Electronic Engineer Career Industries
Electronic engineering careers are available in a broad array of areas and industries. An electronic engineer career does not typically include work that is exclusive to computers; however, many electronic engineering jobs are related to computer technology. Typically, electronics engineering careers are specialized in industries like:
- Telecommunications
- Energy
- Manufacturing
- Transportation and Automotive
- Aerospace
- Medical
- Business
- Security
Types of Electronic Engineering Jobs
Types of electronic engineering jobs vary with industry, specialty and purpose. For example, an electronic engineering development job in the telecommunications industry could encompass working on projects that produce electronic components for cell phones.
Examples of electronics engineering jobs include:
- Engineering design jobs
- Project engineering
- Test engineering
- Research and development engineers
- Electronic equipment sales
- Quality assurance
- Field engineering
- Product development and support
- Technical documentation
Due to the demand for high-tech devices, the future of electronic engineering jobs is good. Generally, an electronic engineering career path requires a math and science foundation. Typically, minimum requirements for entry-level electronic engineering jobs are an associate’s degree. For students who choose an electronics engineering career path, a wide array of specialties and industries exist for electronic engineering jobs.
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| Potentiometers can be used as sensors to convert displacement into a voltage change for measurement purposes. |
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| What is a Light Emitting Diode? Light emitting diodes are widely used in everything from electronic components to traffic lights. |
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| Optical fibers can be used for a variety of measurement functions, including temperature, pressure, and humidity. |
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| Computer engineering has grown from a subset of electrical engineering into an independent and diverse branch of the engineering profession. |
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| Introduction to Data Acquisition Data acquisition systems are used to collect data about the behavior of objects or systems. |
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| Wheatstone Bridge circuits are often used with strain gauges and other resistive sensors for signal conditioning. |
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| The photoelectric effect can be harnessed to create energy from sunlight using photovoltaic cells. |
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| Electrical engineering is one branch of the engineering profession, and is concerned with the understanding of electricity and the development of electronic systems. |
Contributing Articles in Electrical Engineering
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| Smart Gird May Help Solve World Energy Problems The global 'smart grid' merges two networks, the power network, which manages power, and the communications network, which encompasses the Internet. |
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| Smart Grid Electricity: Blessing or Bane? A Smart Grid power system promises to cure America's electricity distribution woes, make our nation more energy efficient and reduce utility costs. |
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| At the heart of automation is controlling the loop in which an electro-mechanical feed back system works. Tuning the loop is critical to processes working. |
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| Active and Passive Electronic Components All about active and passive electronic components. |
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| Quantum-dot Nanotech Advance Could Double Solar Panel Output By fine tuning quantum dots and titanium dioxide conductors, researchers have shown that it's possible to double the electric power produced by solar cells. |
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| Solar Energy Can Meet Growing Electricity Demand Distributed solar energy, using a variety of renewable power technologies, is an important tool for meeting the world's growing electricity demand. |
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| Peltier Modules – Air Conditioning for Electric Cars Traditional automobile AC solutions aren't always energy efficient but Peltier modules can be used to provide DIY and more serious air conditioning for EVs. |
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| Lithuania, Laser Technology and Shanghai Expo 2010 In the month science and industry mark 50 years since the laser was first used, a leading laser producing nation shows its capabilities at Expo 2010. |
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| Electricity is lifeline of modern world. Learn about types of electricity and how to generate electricity with renewable and non-renewable sources of energy |
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| Glossary of Home Electrical Terms most common electrical terms that should help you in working with home electrical - volts, amperes, watts, conductors, resistance etc |
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| Electrical wiring and circuit can be parallel wiring, series wiring, missed wiring or switch wiring. |
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| Renewable Distributed Energy Generation Technologies One answer to the challenge of global electricity requirements is to increase development of renewable distributed energy generation (RDEG) technologies. |
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| Low Conductivity & Semiconductor Definition Read on to understand the concept of low conductivity and find a complete semiconductor definition. Included are examples of the types of semiconductor materials. |
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| The Future of Wireless Energy Transfer When Nikola Tesla showed that energy could be transferred wirelessly in the late 1800s, he gave birth to an idea that would only be realised in recent years. |
