A distinction is often made between electrical engineers and electronic engineers. The latter focus on smaller scale systems, such as computers, cell phones and the ever-growing number of other gadgets. Electrical engineers, on the other hand, are involved with larger scale projects, such as designing the electrical systems for a state-of-the-art office complex, or an aeroplane.
The areas that electrical engineers usually get involved with include power transmission, control circuits, telecommunications and signal processing. There are many different career opportunities within electrical engineering. Because of this, it’s not easy to describe what they all look like. However, here are some ideas about the sort of things electrical engineers get up to in the workplace.
Some will be focused on particular product, such as a car or boat. Their job will be to understand what the product is supposed to do and then design the necessary electrical systems to do it.
This means that they have to work with engineers responsible for other aspects of the design. There is no point designing an electrical system that conflicts with the aerodynamics or the mechanics of the vehicle. This design work will take place in a team environment, with collaboration between the different disciplines being essential.
Having designed a system the engineer will be responsible for building it, often in prototype form. Once built it needs to be tested against a strict set of parameters. Electrical engineers must be very logical and thorough in the way they approach their work because they cannot afford to overlook minor but potentially important details.
As with many other careers, engineers need to be creative. They need to be knowledgeable, having had a good education and specific training in their chosen field. But they also need to apply that knowledge in the most effective way that they can, meeting a wide range of requirements defined by people such as their employer, the government and other agencies.
Some electrical engineers will not be product-focused. They might be responsible for designing and implementing the electrical systems for a project such as a new traffic lighting system or a new building. The principles behind what they do remains the same – they need to understand the requirements and come up with a solution that meets them in the most effective way possible.
Not all engineers are involved with design. Some have trouble-shooting roles, looking at old or malfunctioning systems to understand what is going wrong and determining how to fix it.
Electrical engineering offers a wide range of varied and interesting career possibilities, and the scope to be involved in many different types of project.
