INhonolulu Magazine Issue #15 - March 2014 | Page 30

Q+A / Party scene

From page 29
some recognition for having been
the guy that did that stage at Burning
Man and I started helping out local
night clubs like The M Nightclub.
“Apart from The M, I was also contracted to make a fully, digitally animating LED (light-emitting diodes)
disco ball for Asylum. It plays patterns of revolution-type animations,
it reacts to music—that was fun.
That’s my favorite thing, actually, that
I’ve ever built; that disco ball—that
was my gift to that place [laughs]. I
designed it so I can wirelessly program it too. I don’t even need to take
it down. I can just go to the club with
my laptop, sit in front of it and recode
it, just like that.”
But after a couple of years building
rave-machines for clubs, Robertson
says he knew he had to get back into
engineering.
“Now I’m just focusing on the micro-controllers and wireless communications,” he says. “Right now I’m
working on a wireless sensor relay
for the Renewable Energy and Island
Sustainability Project. Basically that
encompasses creating a low-cost,
wireless-capable device that can sense
light levels, whether or not there are
people in the room and the temperature of the room so that we can control relays and make more efficient
use of power that would go toward
lighting and air conditioning.”
Robertson has developed a new
proprietary technology that actually
reduces the cost of wireless communications while maintaining communication quality and is now managing
a team of around 20 or so undergraduate students to actually put this technology into a working product.
“Right now the plan is to put it
in every room of every building on
campus,” he says. “Obviously the
project still has a little way to go, but
because we have access to this inhouse fabrication facility, it’ll actually not be that long before we have
fully-functioning prototypes.”
Page 30

Girl Power
Will Caron
Photos by Jimmy Edens

With a wide skill base like Robertson’s, it can sometimes be hard for
a renaissance man to find a job that
nourishes all his interests.
“My dream job would have to take
advantage of all the weird skills I’ve
built up since I was a kid: Sound design, music composition—now that
I’m an engineer, that includes programming—circuit design and fabrication, prototyping and all that,” he

says. “I would really love to be able to
combine all of those skills.
“I’ve got a lot of experience in game
design so that would be a great place
to start. If a company is getting into
hardware too, I could contribute that
way—like building controllers and
electronics while, at home, I’m actually writing music for the games that
will be built on those electronics—
that would be absolutely awesome.” ■

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a monthly party (first Thursdays)
at the Republik’s Safehouse that brings together music,
fashion and fun. The party, which began in July of 2013,
was started by friends Yooey Kim, Candace Ho and Honolulu-born emcee and member of the Monarx Crew trio, Erin
“Roxy On the Mic” Bunda. What makes Chitty Bang special,
however, is that this party celebrates Honolulu’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) community and those
who support and love them.
It also happens to be a metric ton of fun and each month features a different set of creative ideas on display. In March the
Chitty Bang ladies partnered with Ong King Arts Center to bring
the Mister Sister Drag Show to Republik. We decided to ask the
trio of female founders what puts the Bang in Chitty Bang.

INhonolulu (INHNL): Where did the
idea for Chitty Band come from and
why did you feel it was important to
start it?
Chitty Bang (CB): We started Chitty
Bang in July of 2013. Originally, we
each felt like we wanted to do something like this individually and after
a short chat together, we discovered
that the three of us all had the same
idea and goal in mind. Hawai‘i is lacking any real, safe party for women in
the LGBT community and their allies.
Going beyond just being a ladies
party, we are trying to create a whole
new culture. Sometimes LGBT-centered events cater so heavily to an
LGBT identity that they actually
cause greater segregation between the
LGBT community and the rest of society, adding to the label “different.”
We have never seen being LGBT as

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