JOB OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

What does an electrical engineer do?

Electrical engineers design, develop, and operate systems that generate and use electrical signals and power. The scope of electrical engineering has expanded tremendously in recent years. It is now the largest branch in engineering, with most graduates employed by manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment, aircraft, business machines, and scientific equipment.

Key areas of electrical engineering include:

1. Communications and Signal Processing: Electrical engineers design all aspects of communication systems such as a cell phone network. In addition they work on the conversion of a large range of signals into more usable forms for storage, transmission, and evaluation. This area includes the processing of medical images (e.g., MRI scans), the analysis of communication signals, and the compression of video.

2. Solid State Devices: Electrical engineers are concerned with the analysis, design, and fabrication of a range of semiconductor devices from individual transistors through complex integrated circuits.

3. Power Electronics: Control of both the nationwide electrical grid that powers all our homes, and the power in an individual electrical device such as a cell phone or computer is a key area for electrical engineers

4. Electromagnetics: Electrical engineers contribute to the understanding and use of the waves that are transmitted and received by communication systems and wireless devices.

5. Control/Robotics: Electrical engineers design the circuits and approaches used to control a wide range of the devices that we use at home and at work from the simple cruise control on your car to the control of surgical and industrial robots.

6. Digital Systems (Computers): Electrical engineers design the hardware that is necessary for any computer system.