Kevin Houk earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology in 1992 from the School of Engineering Technology. Houk was also the Allen Bradley Senior Design Award recipient that year. He credits his senior design class – the opportunity to combine learned material and his hobbies – as the reason he chose a technical sales career.
Along his career path, Kevin has spent over 20 years honing his understanding of industrial power and controls. Currently, Houk is the solutions architect – integrated architecture at Rockwell Automation. He is responsible for $31 million in A&S business in Indiana, south central Illinois and northwest Ohio. His accountability for the development and competence of 18 distributor specialists helped him author a comprehensive plan to optimize communication and efficiency between distribution and Rockwell Automation area managers.
Houk received the 2014 Outstanding Technology Alumni Award from the College of Technology. Award winners were asked to how their degree benefited their career. He answered:
- "I chose Purdue’s College of Technology because I wanted a well-rounded and complete education not just a skill. I wanted to work with available technology and create something real. I wanted to be a leader with good communication skills in a technology field. There is no better school for a complete technical degree than Purdue’s College of Technology. My technology degree has been very beneficial in my career. Right out of Purdue, I started with a local automation distributor in technical sales. Understanding industrial power and controls allowed me to get the most of the products we represented and quickly gain my customers confidence in me. After 18 years with the distributor, I was hired at Rockwell Automation where my Technology degree was even more valuable as it allowed me to convey my ideas to others and solve my customers’ problems. The degree from Purdue University carries with it a lot of respect."