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| Fuel Cell Breakthrough Claimed Bloom Energy says its power-plant-in-a-box produces clean energy at low cost for homeowners eventually to generate their own electricity. |
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| The Smart Grid and Intelligent Power The "smart grid" has become a modern buzzword even though many do not understand what it really means. What is a smart grid and why is it needed? |
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| Smart Grid Benefits from New Technology Changes in the management of the electrical grid and concerns over energy conservation require a new approach to production and distribution of electrical energy. |
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| The Best Electronics Magazines The DIY movement has created a growing number of electronics enthusiasts. A number of publications offer information on circuit design, microcontrollers, and robotics. |
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| Recession Cuts Power Demand and Growth in 2009 Last year's recessionary economy, combined with increased energy conservation measures, slowed growth in both energy demand and development of new energy sources. |
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| Verizon Aims at 97 Percent Energy Efficiency Verizon Communications thinks a partnership with Lineage Power will squeeze four percent more power efficiency from its global operations. |
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| The 12 volt battery is one of the most flexible batteries available. Learn what makes a 12v battery so flexible and useful. |
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| A new kind of power storage device, the ultracapacitor is poised to invade all kinds of common household electronics, but what exactly is an ultracapacitor? |
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| An American company has demonstrated a device that allows people to operate electrical appliances without a wire connection. |
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| Nuclear Power Is Making a Comeback Accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl put a stop to the building of nuclear power stations, now there is a new enthusiasm for this energy source. |
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| Watt's Law describes a relationship between voltage, current and power in an electric circuit. Understanding Watt's Law is useful for calculating circuit characteristics. |
Freelance Engineering Jobs
A degree in engineering has always been a sure way of getting hefty pay packages in the previous century, irrespective of the particular stream. Engineers are the sculptors who have molded the modern day world out of rocks and sand. Even though specific trends in the demand of the particular type of engineering may vary - as is the case that if software engineers are in demand today, mechanical and civil engineers may be in demand tomorrow - it is presumable that the demand for a well-qualified engineer is never going to slow down.
Hence, it is not surprising that a significant fraction of the engineers work on a freelance basis, as is the case of most professions today, such journalism, architects, writers, and web designers, to cite a few examples. This is even truer for certain specific branches of engineering, such as software engineering, civil engineering, and bioengineering.
Government bodies and corporate bodies from different streams hunt for well-qualified engineers to undertake all sorts of projects. The ambit of projects might include almost anything, from constructing a model for making a car accident proof (production engineering), to smaller and faster bluetooth modules (electronic and communications engineering), to a 4-cylinder gasoline operated engine (automobile engineering) to a PLC program for mobile devices (software engineering) to the construction of a small bridge (civil engineering). The particular thread that connects all of these projects is all of them are short term, small-scale projects - perfect for a freelance engineer who likes to work on a contract basis without being associated with firms or companies in a long-term deal.
The duration of the contract for a freelance engineer may be anything from a few months to a few years - depending on his field of engineering and the specific project. The freelancers sidestep all the baggage of office life and relish their freedom of timings and the personal touch imparted to their job by the act of freelancing.
The companies on the other hand, strike deals at rates lower than corporate engineering firms and get almost as good service from the freelance engineers. The interaction between these two parties occur primarily through ads in papers, or more recently, via internet forums which provide a platform for companies to put up their projects and for freelance engineers to apply to them as per their wish. Even though this breeds a lot of competition amongst the freelancers, freelance engineers are a tough breed who has been persisting in a cutthroat market of other freelancers as well as corporate engineering firms.
However, freelancing is not as romantic as it may sound at first - freelancers have to bear the brunt of financial downturns, such as the one last year. Furthermore, a well-established company say something like Shell, might pay huge, obscene amounts to its top engineers, which might make one, think twice before leaving a top company for a freelance engineering career. Also, in freelancing one has to be always on one's toes, as projects do not just drop on your lap, you have to go and get them. Only by selecting smartly and wisely can freelance engineers hope to carve a notable career for themselves.
Freelancing, particularly in engineering, has several visible shortcomings at the outset - but any freelancer could tell you that they would never give up their freedom, and the liberty to work at will, for all the money in the world. It is this different set of priorities that make freelance engineers take the path that they take.
| With the growing acceptance of freelance jobs as a career, it is no longer restricted to a particular industry or vocation. It is not uncommon to find freelance engineering jobs or consulting jobs on offer in the market today. |