Electrical and Electronics Engineering, aren’t both words different ways of describing the same field? Don’t all individuals in these courses make electronics? These are some common questions many students face as they are exploring their options in Engineering. There are, but, many differences between both Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
Universities and colleges in India and Kerala like TOMS offer short-term courses like diplomas and full-time courses like B.Tech and BE in Electrical and Electronics. Admissions are primarily through entrance tests and a round of counseling.
Before one can get admitted, let’s understand how both these words are different from each other.
What is Electrical Engineering?
Electrical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the study of electricity and applying the principles to the designing and developing of electrical equipment. Electrical Engineers could be hired in several industries to manufacture different equipment such as radars, navigation systems, motors, etc. On the home front, Electrical Engineers help create commercial refrigerators, air cooling systems, and other electrical home appliances.
Courses dedicated to Electrical Engineering from polytechnic colleges in Kerala cover the basics of electricity, electromagnetism, and also transmitting energy. Students in this course can also apply it to the manufacture of AI products, electric cars and automobiles, and power plants. Most of the work Electrical Engineering professionals work at is a large scale where they are also involved with the management aspect of the project such as taking care of costs, plans, scheduling, and meeting standard codes.
Electrical Engineer Job Responsibilities
Electrical Engineers work depends solely on where they are working and on what they are working on. However, a standard list of job duties has been prepared below to give prospective students a rough idea.
- Work with clients and come up with a plan for projects.
- Do the research and create designs including a 3D model for the project
- Design electrical systems and also the systems where it will be used
- Ensure all necessary standards and codes are being met
- Attend meetings and diagnose problems
- Deliver project on time and manage all variables of the project
- Write guidelines and reports
What is Electronics Engineering?
Another Engineering branch that is similar to the Electrical branch is Electronics Engineering. This discipline is all about the technical aspect of electrical circuits, systems and systems and how to develop them. The circuits designed by the Electronics Engineer are able to interpret signals and perform certain actions. Generally, Electronics Engineering is used on small scale and requires processors of the same size.
Students with an Electronics degree from any engineering colleges in Kerala are able to work with electrical requirements in the Medical, Commercial, Scientific, Military and Government industries. Electronics graduates also work in the capacity of Electrical Engineer where they would primarily use semiconductors to optimize it and manipulate the electricity flow by designing the internal circuit.
Electronics Engineer Job Responsibilities
The responsibilities of an Electronics Engineer, like for an Electrical Engineer, will change depending on the company and project requirements. Stated below are some general job responsibilities most Electronics Engineers do.
- Come up with ideas based on client requirements
- Work with a team of other engineers on different electronic equipment and parts
- Design and create circuit diagrams
- Work on existing electronics to improve them
- Run tests on newly made circuits
- Maintain appropriate protocols, safety guidelines and design standards
- Diagnose problems
What are the differences between Electrical and Electronics Engineering?
On paper, both Electrical and Electronics Engineering operate in the same way. Electronics Engineering is a subset of Electrical Engineering and as such, there is some overlap in the work responsibilities of both fields. There are, however, some differences. Students who aspire to work in these fields, should know what the differences are. Some of the major differences are as below.
- Electrical Engineering is about how to generate, distribute and store electricity. Their work is done on mostly large scale projects like solar power, windmills etc. On the other hand, Electronics Engineering deals with the creation of new pieces of equipment and machinery by manipulating their electrical circuits. Most of the work of electronics Engineering is for small scale equipment.
- The purpose of creating Electrical Engineering was to address the need to create a substantial amount of electricity. This electricity also is needed to be bought to where it will be used which is what Electrical Engineers do. Electronics Engineers, however, do not work at producing electricity. They work at processing electricity to make it perform different functions for the user.
- In an electrical circuit, the flow of the electrical energy consists of electrons whereas the electronic circuit has both electron and vole flowing.
- The Electrical circuits have no decision-making capacity or manipulation ability. They will merely store and produce the said electrical current to be used in different ways like heating up toast in a toaster or turning on the motor of the vacuum cleaner. Electronics circuits control or manipulate the electricity in any way they wish in order to get the desired outcome. For instance, audio electronics will use electricity to add sound information which is what we hear when we listen to music or when we talk on a call.
- To conduct energy, electrical equipment uses copper and also aluminum conductors. For electronics, as stated above, semiconductors are used. The semiconductors are made of different materials like silicon and germanium.
- Electrical Engineers are hired to work for companies that produce large-scale equipment or machinery such as the ones used in energy and transport. They will come up with designs and plans to make said machinery. Electronics Engineers, on the other hand, are required by companies that produce smaller types of equipment. Electronics Engineer will create the electronic circuit to be used in a larger project or product.
- In terms of magnitude, electrical engineering deals with large amounts of electricity ranging from kilowatts and megawatts to higher capacity. The electricity of this capacity is dangerous and can be lethal as well if safety measures are not adopted. Electronics engineering uses a small amount of electricity of amounts like milliwatts and watts. The goal here is to protect the device where the electronic circuit is being used.
- A diploma in electrical and electronics engineering colleges in Kerala can help candidates seek employment in different industries. Electrical Engineers work for both private and public sectors companies engaged in Transport, Energy, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing Plants, Power Plants, etc. Electronics Engineers due to the nature of their work can work in Robotics, Computing, Manufacturing, Semi-Conductor companies, consumer electronic manufacturers, etc.
Engineering is among the top professional courses in India. There is immense scope in terms of career advancement, salary growth, and job sustainability for Engineers. Aspiring students must take the time to understand the differences between Electrical and Electronics Engineering to understand which concentration to take and to be prepared to explore all the benefits each discipline has to offer.
