For the Love of Spinning: Panasonic Engineer Kevin Hurlock Shares his Passion for DJing
For the Love of Spinning: Panasonic Engineer Kevin Hurlock Shares his Passion for DJing
2 minutes Today, with the hustle and grind of work, life and everything in between, it’s important to find time to pursue the hobbies and interests that make us whole.
For Panasonic Automotive Engineer, Kevin Hurlock, that means dedicating a few extra hours to his favorite craft, DJing.
Based in Georgia, Hurlock has been with Panasonic Automotive for over 16 years where he leads various design aspects for infotainment systems by day and spins his ‘Wheels of Steel’ when time permits. Most recently, Hurlock’s worlds collided when he brought his love of music to DJ at Panasonic’s “50 Years of Hip-Hop" Celebration.
Hurlock’s love for music was inherited from his musician father, Paul, whom he spent much time with. Immersed in the world of music at an early age, he served as his father’s technician, audio engineer and general ‘roady’. It wasn’t until his teens that Hurlock discovered DJing.
“I played the piano for several years until finally succumbing to the draw of the turntables, at that time it was a major attraction and different from what I was used to doing,” shared Hurlock.
On the way to earning his Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering at Alabama A&M University, Hurlock formalized his technical background.
In 2002, Hurlock kicked off his career as an Engineering Coordinator at Honda. Through his work, he began to see the similarities between his two passions.
“DJing is a very customer-centric activity, you have to firstly understand the end customers’ needs to supply a great product, making for a good outcome. This is nothing different than what I do as an engineer "You need to understand the customer specifications as well as the use cases along with any other constraints to reduce risk prior to delivery.”
After joining Panasonic Automotive in 2007 as a Sr Quality Engineer and now a Staff Engineer Project Lead, Hurlock quickly learned about the power of adaptability. “You have to be adaptable to changes and cadences with respect to both internal and external customers, along with alignment with schedules.” Hurlock stated, citing the connection to the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop event “The event was a great example, coordinating with my colleagues to ensure the music played was as palatable to all without dilution (Development and VAVE), verification of the product both live and through teams, (Validation) and then the actual event (Delivery) at some risk knowing there was still some risk involved”.
Today, Hurlock makes sure to still carve out some time for DJing, channeling his inner-engineer and letting his curiosity experiment across different genres to meaningfully move his audience. “You know it will be appreciated and get the response of approval”.
On the surface, one might consider Hurlock’s creative craft to clash with the left-brained logic behind engineering but ultimately, Hurlock has achieved a universe where his two passions can thrive harmoniously.
Interested in joining the Panasonic team? Explore our current openings here.
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