Typical work activities

Electrical engineers design, develop and maintain electrical control systems and/or components to required specifications, focusing on economy, safety, reliability, quality and sustainability.

They design and manufacture electrical equipment for use across many sectors, including:

·         The building industry and services, including lighting, heating and ventilation.

·         Transportation and transport networks.

·         Manufacturing and construction.

·         Production and distribution of power.

Electrical engineers are involved in projects from the concept and detail of the design through to implementation, testing and handover. They may also be involved in maintenance programs.

As well as having technical knowledge, electrical engineers need to be able to project manage and multitask. They also need to have commercial awareness. Additional attributes, such as team leadership or management skills, are required as careers progress.

Typical work activities

Most electrical engineers work in a multi-disciplinary project team, which is likely to include engineers from other specialist areas as well as architects, marketing and sales staff, manufacturers, technicians and customer service personnel. They may also work with representatives from client organizations.

Depending on the employer, the electrical engineer may be involved at every stage of design and development or may just be involved at one particular stage. The nature of the role varies according to industry or sector, but the range of activities common to many posts is likely to include:

·         Identifying customer requirements.

·         Designing systems and products.

·         Reading design specifications and technical drawings.

·         Researching suitable solutions and estimating costs and timescales.

·         Making models and prototypes of products using three-dimensional design software.

·         Working to British (BS), European (EN) and other standards.

·         Liaising with others in the design team.

·         Liaising with clients and contractors.

·         Attending meetings on site.

·         Designing and conducting tests.

·         Recording, analyzing and interpreting test data.

·         Proposing modifications and retesting products.

·         Qualifying the final product or system.

·         Servicing and maintaining equipment.

·         Preparing product documentation, writing reports and giving presentations.

·         Monitoring a product in use to improve on future design.

Electronics engineer: Job description

Electronics is the technology associated with electronic circuits and systems, and is one of the major branches of electrical engineering.

It is a discipline that uses scientific knowledge of the behavior and effects of electrons to create components, devices, systems or equipment that use electricity as part of their source of power. These components include capacitors, diodes, resistors and transistors.

Electronics engineers research, design, develop and test precision components and a system, developing the way electricity is used to control equipment. The work is usually carried out in cross-functional project teams, with colleagues in electronics and other branches of engineering.

Electronics touches on almost all areas of human activity, so its applications are diverse. They include acoustics, defense, medical instruments, mobile phones, nanotechnology, radio and satellite communication and robotics. Subfields of electronic engineering include control engineering, instrumentation, signal processing and telecommunications engineering.

Typical work activities

Electronics engineers work on a project through all its stages: from the initial brief for a concept through the design and development stage, to the testing of one or more prototypes; and through to the final manufacture and implementation of a new product or system.

Exact duties vary, depending on the industry, but tasks typically include:

·         Discussing proposals with clients.

·         Working with colleagues to design new systems, circuits and devices or develop existing technology.

·         Testing theoretical designs.

·         Writing specifications.

·         Following defined development processes.

·         systematically improving the detailed design of a piece of electronic equipment;

·         ensuring that a product will work with devices developed by others, can be made again reliably, and will perform consistently in specified operating environments;

·         Creating user-friendly interfaces.

·         Ensuring safety regulations are met.

·         Project planning and preparing budgets.

·         Attending meetings with subcontractors.

·         Supervising technicians, craftspeople and other colleagues.

·         Writing technical reports.

·         Keeping up to date with developments in technologies and regulations.

There are two main types of graduate electronics engineer:

·         Chartered engineers (CEng) have the greatest level of responsibility for engineering projects. They develop solutions to problems using new or existing technologies.

·         Incorporated engineers (IEng) take responsibility for specific aspects of a project. They maintain and manage applications of current and developing technology.