SHFT Awarded Strategic Research Infrastructure Funding for Interdisciplinary Media Labs

21 Mar 2025

The SHFT Group has been included in an award of $186,346 from the University of Alberta's Strategic Research Initiatives Fund (SRIF) to establish the Interdisciplinary Media Production, Research, and Experimental Spaces (IMPRESS) project. The two-year seed funding award was announced by the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and will run from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2027.

Led by Principal Investigator Dr. PB Berge in collaboration with Dr. Eric Kaltman, IMPRESS will create state-of-the-art laboratory spaces to support interdisciplinary research across media preservation, fabrication, and production. The project will establish three specialized labs:

  • SHFT Lab for media preservation research, including forensic workstations and legacy computing systems
  • CRYPT Lab for media fabrication, featuring 3D printers, CNC equipment, and digital fabrication tools
  • Media Production Center (MPC) with video production equipment, VR capabilities, and collaborative spaces

The funding will support laboratory renovations, specialized equipment acquisition, graduate student training, and expert consultation services. The project represents a significant investment in Digital Humanities infrastructure at the University of Alberta, enabling new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration between Media and Technology Studies, computer science, and the digital arts.

This infrastructure will directly support SHFT's ongoing research in software preservation, emulation workflows, and historical recovery of digital media while fostering new partnerships across campus and with external institutions.