Pamela Jennings has been appointed research manager of The Banff Centre’s Advanced Research Technology (A.R.T.) Labs and Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE) visiting professor at the Banff New Media Institute, continuing a career that combines creative practice with the development of innovative information technologies.
The iCORE Visiting Professor Grant program was designed to promote research innovation and global collaboration by bringing leading researchers to Alberta. In her role, Jennings will facilitate collaborative research in the A.R.T. Collaboration and Visualization Labs with provincial, national, and international researchers. The grant will also assist in connecting the labs with the university and industry-based informatics researchers and organizations in Alberta.
The iCORE investment leverages funding previously committed to this position by the research enterprise program of the Alberta Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes (AACTI), with funds provided by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology. This investment in applied research will provide new opportunities for innovation and discovery in the priority area of information and communications technology in Alberta.
Jennings, who arrived in Banff on September 2, previously held a joint appointment with the College of Fine Arts and the Human Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Her curriculum and research included courses in multimedia programming and physical computing, seminars on critical theory, and interactive design practices. Her research projects have focused on integrating creative digital media with science and technology research.
“The Banff New Media Institute has been a critical nexus for people working in new media, interaction design, and human-computer interaction,” Jennings says. “It has been a place for discussion, idea generation, and research activity. I am looking forward to becoming part of this legacy, and to contribute continued and future research activities.”
Drawing on more than 15 years of experience connecting the art and science of new media, BNMI programs support creative inquiry, the production of new work, and the engagement of artists, producers, technologists, and researchers with digital culture. BNMI commissions research, provides training, and offers creative production support in a multidisciplinary development environment. The three A.R.T. Labs were founded to enhance research and project work in visualization, collaborative systems, and mobile media. Labs also facilitate post-doctoral training opportunities, applied research, and new media co-productions.
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