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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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