The ART Mobile Lab team is comprised of a small group of dynamic thinkers and doers. The lab is located at the Banff New Media Institute at The Banff Centre, with our offices nestled above the beautiful Bow River Valley, overlooking the town of Banff, Alberta, Canada.


ANGUS LEECH: Senior Mobile Researcher / Producer

Angus is a new media artist, writer and editor. He is currently Senior Researcher and Producer for the Banff New Media Institute's ART Mobile Lab. Previously (2005), Angus served as Interactive Content Writer for ART Mobile Lab / MDCN projects involving the design of locative, science-based outdoor role-playing game prototypes for GPS-enabled cell phones. Before that (2002-2005), Angus was the English Editor of HorizonZero, an interactive web magazine showcasing the digital arts and culture scene in Canada, produced in collaboration between the Banff New Media Institute and the Department of Canadian Heritage. Angus has also been an editor and staff journalist with an urban weekly newspaper, and worked at various times as a geologist, public educator, and park interpreter. He holds a B.Sc. in Geology, and in 1999 received a Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) from York University, where his work focused on Media and the Environment, and in particular relationships between landscape and memory.

JEFF BOLINGBROKE: Mobile Media Evaluator/Line Producer Workstudy

Jeff Bolingbroke is a graduate of the Communications and Cultural Studies program at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. He was an evaluator/writer/facilitator of the Tracklines and Locative Learning projects with the Mobile Lab and is playing a similar role on the EasyMap/Sharing Places project. He previously worked as a research assistant/writer on a connected project, The Haunting, with the Montreal wing of the Mobile Digital Commons Network. When not engaged in full-time academic studies, in recent years Jeff has been an ESL teacher in Laos and Cambodia and the co-ordinator of an HRSDC-funded community project aimed at helping at-risk youth develop the necessary skills and experience required to enter the world of employment. Jeff is overjoyed at being in the natural setting of Banff and spends much of his spare time exploring, hiking, climbing, biking, camping, reading, and writing in the surrounding forests and mountains.

ALUMNI:

LANA PALMER: Administrative Line Producer Workstudy

Lana Palmer is from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and has degrees in film studies and media production from the University of Regina. In 2005, Lana taught summer science and technology camps to children on First Nations reserves across Canada, as well as Mirik, India. She has worked in the camera department on television series ("Corner Gas",
"Psych"), feature films (Watchmen, Surveillance), and represented Saskatchewan in the National Artist Program at the Canada Winter Games. She is currently working as a line producer in the BNMI Mobile Lab and works independently on short film and audio projects.

HU ZIYAN (HILARY): Summer Exchange Student

Hilary was born in Shenyang, which was once capital of the Qing Dynasty. It is a major city in Northeast China, with weather similar to Banff. She is now a student of City University of Hong Kong studying electronic and communication engineering.
She is currently doing a two-month internship in the Banff Center, which she believes is a remarkable experience. In the A.R.T mobile lab Hilary works with Rupinder Deol and has been building "Oscar the grouch": a metal detector that can be attached to the garbage bin. It is used as a reminder to prevent people from throwing metal to the bin. She is also working with Gumstix, which are gum-sized fully functional computers. As this requires a Linux platform, she has been learning Linux and software knowledge as well.

Hilary enjoys playing piano, reading, and travelling. She has had chance to meet very nice and distinguished people from all over the world, to appreciate the amazing performances every night, and to explore the grand sights of Alberta: the mountain, the river, the icefield, etc. Hilary has been having great fun ever since she landed on Canada.

LI HIU YI (PHOENIX): Summer Exchange Student

Phoenix is from Hong Kong and is a second year Information Engineering student at the City University of Hong Kong. She is working in A.R.T. Mobile Lab and doing working on her own project called Map Downloader. The aim of the project is to download the maps from the internet for mobile phone use. It is her first time to visit Canada. She is glad to get chances to see the amazing sceneries such as Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and the Columbia glacier. Phoenix is happy to work with the colleagues in Mobile Lab and feels thankful for gaining the working experience in Banff. She looks forward to having other chances to visit Banff again.

