ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

ALEX CLAPPER

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

OVERVIEW
Electrical engineers design, develop,
test, and supervise the manufacturing
of electrical equipment, such as
electric motors, radar and navigation
systems, communications systems,
and power generation equipment.
Electronics engineers design and
develop electronic equipment, such as
broadcast and communications
systemsfrom portable music players
to global positioning systems (GPSs).
This is usually an office job but can go
out in the field to supervise.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

SALARY
The median annual wage for electrical engineers was
$93,010 in May 2015. The median wage is the wage at
which half the workers in an occupation earned more than
that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent
earned less than $59,240, and the highest 10 percent
earned more than $146,820.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

SPECIALIZATIONS
Communication-Society requires information to be transmitted in a fast, reliable, and secure way. Study in communications
involves the analysis and design of information transmission systems. Principles such as different modulation schemes (such as
AM and FM), noise suppression, various transmission media and computer networking are discussed in detail. Different examples
of some communications systems include radio, television, the telephone system, computer networks, GPS satellite systems, and
microwave transmission lines.

Computer Hardware-With the proliferation of digital electronics, most electrical engineering systems will include
computer hardware as an integral part of the system. Computer hardware courses are equally split between the Electrical
Engineering and Computer Engineering majors. These courses are generally accessible to EE students who have no advanced
software courses.

Control Systems-Control systems are encountered every day, including in temperature/climate control systems in buildings
or navigational systems in vehicles, and they also play an integral role in any manufacturing process, including assembly lines
monitored and regulated by electronics. A control systems specialization provides students with the necessary mathematical and
computer programming background to analyze and design both analog and digital control systems. Associated lab work helps
illustrate thecontrol algorithms learned in the classes. One sub-category of control systems is robotics. At Penn State, robotics is
covered more in industrial or mechanical engineering. However, a controls background, in addition to courses in signal and image
processing, provides students with many of the fundamentals needed for future work in robotics.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

COLLEGES
Penn State
North Carolina State
University
University of Pittsburgh

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

PENN STATE
Ranked highly in electrical
engineering
In-state tuition of $17,514
Estimated total cost with room and
board and any additional fees of
$30,000
Offers bachelor degree and
possibility of Ph.D.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

CO-OP
Overview
The Electrical Engineering Department actively participates in co-operative education in which
students alternate semesters of standard academic study with semesters of meaningful industrial
experience. Typically, students will begin the co-op program some time after taking their first EE
course and will spend one fall semester, one spring semester, and one summer (not all back-toback) working for an EE-related company. This will usually extend graduation by about one year,
but the benefits are worth it.

Benefits
great job experience
substantial salary while on co-op (typically $14-$17 per hour)
up to 6 credits which count towards graduation in the BSEE program
good source for permanent job placement

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COURSES

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

SOURCES
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/electric
al-and-electronics-engineers.htm#tab-1
http://www.psu.edu
https://www.ncsu.edu
http://www.pitt.edu