Electrical engineering is one of the newest branches of engineering, which dated back to the end of the 19th century. It deals with electricity technology.
An electrical engineer is a specialist who, during their professional activity, can develop, produce, and also use heat and energy equipment (in this regard, these specialists are often called heat engineers). This specialty is most often chosen by those who are interested in the exact sciences, such as physics and mathematics, as well as I technical drawing.
Electrical engineers can apply their knowledge and skills in various areas of human life. For example, such specialists often work in thermal power plants, research institutes, construction and industrial enterprises, for utility companies. They can also be found in US Department of Energy jobs. Electrical engineers work in teams that build, maintain and develop large networks that connect power generators with the electrical grid. Without them, we would not be able to fuel our homes and offices with electrical energy. In short, electrical engineers are vital to keep society running.
Energy engineering is generally divided into three main areas: generation, transmission and distribution.
- Generation: Engineers convert energy sources into electricity, including fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear, solar, and wind power.
- Transmission: Engineers are responsible for moving the power from the power plant, where it is generated, to the customer’s location.
- Distribution: Engineers create and maintain power systems that distribute energy to end users.
Electrical engineers must be detail-oriented, have superior skills in mathematics, communication and project management. They often work together with other professionals in the engineering field, so they should be comfortable being in a team environment and collaborating with others. They must be able to plan their projects according to specific budgets and time constraints. They spend a lot of time writing reports about the systems they deal with, so having adequate technical writing skills is also essential. Good leadership skills may also be important for electrical engineers, as they may end up supervising large teams.
Considering that there are different sub-disciplines of electrical engineering, electrical engineers get specialized in one or more of these.
- Electronic engineering, which deals with electronic circuits, such as resistors, inductors, capacitors and transistors.
- Electronic engineering at micro-level, which deals with the design of small components with electronic circuits, serving on the telecommunications market.
- Signal processing engineering, which has to do with the transmission, reception and decoding of analog and digital signals.
- Electric power generation engineering, which handles the design of related electrical devices, such as transformers, generators, electric power motors.
- Control engineering, which manages the design of control systems that can adjust the energy intensity used in certain devices and allow their programming, according to needs and use.
Perspectives of the profession
The prospects of this profession for the future are quite stable. This is due to the fact that the amount of electricity consumed by mankind is increasing every year. So, until people will switch completely to a different kind of energy, which is highly unlikely in the upcoming decades, the jobs of electrical engineers who work in the U.S. department of energy and other companies will not be threatened.