Radio Engineer

The name electrical engineering is still used to cover electronic engineering amongst some of the older (notably American) universities and graduates there are called electrical engineers. In Europe, graduates of electronic engineering are known as electronics engineers.

Some people believe the term electrical engineer should be reserved for those having specialised in power and heavy current or high voltage engineering, while others believe that power is just one subset of electrical engineering (and indeed the term power engineering is used in that industry). Again, in recent years there has been a growth of new separate-entry degree courses such as information and communication engineering, often followed by academic departments of similar name.

Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacture of electrical equipment. Some of this equipment includes electric motors; machinery controls, lighting, and wiring in buildings; automobiles; aircraft; radar and navigation systems; and power-generating, -controlling, and transmission devices used by electric utilities. Although the terms “electrical” and “electronics” engineering often are used interchangeably in academia and industry, electrical engineers have traditionally focused on the generation and supply of power, whereas electronics engineers have worked on applications of electricity to control systems or signal processing. Electrical engineers specialize in areas such as power systems engineering or electrical equipment manufacturing.

Electronics engineers, except computer, are responsible for a wide range of technologies, from portable music players to the global positioning system (GPS), which can continuously provide the location of a vehicle. Electronics engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacture of electronic equipment such as broadcast and communications systems. Many electronics engineers also work in areas closely related to computers. However, engineers whose work is related exclusively to computer hardware are considered computer hardware engineers. Electronics engineers specialize in areas such as communications, signal processing, and control systems or have a specialty within one of these areas—industrial robot control systems or aviation electronics, for example.