Profile
Kevin Burke
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About Me:
I live in the North of England, we have 3 kids (all of whom have now got successful careers in STEM related areas), I’ve always played guitar, so have a ‘healthy’ collection of these (plus ukuleles and banjos!), and I support Sunderland football club (all sympathies gratefully accepted)
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My pronouns are:
He/him
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My Work:
Chartered Engineer – aerospace is my speciality. Royal Air Force engineering officer, then onto BAE Systems, but gradually got more interested in technical training and education, and ended up as Policy Lead within the Department for Education, developing the new T Levels (its amazing where an engineering career can go!)
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My Typical Day:
Coffee –> Project review meeting to assess what our priorities are and what we have achieved so far –> Contact European partners to update them on our project and pick up any new ideas they are considering –> Coffee –> Prepare a briefing for the Government Minister responsible for Technical Education –> Meet with my Finance and Commercial managers to make sure we are on track with our budget –> Afternoon tea –> Set up a workshop with school teachers to listen to their concerns and try to include them in our plans –> Off to the swimming pool for 20 lengths –> Home!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Engineer, educationalist, ukelele-ist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Fighter Pilot
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes - played guitar too much, when I should have been revising
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Lead guitarist in a rock and roll band
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Pink Floyd (love a bit of prog rock!)
What's your favourite food?
Trifle
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To own a 1956 Fender Stratocaster; Lose 5 kg weight; Space walk
Tell us a joke.
Heisenberg, Schrodinger and Ohm are in a car. They get stopped by the police - Heisenberg is driving and the policeman asks him "Do you know how fast you were going?" "No, but I know exactly where I am" Heisenberg replies. The policeman says "You were doing 103mph" Heisenberg throws up his hands and shouts "Great! Now we're lost!" The policeman thinks this is suspicious and asks him to open the boot. He checks it out and says "Do you know you have a dead cat back here?" "We do now," shouts Schrodinger. The cop moves to arrest them. Ohm resists.
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