This summer, four teams tackle frontier challenges — autonomous machines, intelligent agents, and documentary filmmaking — guided by Professor Lindberg and a roster of industry practitioners.
Build Studio Summer 2026 is a hybrid program running June through August. Teams engage intensely on scheduled session days — working with Professor Lindberg and guest practitioners through structured workshops, industry talks, and hands-on building — with a public Open Studio to close out the summer.
Each project sits at the edge of what AI can do today. There are no templates. There is no safety net. Teams build what hasn't been built yet.
Each team takes on a challenge that combines AI with real learning — machines that navigate, agents that reason, and stories that document what it means to grow up alongside AI.
Occupational Safety & Health · Autonomous Systems
Most workplace safety inspections put humans in the danger zone. This project builds an autonomous quadcopter you can talk to — describe the hazard, the drone investigates. The AI system interprets natural-language commands, navigates the environment, and reports back what it finds. Built for the kinds of sites — construction zones, industrial facilities, confined spaces — where sending a human is the last resort.
Autonomous Navigation · Unstructured Terrain
Self-driving cars assume roads exist. This one doesn't. This project builds an AI-powered autonomous vehicle designed for terrain with no maps, no lanes, and no predictable surface — the kind of environment found in disaster response, agriculture, and off-grid operations. The challenge: train a system that can read the ground and find its own way through.
Computational Research · Theory Construction
Building theory is one of the least legible processes in academic research. This project builds an autonomous AI agent that works alongside researchers constructing computational theories — surfacing assumptions, flagging gaps, and making the reasoning process more transparent and reflexive. Not a search tool. Not a writing assistant. A thinking partner that helps researchers see what they can't see themselves.
Student Documentary · AI & the Future
What does it actually feel like to grow up with AI? This team makes the documentary. Through interviews, observation, and first-person footage, they capture how young people today experience AI — not the headlines, not the hype, but the everyday reality of a generation that has never known a world without it. And how they imagine the future they're about to enter.
"The most important thing you can build this summer is your judgment about what's worth building." — Build Studio Summer 2026
Sessions take place on the dates below. Guest practitioners join for afternoon talks at 3:00 PM; the rest of each session day is dedicated time with Professor Lindberg for building, workshopping, and iterating.
| Date | Time | Session | Guest |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | 3:00 PM | Investor & Patent Strategy |
Michael Ben Shimon Investor & Patent Attorney |
| June 8 | 3:00 PM | Venture Capital & Funding |
Curtis Lee VC · 1435 Capital |
| June 23 | 1:00 PM | CEO & Founder Conversation |
Komal Dangi CEO & Founder · Synkriom & VeriKlick |
| July 6 | 3:00 PM | Product Leadership |
Yoshiko Akai Chief Product Officer · guutit.com |
| July 13 | 3:00 PM | Product Operations |
Manish Malhotra Product Operator |
| August 6 | 3:00 PM | AI Roundtable |
Jennifer Asay & Jessica Paolini Product Leadership & Public Sector · Economic Development & Community Impact |
| August 10 | 3:00 PM | Founder Conversation |
John Silverstein Founder · LiveData LLC |
| August 17 | 3:00 PM | AI Roundtable |
Damu Bashyam & Praveen VP Verizon |
| August 31 | All Day | Open Studio | Public presentations · All four projects · Industry judges |
August 31. Four teams present what they built. Open to students, faculty, industry, and the public.