Applications of electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is one of the crucial branches of engineering and was introduced in the 19th century. It majorly deals with technology related to electricity and its production. Electrical engineers work on a wide range of electrical components, devices, which include microchips or even power station generators.

During the early phases, electrical engineering was more concerned with the study of static charges and batteries. It is believed that after Michael Faraday came up with the law of induction, the scenario of this field changed, and people started becoming concerned about the designs, construction, and the manufacturing process on the whole. The law is applicable to most of the electric appliances, including the electric generator, the motor, and the transformer. As the modern ages sunk in, electricity reached out to homes, industry, as well as businesses, which was all because of the talented electrical engineers of that time.

You must be knowing of the pioneers who contributed to this industry, including Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Philo T. Farnsworth, etc., all of whom were responsible for inventing electrical appliances that we find in our homes today. These were the very first innovators who turned the ideas into concepts that were related to electricity. The innovators were responsible for turning ideas into concepts that lead to the invention of systems and devices that are used in modern days.

Since the very beginnings, the electrical engineering industry has grown and bifurcated into a wide number of categories, including power generation, transmission systems, batteries, motors, and control systems. These also include the branch of electronics, which is further divided into categories such as radiofrequency, remote sensing, digital circuits, video, and optoelectronics, and several others.

The field of electronics came into being after John Ambrose Fleming came up with the idea of a thermionic valve diode in 1904. The valve acts as a vacuum tube, which is responsible for providing input current. This invention brought a huge revolution, which resulted in the introduction of radar, TVs, and radio by the mid-20th century. Transistor was another important invention during that 1940s, which become a household hit for several generations.

What does an electrical engineer do?

As an electrical engineer, the person is required to design, develop, test, and give assistance during the manufacturing of complex electrical equipment. Be it the motors, radar, TVs, etc.; such engineers are required to supervise the models that are being made. They are also required to develop GPS systems and other portable systems that are counted in the broadcast and the communication systems category.

The electrical devices are something that is practical enough to be used in the real-word and are responsible for conducting electricity. These are basically designed by electrical engineers who are responsible for conducting or writing the specifications related to the testing and performance of the devices and components to ensure that they are durable enough.

The engineers are responsible for designing the devices and systems using the components such as diodes, resistors, batteries, coils, conductors, and much more depending on the requirements of the electronic device. These basic components are used nearly in every kind of device that you will in modern times.

As an electrical engineer, it is your responsibility to develop an understanding of the electrical theory, materials, and combine that knowledge with mathematics. This is crucial for designing circuits and performing functions that are necessary for ensuring the safety, energy efficiency, and reliability of the product that is being made. It would also help in predicting the behavior of the hardware and before the design is being sent out for final implementation. During the initial stages, the circuits can be constructed as breadboards that have circuits present on them. These are usually made of CNC machines in order to test them before they are sent out for production.

Electrical engineers make use of CAD systems to create the layout of the circuits and also help the computers to simulate the electrical devices in order to find out how they function. The computer simulations are used in the power grid or microprocessors. This makes it important for engineers to ensure that these systems can be used in computers. They also need to make sure that the process of drafting schematics and circuit boards tend to speed up the process and provide blueprints for several electronic devices. The CAD systems should be efficient enough to provide a quick and easy solution for the prototypes and the designs of the circuits that are being made out using the CNC machines.

Electrical engineers basically work in the research and development industries, engineering firms, or manufacturing units. The work is majorly indoors, but they need to regularly visit the on-sites to observe a problem and provide a solution for the same. Industries that employ engineers include the marine, aerospace, defense, commercial and consumer electronics, lighting department, traffic control units, and so on. If you are interested in the government sector, then there are plenty of jobs in this space as well.

Electrical engineering has a bright future as long as there is equipment going to be made out in this field. It is believed that the employment in the electrical industry would grow by 4 percent between the present-day till 2022. There are a lot of industries emerging day in and out in this field with a wide range of applications. You would find technologies in red electrical flashes which are used during thunderstorms, the study of sound waves to detect underwater noise. With time, there is surely going to be a huge demand for the electronics and electrical engineers in the research and development sector who would initiate progress in this sector.

If you are an aspiring electrical engineer and are looking out to venture into this field, then make sure that you consider the various choices and find out your own path that you find the most interesting and satisfying as an electrical engineer. Make sure that you have a clear understanding of the job before you venture into it.

Author: Frank Taylor