Electrical Engineering 

By on

Digital Scope
Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is a field that covers a wide variety of different areas and technology, including electricity and electronics. Modern electrical engineering covers everything from basic electronics to more advanced areas, such as power distribution, control systems and telecommunications.

It is a field that goes back over experiments throughout several centuries.  Today, electrical engineering is a mature and highly regulated discipline.

Depending on your interest, working in electrical engineering could see you creating billions of microscopic components on a computer chip to working on some of the largest and most powerful machines on the planet.  There is not a single industry or activity which is not touched by electrical engineering. 

People of all works of life take an active involvement in electrical engineering, from hobbyists building circuits and using armature radio to professional electricians and electrical engineers working in industry. Most hobbyists are self taught, whereas professionals invariably have formal training.

Electricians will generally have carried out apprenticeships, including practical works, course works and examinations. Electrical engineers typically have university degrees from three or four year courses.  For people intending to pursue a career in electrical engineering, a formal qualification is required.

Professional institutions also play a role, with qualified electricians and engineers joining these.  Membership of an appropriate institution recognises not only the educational background, but all time and experience gained working in the profession.

Typing ‘Electrical Engineering’ into Google brings up 176 million results; testament to the broad reach and appeal of the subject.  By finding your way to this needle in the haystack, you have found a great source of electrical engineering knowledge and community from which the learn or share your experiences.

myElectrical.com is dedicated to electrical engineering.  If you are looking to broaden your knowledge, or just find out a little bit about the subject hopefully our site will help.  If you are looking for something in particular you can try the search function.  If you just looking to browse the subject, try starting at our notes index



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus

  1. ElecMan88's avatar ElecMan88 says:
    9/1/2011 2:11 PM

    Nice to see the blogs are back.

  2. ManjoloPhiri's avatar ManjoloPhiri says:
    9/1/2011 2:11 PM

    Agreed. As an experienced electrical Engineer I have found myself dealing more with instrumentation, electronic, networks, and process automation problems. Dont be surprised to hear that I have looked after mechanical aspects of crushers, diesel mining equipment, pump chambers, civil construction projects etc. In third world countries when you are an electrical engineer you can do anything!

  3. Steven's avatar Steven says:
    9/1/2011 2:11 PM

    I've also looked after chair lifts in mines, conveyor belts, rock hoisting systems and pumping systems. Electrical engineers are obviously a pretty versatile bunch of people. :) Experience outside our area of expertise is always good as it make us better engineers (and keeps us thinking).


Comments are closed for this post:
  • have a question or need help, please use our Questions Section
  • spotted an error or have additional info that you think should be in this post, feel free to Contact Us



Power Factor

Power factor is the ratio between the real power (P in kW) and apparent power (S in kVA) drawn by an electrical load. The reactive power (Q in kVAr)...

What happened to the cable notes?

If you are wondering what happened to our cable notes, the short answer is that we have moved them to myCableEngineering.com.  The "Knowledge Base" at...

Periodic Electrical Installation Inspection – What to Inspect?

This is the second post in a series of two on periodic electrical inspections. In the first post, I discussed how often inspections should be carried out...

How a Digital Substation Works

Traditionally substations have used circuit breakers, current transformers (CT), voltage transformers (VT) and protection relays all wired together using...

Earth Electrode Resistance

Earthing of electrical systems is essential for the correct functioning and the protecting of life and equipment in the event of faults.  The earth electrode...

What is LED?

Light Emitting Diodes (LED ) are increasing gaining favour in both the domestic and commercial sectors; due to their efficiency, sustainability and durability...

Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Insulation

While there are a vast array of cable insulation materials, these are often divided into two general types; Thermoplastic or Thermosetting. For example...

Cable Sheath and Armour Loss

When sizing cables, the heat generated  by losses within any sheath or armour need to be evaluated. When significant, it becomes a factor to be considered...

Useful Motor Technical Information

Sometimes it’s useful to be able to quickly lookup a piece of technical information.  This note is a collection of information related to motors, and in...

How to measure power supply quality

If your are ever called out to troubleshoot something on your electrical system, one of the first things consider is the supply voltage. You want to ensure...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note