We envision a world where multidisciplinary knowledge and creativity
are the foundation of emerging media systems.
Mission of the Imaging Research Center
As part of a public university, the Imaging Research Center (IRC) brings together the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering to address complex intellectual and real-world challenges. We advance creative research through innovative media, emerging technologies, and interdisciplinary collaboration. By bringing together diverse minds among UMBC faculty, fellows, and students, we prototype original solutions that are provocative, creative, and serve the public good.
History
The Image Laboratory at UMBC evolved into the Imaging Research Center in 1987, to develop, research, and implement new technologies in digital and media arts. In 2027 it will be 40 years since the IRC emerged from the Department of Visual Arts and has since grown into a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration across all fields at the University. We have worked with the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), the Center for Art, Design and Visual Art (CADVC), the Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions (¡HARP), and the Center and Institute Departmentally Engaged Research (CIDER), and researchers and Departments throughout all colleges at UMBC.
We need our designs to engage with the most provocative questions of our time.
Research and Partners
In addition to working with faculty researchers at UMBC, an R1 Carnegie-designated research institution, we collaborate with external clients who share our mission. Past collaborators and supporters include: the National Academy of Sciences, the Baltimore Art Museum, the Walters Art Museum, The United Way, Maryland Historical Society, NASA-TV and the Goddard Space Flight Center, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, and the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Education
Over the past three decades, hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students in the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering have collaborated with faculty and staff on every phase of IRC research. The students learn that they are part of something bigger than themselves by building equitable and just partnerships that empower communities that aim to make a positive impact on the world. Students are included in project development discussions from the moment they join the center and develop portfolios that make them more competitive in the job market.