Laboratory for Cybernetics

"The Pangaro Cybernetics Prize is an interdisciplinary award that recognizes the interconnectedness of knowledge and how we can ethically act in the world."
— Omar Khan, Professor & Head, School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University

The 2026 cycle has concluded — submissions closed April 10, 2026, and the winner was announced May 8, 2026. See the 2026 results in the Prize Archive. Details for the 2027 cycle (some criteria adjustments expected) will be posted here once finalized; the eligibility, timeline, and criteria below describe the 2026 cycle for reference.

Overview

The Pangaro Cybernetics Prize (formerly the #NewMacy Cybernetics Prize) is a yearly $5,000 competitive award for Outstanding Design Proposal, sponsored by the Laboratory for Cybernetics (Lab4C) in Carnegie Mellon—Architecture.

The Prize rewards design proposals that bring the rigor and explanatory models of Cybernetics to bear on today's hardest "wicked challenges" — climate change, artificial intelligence, social justice, and other complex, entangled problems. Students may draw on current coursework, a thesis project, or a novel direction of their own.

The Prize is funded yearly by Paul Pangaro through the generosity of E. Duke Vincent, with support from Philip G. Dorn.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Prize is to create incentives for incorporating cybernetic rigor into design proposals for the most difficult challenges of our time. Its central criterion — increasing human agency in the face of complex systems — is drawn directly from the field's foundational thinkers:

• Expanding human agency, possibility, and choice — after Heinz von Foerster
• Amplifying human-human and human-machine conversation and collaboration — after Gordon Pask
• Developing humane, ethical interactions that open spaces of possibility — after Humberto Maturana
• Enabling better regulation of complex adaptive systems — after Stafford Beer

More broadly, the Prize aims to expand the visibility of Cybernetics's contributions across generations, demonstrate its value for wicked challenges, and grow the influence of the Laboratory for Cybernetics both within CMU and beyond it.

Eligibility

• Open to any individual CMU student enrolled for the 2025–2026 academic year, or a team led by an enrolled CMU student. Any CMU campus qualifies.
• Each student may be associated with only one submission, whether solo or as part of a team.
• A CMU Andrew ID is required to enter.
• Submissions comprise a PDF design brief and a video no longer than 2.5 minutes.
• Entries may be revised and resubmitted any time before the final deadline.

Timeline

Note: winners and finalists do not need to be physically present in Pittsburgh for the Fall public recognition event.

Submission Requirements

• A written design brief (PDF) laying out the current situation, the proposed intervention, expected benefits, and a plan of action — compelling, well-reasoned arguments matter more than rigid formatting.
• A 2.5-minute video — a simple narration introducing yourself, your design, and why it matters to you.
• Four finalists will be selected to receive critique from the Judging Panel, who will then choose the $5,000 winner.
• All finalist submissions are added to a repository of approaches to critical 21st-century design challenges.

Judging Criteria

Listed in order of importance:

1. Increases human agency. The design must expand the total number of choices — not merely options — available to a person in a specific context, resonant with their own values and intentions. This distinction, drawn from von Foerster's "Ethical Imperative," is the Prize's core criterion.
2. Explicitly grounded in Cybernetics. The submission must clearly articulate how and why cybernetic concepts, models, or methods are integral to the design. Systems thinking and systems practices are welcome additions.
3. A plausible path to implementation. It should be clear to a practitioner that the design could realistically be built, given sufficient resources and attention.
4. Addresses a genuine "wicked challenge." The issue must defy linear problem-solving — in scale, this can range from oceans and microplastics to neighborhood-level conflicts over gentrification, poverty, and injustice.
5. Well-reasoned and clearly argued. A strong design brief describes the current situation, its negative consequences, the proposed intervention, and the expected benefits — though specific structure is flexible; compelling, future-grounded arguments are what count.
6. Resilient beyond current technology or fashion. Designs that remain meaningful independent of today's specific tools, trends, or dominant technologies are preferred. No particular technology, interaction mode, or population is required or excluded.

Governance

Submissions are judged by a Judging Panel of scholars and practitioners, announced each Spring. Consistent with the #NewMacy Initiative, the panel is assembled to be:

• Trans-disciplinary — spanning the "hard" and "soft" sciences and beyond, including architecture, design, anthropology, sociology, governance, philosophy, computer science, ethics, and linguistics
• Trans-geographical — spanning cultures and crossing boundaries of nation, governance, and history
• Trans-generational — encompassing participants across ages and abilities

Whether to award the Prize in any given year is at the sole discretion of the Judging Panel, which also has authority to evolve the criteria over time — while always keeping human agency as the core standard. All aspects of the Prize are subject to CMU administration requirements and applicable law.