RUPINDER DEOL: Senior Applications Engineer

In March 2006, Rupinder Deol joined the Banff New Media Institute's ART Mobile Lab as it's Senior Applications Engineer, and he has been working passionately on the Tracklines project ever since as a member of the MDCN network. Rupinder's main role is to create Java applications for mobile phones using the Mobile Experience Engine (MEE) - in fact, he developed the Java version of the MEE from scratch. Rupinder is appreciated by his colleagues for his technical skills and his ability to work across disciplines with artists and other non-technical people in a very creative environment. He provides consulting and technical assistance to artists and designers so they can focus on creating media for mobile applications and devices. Rupinder graduated from the University of Calgary in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science). He is originally from the wonderful land of India but has been living in this great country of Canada since 1994. Rupinder loves Canada for its great people and peaceful foreign policies. He also loves Banff and its beautiful mountains, which he can now visit whenever he likes. Some of his interests are watching movies, hiking and traveling. He also enjoys being outdoors and visiting art galleries and museums. Drums and violin are his favourite instruments and he is hoping to learn how to play them some day. Rupinder is married and has two very cute sons.

FRANCOIS WEYKMANS: Engineering Workstudy

Francois Weykmans comes from Belgium and graduated from the Rennequin Sualem Technical School in 2006 with a bachelor of computer science degree. He worked for an internet specialist company in Quebec City for two years, followed by six months building web applications for the Yellow Pages of Luxembourg. He enjoys being outdoors and some of his interests are hiking, traveling and snowboarding - especially in the Rocky Mountains. He also enjoys music and likes to discover new bands on stage.

DAVIDE DI SARO: Audio Designer

Originally from Italy, Davide Di Saro is a sound artist and musician. He was the Audio Designer for the Tracklines project at the Banff New Media Institute's ART Mobile Lab during 2006/07. He has a Master's degree in Fine Arts and Design from the Dutch Art Instutute, and has exhibited his sound art works internationally in China, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, and Italy. One of his works was awarded honourable mention by UNESCO digital arts award in 2003. He is the co-founder of the Italian record label Fosbury Records, and has released his music works in three compilations and a vinyl album. For more information visit:

www.365soundproject.org
www.fosburyrecords.org
www.mediamatic.net/artefact-10961-en.html
www.n-collective.com/
www.albertofrigo.net/
www.kunsthuissyb.nl/index.html
www.kunstkritikk.no/kk/anmeldelser_archives_all.php
www.blomqvist.no/galleri/view_obj.asp?auksjonID=27&objID=9668

CHRISTOPHER QUINE: Interaction Designer

Christopher held the post of Interaction Designer at the Banff New Media Institute's ART Mobile Lab, where he worked on the Tracklines project from April 2006 to April 2007. Christopher has experience in many aspects of the creation process, ranging from user and functional testing to hardware installation - however, his primary focus in Banff was interaction design, graphic/motion content, and implementation and documentation of locative experiences for mobile devices.

Christopher's focus overall is in human computer interaction, music and sound, letterforms, and motion graphics. He came to the Banff New Media Institute from Immersion Studios, where he worked as a media designer for group interactive immersive experiences, and collaborated on various international projects from inception to installation. Recent projects have taken him to The London Science Museum in the U.K; W5-whowhatwherewhenwhy in Belfast, Northern Ireland; and La Cite des Sciences et de lâ industrie in Paris France. He has produced content and post production effects for interactive devices and high definition digital cinema productions. He has also been involved in research projects such as the development of the Interactive Content Development Guide: A guide to understanding and producing for Group Interactive Immersive Environments. Christopher also writes, compiles, and shares his personal interests via his website sneakerbike.

LUCY JIANG YIHONG AND VANESSA SIT WING SUM:
Summer Exchange Students from City University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Science and Engineering


Lucy and Vanessa spent the summer of 2007 in Banff, working as Engineering assistants in the Mobile Lab. They were a great help with systems testing, which meant they got to spend a lot of time working outside in the forests and mountains (and, as were quick to point out, defending themselves against the mosquito hordes). The pair enjoyed their time spent in Banff and got a chance to see a good portion of the country while they were here. The agreement between City University and the Banff New Media Institute remains, so we look forward to welcoming more exchange students in future summers!

REX AND LAWRENCE:
Summer Exchange Students from City University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Science and Engineering