Electrical Engineering

History: Electrical Engineering is one of the oldest branches of engineering that dates back to the late 19^th century. Some of its prominent pioneers include Thomas Edison who invented the electric light bulb, Gugliemo Marconi who invented the radio and Philo T Farnsworth, the father of the television. It is amazing how we have lost count of electrical inventions since then as more and more electrical engineers turn ideas and concepts about electricity into practical systems.

Source: Internet Billboards

Definition: An electrical engineer designs, develops, tests and supervises the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communication systems and power generation equipment. This job description definitely sounds like a lot of work but it all depends on the firm one is working for.  Electrical engineers generally spend most their time in offices but may also visit sites to observe a problem or complex equipment.

Jobs and Salaries: The profession is a rewarding one and according to PayScale an electrical engineer earns an average salary of $70,675 per year with the compensation increasing with experience. EE graduates branch out into specialized categories such as communications system design, control systems, electrical power generation and distribution, electromagnetic waves, integrated circuit design, process instrumentation and control, robotic systems design, and telecommunications.

The future: Employment of electrical and electronics engineers was projected to grow by 4 percent between 2012 and 2022, because of these professionals' "versatility in developing and applying emerging technologies," highlighted the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Jim Lucas in his piece in on Live Science,  applications for emerging technologies include studying red electrical flashes, called sprites, which hover above some thunderstorms. Victor Pasko, an electrical engineer at Penn State, and his colleagues have developed a model for how the strange lightning evolves and disappears. This is just a peek into the growing technological advancements in electrical engineering.

-Panashe, M

Sources:

"Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/electrical-and-electronics-engineers.htm>.

 "Electrical Engineer Salary (United States) »." Electrical Engineer Salary (United States). PayScale, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Electrical_Engineer/Salary>.

 Lucas, By Jim. "What Is Electrical Engineering?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 26 Aug. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/47571-electrical-engineering.html>.