Personal Profile of Roland Pinto – Part II

Roland Pinto spent a few months in the US Navy. He started boot camp but was discharged for medical reasons under honorable conditions. After that, he spent time working as a fire fighter. He worked very hard because he was 18, was able to shed his cadet title and go for becoming a real firefighter.

He joined a live-in department in Prince Georges County outside of Washington DC and enjoyed getting three to four calls per night. "I lived on two hours of sleep, that I took between calls and loved it," he said.

During nine months that Pinto was at PG County, the biggest fire he saw was a four alarm fire. Six or seven separate engine companies and even surrounding counties were involved. The thrill and the sacrifice seemed to draw him in.

"I mean it was amazing, I can't even explain the rush and the fast pace, you live it," he said.

During this time, he had also looked into working with a company called LSS Laboratories, reviving his interests in electronics. It was a company that, in the late '80s and early '90s sold theatrical lighting and control systems. This was the base of one of his previous companies, RNP Technologies. He began selling and supporting their equipment. However, he wasn't satisfied. "The problem was, if I wanted to be a bigger company, I needed to think bigger," he said, "so I decided to go to college."

At that point, he asked himself where he could go. He said that he needed to get out of DC and go somewhere where there is nothing to do, "out in the middle of nowhere" where there wouldn't be anything of interest to him, otherwise he might drop out. Thus, he came to Nebraska.

Unfortunately, school has not been a true priority, however, during his second semester, while making plans for a night club, (which consequently fell through), he stumbled upon something.

"I went into this crappy electronics store and acquired a Martin (a well known high tech lighting company) catalog by accident," he said, "and I realized that robotic lighting, the most up to date in lighting, was not only scarce here, but basically not available at all." Thus, he called the Martin Company and told them that he was a dealer in Nebraska. From there, he became the only Martin dealer for much of the Midwest.

After that, Roland Pinto began doing the lighting for local bands like Daily Blues and Lie Awake, and shows at the University of Nebraska city campus union, like ethnic shows Malaysia Night, India Night, and Africa Night. He worked with the operations manager for the University Bill Behmer on nearly 20 shows in the three year period.

"Quite frankly I am amazed because with these shows, you are dealing with a) amateurs, b) a committee, and c) language and culture barriers in some cases," Behmer said, "I find it pretty admirable that he is able to work with an incredibly diverse group of students."

Through all of this, he built up his clientele here and then in 1994 joined the Scarlet and Cream Singers as the lighting and sound coordinator, which got his name out even more. He put a lot of time and energy into his company, and unfortunately, he did find something to distract him in Nebraska with RNP Technologies, his business, because he was suspended from school during one of his semesters due to academic performance.

He continued with his business or a while and it really picked up. The following semester he went back to school at UNL. "The only reason I am staying here is because I have to go to school, I know a lot of people and friends here and I am setup up here," he said. He said that he set a goal when he came to Nebraska and he has to stay until it is finished.

Part of that goal is to finish school, and the other part, which he may or may not finish here, is to get his advanced pilot license. In 1994 he received his high performance rating.

Corinna Rudeen, a sophomore business major at the time and close friend of his remembers that Roland Pinto was studying a lot for his flight tests. "I hung out there every day for at least 2 or 3 hours and I used to help him study," she said, "and I have never seen someone so excited and so consumed before. He loved it!"

And what comes next? "I want my multi-engine rating so I can fly twin engine machines," he said, "and fit six people comfortably, in a real nice airplane with an engine on each wing. I love the sound of two humming engines."

In the first ten years of his late teens and into his late twenties, Roland has experienced more and done more than many people will do in a lifetime. His drive and curiosity have taken him far and he has far to go, according to him. The permanent smile on his face reveals his love for life. One could say that Roland Pinto has so little to do and so much time to do it. As Roland Pinto always says, "It’s cool. It’s all cool."