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What can you do with an electrical engineering degree?


An essential guide to what you will learn on an electrical engineering course, what you should study to get your place on a degree, and
what jobs you can get once you graduate

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September 29 2022

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What can you do with an electrical engineering degree?

With the responsibility of designing, developing, testing and maintaining electrical equipment, electrical engineers play a
big role in our society. However, the skills that students will learn while studying electrical engineering can lead to many
other roles.

Some of the roles that electrical engineer graduates can consider include:

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Electrical engineer
Broadcast engineer
:
Broadcast engineer
Technical writer
Controls engineer
Substation technician
Electrical project manager
Electrical designer/engineer
Hardware engineer

Computer network architect


Electronic communications engineer
Systems engineer

What is electrical engineering?

Electrical engineering is the design, building and maintenance of electrical control systems, machinery and equipment.
Some electrical engineering concerns are also found in mechanical and civil engineering.

The term electrical engineering often includes electronics engineering. While electrical engineers mainly focus on large-
scale production and distribution of electrical power, electronics engineers are concerned with smaller electronic circuits
and often also work with computers and other modern technologies. However, any undergraduate course will include
elements of both electrical and electronics engineering.

Electrical engineers work in transport networks, lighting, heating, ventilation, lift systems, power generation and
distribution, renewable energy, manufacturing and construction. You will elaborate project plans, estimate project
timescales and costs, manage the work of technicians and craftspeople, test installations, analyse data and ensure that
health and safety regulations are met.

Explore the best universities for engineering degrees

What might you find on an electrical engineering degree?

A lot of electrical engineering undergraduate degrees will include elements of electronics engineering too. Overall, you will
develop analytical, technical and engineering design skills.

First year courses usually overlap across all engineering degrees usually including mathematics, communications
engineering and signals, engineering principles, systems and communications and laboratory and presentation skills. There
will also be modules specific to electrical engineering such as circuits and fields, computer engineering, real-time systems,
analog electronics, embedded systems projects, and engineering programming.

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During second year, you are likely to study data analysis, probabilistic and numerical techniques, signal processing and
control engineering, telecommunications, analog system engineering, digital system design and implementation, power
:
control engineering, telecommunications, analog system engineering, digital system design and implementation, power
supply electronics, software engineering design, electrical engineering design, industrial management and robotic systems
among others.

Typical final year modules may include system modelling and control, electromagnetism, power engineering, electrical
machines, energy conversion for motor and generator drives, field waves and antennas, electronic design, digital design,
web-based computing, digital video communications system and analog microelectronics.

But courses will vary based on the institution and country you’re applying to.

What should I study to do an electrical engineering degree?

Mathematics is essential to do electrical engineering at university. Many universities will also ask candidates to have done
further or advanced mathematics. In addition, universities will want you to have done physics or chemistry or a technology
subject.

You can also stand out if you express your interest in the subject by having participated and obtained good results in
mathematics and physics challenges. Extra-curricular engineering courses or activities may also help you in the application
process.

But university requirements vary so do check the institutions you’re applying for.

Beyond sciences, taking a humanities subject or a social science will teach you communication skills which are crucial in
most jobs.

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What do people go on to do?

Typical employers for electrical engineers are consultancies, the Civil Service or government, telecommunication,
engineering, computing, construction, energy, manufacturing, transport and utilities companies and the armed forces. As
computer and mobile technology is developing, they become the main areas where more electrical engineers are wanted.
:
computer and mobile technology is developing, they become the main areas where more electrical engineers are wanted.
But you can also choose to work on a freelance basis.

As an electrical engineer, your workplace will vary from laboratories to o!ces and building sites depending on the project
and the stage of the project you’re focusing on.

As they advance in their careers, electrical engineers take on management responsibilities. They sometimes have to take
on extra working hours especially by the end period of their projects. Being an electrical engineer may involve both
domestic and international travel.

Student experience of electrical engineering

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Famous people who studied electrical engineering

The Serbian-American Nikola Tesla is one of the most famous physicists, inventors, electrical and mechanical engineers. He
was an outstanding student of the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria, where he passed almost twice as many exams as
he had to.

American Lynn Conway’s Mead and Conway revolution in VLSI design, career at IBM and invention of generalised dynamic
instruction handling make her one of the most important electrical engineers today. She studied at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in the US.

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Austrian Claire F. Gmachl, professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University is known for her studies in quantum
cascade lasers. She studied physics at the University of Innsbruck and did a PhD in electrical engineering at the Technical
University of Vienna.

Hungarian-born American Rudolf E. Kalman was an electrical engineer, mathematician and inventor known for the
development of the Kalman filter, a mathematical algorithm widely used in signal processing, control systems, guidance,
navigation and control.

Read more: Best universities for engineering degrees


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