"Companies or people always have problems they can't solve," says Greg
Kleese, an electrical engineer in Minnesota. "They tell electrical engineers
about the problem. Then it's the engineer's job to invent a solution to the
problem."
Electrical engineers design, plan, research, evaluate and test the operation
and performance of electrical and electronic equipment. The four big areas
that they work in are communications, signal processing, circuits and electromagnetics.
"Communications is just what it sounds like," says Sheila Hemami, an electrical
engineer in New York. "These engineers design and implement satellite links,
fiber optics, and work with high-speed modems."
Phone messages, radar signals and images and video clips on the computer
are processed so that humans can understand them.
"When we speak on the phone, our voice isn't traveling along the wire,"
explains Hemami. "The sound is coded and then must be decoded when it reaches
you. Signal processing works with how it is coded, taken apart and retrieved."
Circuitry, the third area of electrical engineering, involves computer
design. This field includes creating chips for computers, sensors and machines
that can work faster and better than previous models.
Electromagnetics is the oldest branch of electrical engineering. It deals
with antennae and their operation.
"These engineers work on areas like making an antenna that is less affected
by the clouds, or making an antenna that doesn't make the radio go fuzzy when
we move our car forward 10 feet," says Hemami.
Other areas include power engineering -- transferring energy from one point
to another. Getting power from a hydroelectric dam to a home is an example
of this type of engineering.
Electrical engineers work for utility companies (that provide electricity
or other basic services), communications companies, manufacturers of electrical
and electronic equipment, and consulting firms. They also work in other manufacturing,
processing and transportation industries, as well as for the government.
The hours an electrical engineer works depend entirely on the type of work
being done. "You can work a normal 40-hour week," says Hemami. "But if you're
working on a design under deadline, you can work up to 80 hours."
This type of engineering isn't a physically demanding job. However, some
manual dexterity may be required.
"The main problem is surviving at home without knowing how to repair the
blender or the VCR," says Kiruba Sivasubramaniam, an electrical engineer in
New York. "Someone is always there to say, 'And you call yourself an electrical
engineer!'"