The advancement in technologies today has increased the demand of many professions. One particular profession is an electrical engineer, who is responsible for developing and testing products that are powered by electricity. Everything from refrigerators, computers, iPods, and televisions are all built based on the specifications of an electrical engineer.
Electrical engineers go through extensive training before they are considered for hiring in the production world. They require a certain skill set to be a qualified engineer, to include, having a natural knowledge of math, science, and computer skills. These skills are critical during your educational studies as becoming an engineer will require you to take advanced college courses in these fields. In addition, they must have excellent communication skills, as they are often required to talk with customers and other co-workers on specification of system design and operation.
Once they are trained and certified as an electrical engineer they will be able to start putting their skills into use. Some specific job duties that they perform are to design, implement, and improve on electrical devices. This means they are constantly testing and evaluating equipment to ensure they are operating at maximum efficiency, and if there are ways to improve the product implement those processes and make sure all PAT testing is up to date. In addition, engineers often find themselves talking with customers on current products and what they want to see for the future. This means the electrical engineer must discuss ways to improve the current product or facilitate ideas with the customer on how to create a better version of the current product. This is where the communication skill set come into play, poor communication with your co-workers or customers can result in projects not getting completed or not to customer satisfaction.
Another significant job duty for electrical engineers is the role of preparing and studying technical designs and specifications of various electrical systems on devices. To do this you must be able to understand how the device operates when powered by electricity and be able to follow wiring diagrams on a map. This is especially critical for engineers that work on the infrastructure of electrical power grids across the country, which include the power plants, power lines, and relay stations. Along with knowing how the power grids work, engineers will also be tasked to conduct field surveys, maps, and diagrams of the electrical grids and recommend ways to improve efficiency and reducing operating costs.
Senior electrical engineers who have gained experience through the years often find themselves developing budgets, and operating costs for electrical equipment. They are asked to find the cost of how much a device will cost to build, as this will determine how much to sell the product, which directly affects profits for the company. Also, some senior electrical engineers get involved in compiling reports on engineering studies and projects that government agencies or companies are interested in. So thorough background knowledge in all aspects of engineering is needed to be able to compile these types of reports.
Being an electrical engineer is an award career and will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future. This is a positive trend for prospective engineers looking to make it a career for them.
