That's genius: By day, Kjerstin Williams is a robotics engineer; By night, she croons a smooth tune in Pasadena-area joints

Kjerstin Williams is the second of three geniuses featured in Rose Magazine's cover story. If you're not green with envy over her day job -- working with robots at Applied Minds -- then her night job ought to do the trick: she's a jazz singer, and a good one, at that.

With her pixie-blond hair and bubbly personality (we dubbed her a RoboVixen) Williams resides somewhere on the bridge between science and art -- a spectrum that's often at play on the Caltech campus, where science reigns supreme, but a musical subculture has thrived.

Williams has even performed at Carnegie Hall with the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band.

She harmonizes regularly around town with The Conspirators, a quartet of Caltech musicians. At top and below is a photo series by Jonathan Prentice of a recent session at the Pasadena Jazz Institute.

Swing along and read the full story on Williams in Rose Magazine.

Also check out Williams' Web site for a performance calendar and to listen to some of her tunes. She's already rolled out the red carpet for you.

For a firsthand glimpse into the playful duality of Williams' life, follow her on Twitter.

Portrait by Walt Mancini. Performance photos by Jonathan Prentice: Kjerstin Williams and The Conspirators perform at the Pasadena Jazz Institute in July. Laurence Yeung on guitar, Jim Van Deventer on tenor sax, Jimi Hawes on upright bass, Michael Ferrara on drums and special guest Bill Watrous on the trombone.