Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is all about using electricity to power devices, machines, and systems. It’s a really broad field with a lot of different specializations, but at its core, electrical engineers are responsible for designing, building, and testing electronic circuits and devices.

Some of the areas of specialization within electrical engineering include power systems, electronics, control systems, and telecommunications. So, depending on what interests you most, there are a ton of different career paths to choose from. And the good news is, electrical engineering is a high-paying field! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for electrical engineers in the United States is around $100,000 per year. However, it’s important to remember that the pay will depend on where you live and what industry or company you work for.

As far as industries go, there are a lot of options for electrical engineers. Some of the most common industries that hire electrical engineers include technology, energy, aerospace, automotive, and telecommunications. You could work for a big tech company like Apple or Microsoft, designing the latest gadgets and devices. You could work for an energy company, helping to develop renewable energy sources. Or you could work for an automotive giant such as General Motors or Ford designing all their wiring harnesses which are integral in modern vehicles. The possibilities are endless!

Electrical engineers designing a wiring harness for a vehicle

So, if you’re someone who loves tinkering with electronics and wants to make a great salary doing it, electrical engineering might just be the perfect field for you. It’s a challenging and rewarding career that offers a lot of opportunities for growth and innovation.

Don’t let your old college work go to waste!

Do you have old coursework current/future students would benefit from? Click here to upload your coursework!

Electrical Engineering Cheat Sheet

Electrical Quantity	Definition	Unit
Voltage	The electric potential difference between two points	Volt (V)
Current	The flow of electric charge in a circuit	Ampere (A)
Resistance	Opposition to the flow of electric current	Ohm (Ω)
Power	The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred in an electric circuit	Watt (W)
Capacitance	The ability of a system to store electric charge	Farad (F)
Inductance	The property of an electrical conductor by which a change in current induces an electromotive force	Henry (H)
Electric Charge	The fundamental property of matter that gives rise to electric force	Coulomb (C)
Electric Field	A region around a charged object where an electric force is exerted on other charged objects	Newton per Coulomb (N/C)
Electric Potential	The electric potential energy per unit charge in an electric field	Volt (V)
Current Density	The electric current per unit area in a material	Ampere per square meter (A/m²)
Conductance	The measure of a material’s ability to conduct electric current	Siemens (S)
Magnetic Field	A region around a magnet or current-carrying conductor where a magnetic force is exerted on other magnets or conductors	Tesla (T)
Magnetic Flux	The total magnetic field passing through a surface	Weber (Wb)
Inductive Reactance	Opposition to the change of electric current in an inductive circuit	Ohm (Ω)
Capacitive Reactance	Opposition to the change of electric current in a capacitive circuit	Ohm (Ω)
Impedance	The total opposition that a circuit presents to alternating current	Ohm (Ω)
Frequency	The number of cycles of a periodic wave in one second	Hertz (Hz)
Ohm’s Law	Describes the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in an electrical circuit	V = I * R

Electrical Quantity Definition and Units

Electrical Law/Concept	Definition	Equation/Formulas
KCL (Kirchhoff’s Current Law)	The total current entering a junction in a circuit is equal to the total current leaving the junction	∑ I_in = ∑ I_out
KVL (Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law)	The total voltage around any closed loop in a circuit is equal to the sum of the voltages across all the elements in the loop	∑ V_loop = 0
Hyperloop	A proposed mode of passenger and freight transportation that uses pressurized capsules in low-pressure tubes	N/A
Hypermesh	A finite element pre-processor for generating complex meshes for various physics simulations	N/A
Equivalent Resistance	The single resistance value that can replace a network of resistors while preserving the same current-voltage relationship	Req = R1 + R2 + …
Capacitance	The ability of a system to store electric charge	Q = C * V
Inductance	The property of an electrical conductor by which a change in current induces an electromotive force	V = L * di/dt
Thévenin Equivalent	A method of simplifying an electrical circuit to a single voltage source and series resistance	V_th = V_open, R_th = R_eq
Norton Equivalent	A method of simplifying an electrical circuit to a single current source and parallel resistance	I_N = I_short, R_N = R_eq^-1

Don’t let your old college work go to waste!

Electrical Engineering Cheat Sheet

Deep dive into one of the following topics:

Circuits

Controls

Electricity and magnetism

Eletrical Arcitectures

Electrochemistry

Hybrid Systems

Vehicle Electronics