(ELECTENG) 101 reasons to choose electrical

I thought that (electeng) 101 reasons to choose electrical would be a great post title, and I got so stuck on the gag that I couldn’t stray away from it. So, in the spirit of lame techy jokes, this is 0b101 or 101₂ reasons or five reasons to choose electrical.

Roughly one year ago, when I was deciding what specialisation I wanted to go into, it wasn’t easy to figure out what kind of area would fit me well. So, I thought I’d write a couple of reasons to choose electrical. These aren’t the only reasons, but if you identify with any, I think you’d enjoy electrical (you might be surprised by how many of us do).

 

Reason 1: You like maths and working through logical problems.

I think this is true for most of us engineering students. It’s what drew us to engineering in the first place. But I think electrical is particularly maths heavy. Laplace transforms, Fourier series, complex numbers. All the good stuff. And beyond actual mathematical equations, I sometimes like to consider electrical laws an extension of regular maths, like Ohm’s law or Kirchhoff’s laws, just with particular conditions.

 

Reason 2: You want to learn a diverse range of things in a versatile degree.

Electrical engineering is one of the vastest fields to be in. This should come as no surprise, considering even computer engineering and software engineering are technically branches of electrical engineering. Electrical systems are at the heart of nearly every part of modern society. We can apply the skills and tools we learn to a feast of careers. You could end up working on infrastructure, buildings, computers, dishwashers, traffic controlling, phones. It’s endless.

 

Reason 3: You want a career that’s an enjoyable mix of hands-on and computer work.

 This is one of my favourite things about electrical engineering. I can sit and stare at a computer screen full of firmware all day, or I can mess around with actual hardware in front of me if I want. Or I can sit at a computer screen and look at simulated hardware. We’re responsible for designing and developing hardware, and we often do this using software, so we get a pretty sweet mix of the two. You can also vary this as much you like depending on what subdisciplines you go into.

 

Reason 4: You find electricity and electrical systems fascinating.

 This one is pretty self-explanatory. I think electrical systems and electronics by nature are pretty fascinating. Electricity isn’t exactly intuitive, and I think that’s what makes it even more curious. There’s so much to learn and so much innovation still to come. If you want to be in a constantly evolving field and keep learning new technologies for the rest of your career, this is the field for it.

 

Reason 5: You’re up for a challenge.

As great as it is, there’s no denying that this degree is challenging. I’m writing this not long after sitting a 5-hour long test that felt more like a marathon (technically 2 hours but we were given 5 to write it and the extra hours were needed). But for as difficult as it is sometimes, it’s equally as rewarding to look back and see just how much you’ve learnt. So if you’re keen to be persistent and get stuck in, you’ll be just fine.

 

And that’s all from me this time, guys. I’m writing this as I recover from covid-19 jab #2, and it’s time for a nap. Remember to give yourself a break now and again, especially in lockdown. This semester is undoubtedly far more insane than semester one. But we’re so close to making it! Two weeks to go. Hang in there, team!

My next post will be about my internship hunting experience, and you can trust it will be chock full of juicy advice to get summer work. Until then!

Source for the utterly beautiful post image: Electronics by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images