Introduction

Hello, my name is Teddy Kye-Nyarko. I'm the head of department for technical and modern courses here at Bedford College. I was born in Guyana and did my BTEC qualification there before I came over to the UK to study at Kingston University, where I did construction management. After university, I joined the Army - the British Army - and worked in the Royal Engineers as an electrical and mechanical draughtsman. I then went into teaching at Bedford College.

When did you choose to pursue a career in engineering and construction?

Ever since I was a child, I found construction inspiring; I knew I would always end up in constructional engineering. So even when I went into the Army, it was in engineering and construction. In the future, even if I choose not to do teaching, I will still end up in the construction industry, one way or the other, or probably end up motivating the young ones into getting into teaching, or probably construction as well. I think the main reason why I chose construction is, at school, I realised that I struggle memorising content, and in construction you don't need to memorise things, you only need to understand how things fit together.

What was it about engineering and construction that made it appealing to you?

My talent is in construction engineering as I can understand and make sense of things. In roof construction, I know where the various members of the roofs are, or where which member will be placed, so that makes sense to me. I don't need to memorise so many things in construction. Yes, you do need to know the names of stuff, but you don't need to memorise everything, as long as you know - it's like building a house – that you don't need to know exactly where everything is going to take place. Once you know the foundation, the next step will come up, then you can take it from there.

Why did you decide to teach at Bedford College?

In the Royal Engineers, I learnt how to do road construction, bridge construction, drawing and all essentials in electrical and mechanical engineering. But after a few years, I decided to leave the Army and venture into teaching, as I wanted to pass on my knowledge and help younger people, so I chose to teach at Bedford College. I found that I wanted to help support young people into finding and getting their careers started, and I wanted to help teach students about understanding of the principles of construction and engineering before they go out into industry. I chose to teach at Bedford College because of the location and because of the number of students and courses that are on offer.

To find out more about Bedford College follow the link.

If you would like to hear more inspirational content, why not check out our Becoming an Engineer playlist of career-inspiring videos. Whether you need help deciding what to do after school, or want to listen to some inspirational speakers with handy tips and insights into the different engineering job markets, these videos are great!