Electrical Engineering 101
An Introduction to Electrical Engineers and What They Do
The field of electrical engineering was established at the end of the 19th century when electricity generation and telegraph systems were being developed. The field has grown to encompass the computing and electronics fields, in addition to telecommunications and power transmission.
Electrical Engineering Education
Because electrical engineering focuses on the study of electrical and electronic systems, the core courses in an electrical engineering curriculum reflect this. Most electrical engineers start their learning with basic physics and calculus courses. Later courses can include circuit and logic system design, signal analysis, and software development. An electrical engineering curriculum is usually rounded out with advanced classes that match the student's desired specialty, which may include microprocessor design, communication system design, and development of semiconductor systems, among other specialties.
Branches of Electrical Engineering
- Power – The creation, storage, and distribution of electricity for industrial, commercial, residential, or municipal use.
- Control – The design and development of electronic systems that rely on inputs to control the outputs of a system or process, such as aircraft autopilot systems.
- Electronics/Microelectronics – The design and development of electronic circuits, including analog circuits, integrated circuits, microprocessors, and other semiconductor components.
- Signal Processing – The evaluation of analog or digital electronic signals, including filtering, data analysis, signal manipulation, compression or amplification.
- Telecommunications – The design and development of voice or data transmission systems, including cable, fiber optic, or wireless systems as a transmission path.
- Instrumentation – The development of sensors or data acquisition equipment to measure the characteristics of objects or systems.
- Computers – The design and development of computer systems, from computer gaming consoles and portable data assistants (PDAs) to desktop computers and server systems.
Electrical Engineering Professional Societies
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE, spoken as “I triple E”) is the primary professional society for the electrical engineering discipline. IEEE has over 375,000 regular and student members in more than 160 countries.
There are many other professional societies for different niches of electrical engineering, including the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the International Society of Measurement and Control (ISA), the Electrochemical Society (ECS), and the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), among many others.
Many of the societies generate codes and standards relevant to their specific interests. One of IEEE’s foci in standards development is wireless protocols for computer networking and wireless communication between electronic components.
To learn about the different types of engineers and what they do, please read Engineering 101 - The Basics.
Sources
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Electrical Engineering Department website
IEEE website and standards catalog
