Meet the SFU Public Square Team: Dennis Limbo

Meet Dennis Limbo! As the newest member of our team, Dennis joins us as a Website Development Assistant. He is in his third year at SFU’s School of Interactive Arts & Technology, with a background and interest in web development and design. Dennis is passionate about using technology to build more fair and inclusive spaces for communities. Get to know Dennis in this interview!

Kim: What drew you to want to work with SFU Public Square?

Dennis: I was drawn to SFU Public Square’s connections both within and beyond the university, being a student myself who also wants to make an impact in my immediate community. I was also inspired by some of the topics in past events that I’ve heard of, like Confronting the Disinformation Age from the 2019 Community Summit!

K: We're excited to have you join our team and bring your skills in website development! What are you most eager to tackle in building the new website?

D: SFU Public Square’s events are about very current and ongoing issues. However, this isn’t reflected well in the current design, which feels outdated. I’m excited to bring a fresher take to the look and feel of the website so that more people are able to learn about the work that SFU Public Square does. So far, the experience of planning out the website has been very enjoyable. Right now, we are working with a team of developers and designers outside of SFU Public Square. I love being able to learn and collaborate with them about how to drive the design forward.

K: How did you get into web design and what do you like most about it?

D: I initially started with blogging platforms like Tumblr and Myspace. That’s where I learned very basic programming languages such as HTML and CSS. It’s so cool how you can type out instructions to a computer and it can follow them to add new features to your website. That’s what I’ve always appreciated about coding—it gives me the ability to build and create new things.

K: Is there anything outside of website development that you're excited to get involved with at SFU Public Square?

D: A lot of my work often feels outside of the day-to-day activities of the team when it comes to organizing events. I’m excited to have a role in working behind the scenes of an event to get the full SFU Public Square experience.

K: You once mentioned that one of your hobbies is creating keyboards—tell us more about this!

D: I picked up the hobby at the start of quarantine because I was stuck at home and didn’t really have anything to do. I saw this cute-looking keyboard and really wanted it, so I did a lot of research, learned how to solder, and bought a bunch of parts including a bomberman-inspired Astroboy keycap that I now use as the “esc” key!

It’s hard to describe why it’s such a great hobby without the other person having experienced typing on a mechanical keyboard. You can customize everything: the aesthetics, the typing feeling, the amount of weight that your fingers need to press on the button, and even the sound of the clacking if you prefer a thocky keyboard over a silent one. Although, I would caution people who are interested in getting into keyboards because it’s an expensive hobby. There are very small production runs which means that the costs of parts are usually much higher.

K: Outside of work, what's been keeping you busy these days?

D: Too much Netflix! I started watching "Modern Family," I’m currently trying to learn React JS (a JavaScript library for building user interfaces), and I’ve also been really into backpacking and hiking which I picked up at the start of the pandemic.

A book I’ve been enjoying recently is Wim Crouwel: Modernist by Frederike Huygen. Crouwel was a graphic designer whose work was more prominent in the '60s and '70s. I like design, but I've never thought of myself as a creative person because of my systems-based approach to work. However, after seeing Crouwel’s designs, I was able to resonate with his use of grid systems in a really expressive way.

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Dennis! Stay tuned in the next few months to see his work brought to life through our brand-new website.