Why is electrical engineering important?
The move to generate, transmit and distribute reliable, low-cost, low carbon electricity to homes and industry underpins the society we live in and is the key to our future sustainable world.
Utilisation of this electricity touches almost every part of our daily lives, from the televisions, mobile phones and the internet which connects us in the digital world, to cooking, heating and lighting and even to how we travel.
Behind the socket in the wall is a huge dynamic system supported by thousands of engineers doing a whole array of different jobs. With the transition towards a zero-carbon energy future, we need engineers to innovate to develop and champion the energy systems and infrastructure of the future.
Subject choice
Electrical engineering at university is one of those subjects which builds upon the fundamentals of what you learn at school. The core STEM subjects like maths and physics will open up a world of opportunities.
When making your subject choices at school, university may seem a long way off, but your choices are important; they’re the first step in a future career in electrical engineering and opportunities such as the IET Power Academy.
Diversity and inclusion in electrical engineering
We’re passionate about encouraging as many people as possible to find a rewarding future career in engineering.
Good engineering builds on ideas to find solutions, great engineering uses diversity to generate bigger ideas and better solutions. Improving diversity through more women, black, Asian and other minority ethnic students entering engineering will help build those great solutions that we need.
The national skill shortage in engineering also means there are a huge number of opportunities just waiting out there. Things are changing, but we always need more good people.
Some STEM advice from IET Power Academy scholar Mollie Purser
Studying electrical engineering at university has opened the door for me to solve the industrial challenges coming in the future for energy systems. As the UK transitions to low carbon electricity the infrastructure in place needs to change in interesting and challenging ways that I’m excited to be involved in.
Studying core STEM subjects at school opened up my opportunities to progress through this career path. When I was choosing my options for A level it felt like university was far in the future, but I kept in mind the key subjects I would need for the engineering career I was passionate about. At A level I studied Maths, Further Maths, and Physics. Having these A levels under my belt gave me access to many amazing engineering university courses.
I now study Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bath. My degree heavily built on my A Level maths and physics knowledge. The world of engineering is continuing to grow in diversity, and if I hadn’t studied core STEM subjects at A level, I wouldn’t be able to contribute to it now. The future of electrical engineering is exciting and I’m looking forward to my career path
Advice for school pupils – Fraser Martin
At school I (like most other pupils) did not have a clue what I wanted to do as a career and decided to take a logical approach to this problem, perhaps this was the undiscovered engineer in me!
Firstly, I tried to find a potential career that aligned with the subjects I was good at and enjoyed in the hope that I would find a career that I was good at and enjoyed. My favourite subjects in school were maths and physics, as I liked logic-based problem solving and picking my teacher’s brains about how abstract physics concepts could be applied in real life.
Secondly, I wanted a career that had purpose and would benefit society. The world is currently facing a very severe problem, it is heating up! A major cause of global warming is burning fossil fuels to make electricity. Electrical engineers are very much in demand to help combat this problem by creating new ways to generate electricity that is environmentally friendly.
After school I went on to study Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, which helped me understand how the physics and maths knowledge I learned from school can be used to tackle some of the main challenges facing society. Fast-forward a few years and I am now a Graduate Electrical Engineer working for Network Rail helping to make the Railway more sustainable.