A ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING FIELD OVERVIEW

Electrical and electronics engineers work on components, devices and systems

that use electricity and magnetism. Since the range of such systems is very wide, we
find electrical engineers in many diverse areas. For example, electrical engineers
supervise the design and manufacturing of microchips that will be implanted in
hospital patients; they develop large relays and generators for power stations that will
provide electricity to towns and regions; they work on circuits for computers, cellular
telephones, robots, trains, cars and aircraft; they design control systems for airplanes;
they optiamize audio-visual systems for entertainment, both for large stadiums and
for private homes.
Many electrical engineers work on the design of very large systems that
integrate thousands, even hundreds of thousands of components, to provide special
functionality or specific services. Examples include the design and testing of a
vehicle destined for space exploration, or the design of the rail and electrical train
system that would serve a province.
As these examples show, electrical engineering is a wide discipline that
provides society with many critical utilities. Electrical Engineering has impact on
public welfare and safety, as well as on health and healthcare, the environment,
quality of life, transportation, computing, and leisure.
Many aspects of electrical engineering are intertwined with computing, and
the line between electrical engineering and computer engineering is often blurry.
Electrical engineers play a major role in the design of hardware for computers but
increasingly their work also involves integration with computer subsystems and
detailed understanding of software. On the other hand, computer engineers are
increasingly involved with the details of the devices and systems that their computers

and software control; these computer engineers often have to study and understand
the characteristics of the electrical devices that their computers interact with.

B FIELDS OF INTEREST AND EMPLOYMENT

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, electrical and electronics
engineers hold about 300,000 jobs in the U.S. This number represents about 20% of
the 1.5 million jobs held by engineers in the U.S. Almost every industry has a need to
employ electrical engineers. Here are the principal industry sectors that employ
electrical engineers, computer engineers, and computer scientists.
a

Telecommunications
Engineers are involved in all aspects of communication system
design and in all major varieties of communication systems. These include
broadcasting, telephony (landlines and cellular telephony), terrestrial and
satellite communication, networks, and communication across the
Internet. A special area of interest is communication with handheld
devices and media players (e.g., blackberries, iPods, iPhones). Electrical
engineers develop devices for communication systems; design subsystems
and networks; develop communications infrastructure for plants,
businesses and even cities and countries; improve communication security
and privacy; and optimize communication system performance.

Energy and Electric Power

Power and Energy engineers deal with energy generation by a
variety of methods, including turbine, hydro, fuel cell, solar, geothermal,
and wind. They are also responsible for electrical power distribution from

source to consumer and within manufacturing plants, offices, hospitals,

and laboratories. They design devices such as electric motors, relays,
transmission

lines,

and

batteries.

Of special significance at the present time is the global attempt to improve

the efficiency of energy use, and the effort to identify and use alternative
cleaner sources of energy. With the soaring prices and reduced availability
of fossil fuels, the search for alternatives has become a major objective of
electrical engineers who work in the fields of power and energy.

Computers
The computer industry serves almost all technical sectors,
including aerospace, transportation, construction, telecommunications,
power, medicine, consumer electronics, education, and automated
manufacturing. The industry is strong and growing, taking advantage of
new architectures and opportunities to improve efficiency, speed, mobility,
and storage capabilities of computer systems. The field offers electrical
engineers with many opportunities, from the design of more efficient chips
for computer circuits to the design of large clusters of interconnected
computers; these clusters take advantage of scale and load analysis to use
faster and more economical computing methodologies

Semiconductors
Semiconductor technology is engaged with the development and
manufacture of integrated circuits, which are used in numerous devices
and systems, from refrigerators and cars to aircraft and satellites. The
technology is a chief enabler of the computer and telecommunications
industries. As integrated circuits companies strive for faster and more

powerful chips, they seek engineers to investigate new materials, new

architectures, and improved packaging.
e

Aerospace
Electrical and electronics engineers who work in the aerospace
industry design and develop electronics and power equipment for aircraft,
helicopters, and spacecraft. Defense and aerospace companies employ
hundreds of thousands of engineers focusing on commercial airlines and
on R&D for defense and space exploration. Systems that electrical
engineers are likely to work on include displays, control systems,
communication systems, and navigation devices. Another line of business
is the development simulators for training and development. Aerospace
engineers work on military systems for land, sea, and air, which must be
able to withstand battle. Renewed interest in space exploration is likely to
provide employment in the design and implementation of new space
vehicles.

Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

This wide-ranging field has emerged through the integration of
engineering and the life sciences. Activities in biomedical engineering
include the design of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for clinical use,
the design of prosthetic and implantable devices, the development of
biologically compatible materials, and the application of state-of-the-art
technology to biological research. With the increased lifespan of the
population in many developing and developed countries, demands for
medical services and new applications are expected to grow. These are
likely to require increased participation of electrical engineers who would

develop, design, and manufacture the new quality-of-life and assist

devices.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing technology has become more important in recent
years as global economic reality has forced companies to re-evaluate basic
manufacturing techniques in order to remain competitive. In pursuit of
increased productivity, companies have introduced such innovations
as just-in-time parts supply, six-sigma quality goals, statistical process
control, and robotic assembly cells. Even small companies have
transformed their ad hoc manufacturing approaches into rigidly controlled
and monitored systems. There is growing emphasis on mathematical
models of manufacturing processes, allowing deviations from expected
performance to be quickly detected and corrected. Electrical engineers
have a role in all aspects of the new emerging manufacturing plant, from
flow analysis and optimization of workspace, to design of robots and
RFID systems for the manufacturing floor

Services, including Entertainment Engineering and Financial Engineering

Many electrical engineers find that their technical background
makes them well suited for a variety of work in other industries. For
example, the entertainment industry now hires thousands of engineers
every

year.

One

well

known

company,

Disney,

recruits

so-

called imagineers to develop amusement parks. Another corporation,

Pixar, hires computer scientists and computer engineers to help

createanimated films. Most developers of computer games hire engineers
for design of both hardware (e.g., play stations) and software. The banking
and finance industry now offers many positions both in analysis and
forecasting and in computer-related areas. Several well known electrical
engineering departments in US universities have seen more than a third of
their graduating students hired by financial institutions in some years.

Education and Research

Many electrical engineers interact with educational and research
institutions or industrial labs. Some go into college and university
teaching and research after completing studies toward the PhD degree.
Others may teach on a part-time basis while holding a full-time job with
another organization. Some engineers work on the development of
physical or virtual-reality laboratories for academic programs

Transportation and Automotive

In this category we include design of cars, highways, railroads and
ships, as well as traffic management. All of these increasingly rely on
electronics and computing. Sub-specialties that have seen growth include
electronics for internal and external communication, navigation (including
GPS devices), failure detection algorithms, automated highway traffic
control, and displays. The transportation and automotive areas offer
increasing job opportunities for electrical engineers of various technical
specialties, including communications, computers, and control systems.