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In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin, Alessandro Volta, Luigi
Galvani, and other early thinkers sought to understand the
nature of an unseen, unnamed energy. Their test materials
consisted of such things as kites, frogs' legs, zinc, and
salt water. But their findings allowed pioneers in the
18OOs--Ampere, Faraday, Ohm, and Oersted--to discover the
electrical properties known as charge, resistance,
potential, and current, and the dynamics among them.
Within the next hundred years, Charles Wheatstone and
Samuel F. B. Morse had developed electrical communication,
resulting in networks of telegraph lines over land and under
the sea. The telephone was beginning to transform the
concept of communication within cities, while Edison's
incandescent light shone in factories, stores, schools, and
homes. In 1904 John Ambrose Fleming's diode tube harnessed
the electron in a revolutionary way. Electronics was born.
As the heirs to Faraday's and Flemings work, today's
electrical, electronics, and computer engineers,
technologists, and technicians continue to revolutionize the
way we live. We depend on the hundreds of thousands of these
individuals who design, produce, operate and maintain a vast
array of equipment and services.
Radio, television, telephones, computers, airplanes,
space vehicles, automobiles, refrigerators and heaters,
office machinery and home appliances, life-saving medical
equipment and Martian battles fought with joysticks
represent a mere sampling of the now familiar facets of life
made possible by engineers, technologists and technicians.
In our age of satellite-transmitted television and
transcontinental computer networks, the challenges and
opportunities in this dedicated profession continue to
mushroom. Today's careers, like electricity itself, have
enormous potential.
The implementation of ideas through new products,
systems, and services is the essence of engineering as a
socially responsible profession. The rapid changes in
electrical, electronics, and computer technology and the
diversity of applications require a broad educational
background and a lifelong commitment to learning new and
specialized information.
This brochure describes some of the many challenging
careers in electrical, electronics, and computer engineering
and the educational path necessary to become an engineer,
technologist, or technician. Whether you're a student,
faculty advisor, or parent, this information will help you
make sound decisions about a lifetime pursuit.
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