.

Starting in the fall of 2024, for the first time, PiTech has extended its support beyond its 12-week-long summer Siegel Fellowship through the launch of the Rubinstein Fellowship — an academic-year track that deepens student engagement and strengthens long-term partnerships with public interest organizations across New York City.

One of the most compelling collaborations to emerge from this expanded model is between Tobias Weinberg (Tobi), a Cornell Tech Ph.D. candidate and user of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools, and YAI (Young Adult Institute), a New York-based nonprofit that supports people with disabilities. Together, they have explored how communication technologies can be redesigned to reflect the full spectrum of human expression, including humor, timing, and subtle social cues.

Guided by Judith Bailey-Hung, YAI’s Center for Innovation and Engagement supervisor, Weinberg’s work has led to prototypes, workshops, and academic papers that challenge conventional thinking about assistive technology. More importantly, it has created space for AAC users to be seen, heard, and included as co-designers of the technology they use.

In this Q&A, Kate Nicholson, PiTech’s director of programs and partnerships, speaks with Bailey-Hung and Weinberg about their collaboration, the evolution of their projects, and what it means to build technology with — not just for — communities.

Kate Nicholson: Judith, YAI has hosted PiTech Ph.D. Impact Fellows for several summers now. What initially drew you to the program?

Judith Bailey-Hung: We first learned about the PiTech fellowship when we were just getting our Center for Innovation and Engagement off the ground. We were exploring how technology could better support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and PiTech felt like a natural fit. It offered a chance to learn from Cornell Tech students while also helping them understand the accessibility needs of our community. That kind of mutual learning was really appealing.

Kate: When we first reached out, did you have specific projects in mind?

Judith: Not at first. We started with brainstorming sessions — thinking about challenges we faced and wondering if there might be tech solutions. Our first project involved seizure detection in a less intrusive way than using video cameras. That idea came from those early conversations. As we continued working with fellows, new ideas emerged organically. It’s been a very collaborative process.

Kate: Tobi, what attracted you to the PiTech Fellowship, and why did you choose to work with YAI?

Tobi Weinberg: I’ve always been drawn to research that has real-world impact. PiTech’s focus on social good and nonprofit partnerships aligned perfectly with my goal of making technology more inclusive. YAI’s deep community ties and commitment to supporting people with disabilities resonated with my work in accessible communication. It felt like a strong match.

Kate: How did working with YAI compare to your academic research?

Tobi: It really helped bridge the gap between theory and practice. In academia, you might design a prototype in a lab, but seeing it tested in real-life settings brings a whole new layer of insight. It made my research more grounded and more responsive to the actual needs of users.

Kate: Judith, I’m curious, what surprised you most about collaborating with a Ph.D. student?

Judith: Honestly? How quickly they adapted. We provide some initial training, but the fellows picked things up fast — identifying needs and adjusting their work to fit our programs. What also stood out was how much we learned from them. Tobi and other fellows introduced us to technologies we hadn’t encountered before. It sparked new conversations and ideas across our tech team.

Kate: How did you go about identifying and prioritizing needs within YAI’s community?

Judith: With Tobi, we started by identifying a need around data collection in group homes. His initial project focused on gathering data from multiple sensors — door sensors, bed sensors, things like that — and integrating it into a single system. He built a prototype and a website to visualize the data. While we didn’t get to pilot it due to technical issues, it’s a project we hope to revisit. It’s something we wouldn’t have been able to build on our own.

Tobi: As both a researcher and an AAC user, I often identify needs firsthand. But working with YAI expanded that perspective. We engaged with a broader community of AAC users, which helped us uncover a wider range of challenges and ground our work in lived experience.

Kate: The fellowship extended into the academic year. What did that longer timeline allow you to accomplish?

Tobi: It gave us time to co-design and run a workshop with AAC users and staff, testing new interaction ideas in real time. One outcome was our paper, “One Does Not Simply ‘Mm-hmm’: Exploring Backchanneling in the AAC Micro-Culture,” which was presented this October to a top-tier accessible computing conference (ACM ASSETS ’25).

We found that AAC users often rely on gestures, facial expressions, and other embodied signals to participate in conversation. Traditional AAC systems focus on full-turn speaking, but our findings show that subtle, shared cues are just as important. This insight is now shaping the design of more expressive, timing-sensitive AAC systems.

Kate: Your other paper, “Why So Serious,” presented at the ACM CHI ’25 conference, looks at humor in AAC. How did your own experience inform that work?

Tobi: Humor is essential for connection and self-expression, but it’s hard to deliver timely jokes with AAC tools. As an AAC user, I know that challenge firsthand. Working with other AAC users at YAI expanded my understanding of how humor is used and experienced. Their feedback helped us design tools that support real social interactions.

Kate: Judith, you matched with another fellow for Summer 2025. What did you work on?

Judith: This past summer we’re explored a new direction. Initially, we planned to track AAC usage from a clinician’s perspective — helping speech-language pathologists understand where breakdowns occur in communication between clinic, school, and home. However, after meeting our 2025 summer fellow, Sophie, and learning about her interest in AI, we decided to explore how multi-agent systems can help us collect and analyze behavioral data across our residential group homes. It was a pivot, but one that reflects our evolving needs and her expertise.

Kate: We’re so glad that you had another successful fellowship this summer. Looking ahead, how do you see partnerships between academia and the public sector evolving?

Judith: Building strong, lasting partnerships is essential. These collaborations help put the needs of people with disabilities at the forefront of tech development. When developers are aware of those needs, they can adjust products to be more inclusive. For example, we recently connected with a company called Brava that makes smart ovens. Their ovens weren’t originally designed with people with disabilities in mind, but as the product rolled out, they began modifying them to be more accessible. That kind of responsiveness is what we hope to see more of.

Kate: Tobi, what advice would you give to future PiTech fellows?

Tobi: Build genuine partnerships with the community. Listen deeply and prioritize their needs over assumptions. Be flexible and ready to adapt your research to real-world contexts. Impact takes patience, iteration, and collaboration. Your technical skills are most powerful when paired with empathy and respect for lived experience.

Kate: Well said! Tobi, Judith, thank you for giving us a glimpse into what meaningful collaboration can look like. I can’t wait to see what comes next for both of you.

Grace Stanley is the staff writer-editor for Cornell Tech.