What do electrical engineers do?

Question

I love math, would elctircal engineering be good for me? What do they do?

Answer 1

It is basically the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism like power, electronics, control systems, signal processing and telecommunications. But be careful, cause theres also electronics engineering which studies small-scale electronic systems including computers and integrated circuits and it's not always included in electrical engineering career.

Loving math is not enough, math is a base science for almost every career, you should study electrical engineering if you are into electricity and electronic devices, I would recomend you to get a study plan from a university or talk to the career department.

Answer 2

Off the top of my head they do 2 big things.  Design circuitry and calculating power usage for electronic equipment.

Answer 3

Broadly, electrical engineers use the laws of electricity and magnetism for practical applications.

Specifically, EE's design circuits (as in microchips, electronic devices, power transmission equipment, etc.) to solve specific scientific or practical problems.  Some EE's do research in theoretical physics as relates to circuitry, magnetism, or power.  For example, one EE may work for a company like Intel designing the little microchips that go into computers.  Another EE may work for a nuclear power company trying to figure out how to safely and efficiently transmit a plant's power from one city to another.  Yet another might work for a university researching nanotechnology, or designing robots.  EE's also do a lot in the aerospace industry, dealing with aircraft instrumentation, space vehicles, and ground based navigational equipment.

EE's also branch into related fields quite often.  For example, biomedical engineering (dealing with modeling human physiology using electrical and mechanical devices, among other research interests) is a field where EE's often find a home.  Computer networking is another one...it's very easy to move from an EE degree into any computer or networking job.

It's a broad and interesting field.  Usually a four year degree to get a basic job in the field, with a Master's degree pretty much a requirement for significant research or product development work.  A Ph.D. is the price of entry to theoretical engineering and/or teaching at a university.  You'd study general engineering topics (mechanics, physics, tons of mathematics through differential equations), circuit theory, theory of semiconductors, basic analog and digital circuit design, and electromagnetism.  You'd probably take a few CAD courses too, since these days most electronics are designed in a simulated computer environment before being produced in real life.

Career outlook is excellent.  It's probably one of the most secure fields of study you can undertake, right up there with medicine and teaching.  EE's are going to be in demand forever.

Starting salaries are very good ($60k-$80k or so would cover most starting salaries, depending on field and location).  Expect to take courses toward higher degrees on a continual basis, to stay on top of new developments, since this is an ever changing field of engineering.  The military is also an excellent place to be with an entry level EE job, because they'll generally pay for your schooling and give you great practical experience.