Electrical Engineer

Thanks to his famous kite experiment, Benjamin Franklin is the father of electricity. Based on his original discovery — that lightning is electricity — society now has countless inventions that can be traced back to Franklin, including everything from lamps, computers and mp3 players to televisions, microwaves and air conditioning.

As an Electrical Engineer, you are the intellectual offspring of Benjamin Franklin. That is to say: Your job as an Electrical Engineer is continuing his tradition of electrical innovation by designing products that either produce or are powered by electricity.

As you can imagine, that’s a lot of products. For instance, you’re involved in the design of everything from GPS units, smart phones and videogame systems to the motors in electric cars, the wiring in buildings and the generators at power plants.

Like all Engineers, your job as Electrical Engineer is basically designing stuff that works. Typically employed in companies’ research and development departments, you’re a problem-solver who’s tasked with generating ideas for new products — as well as improvements for existing ones — then turning ideas into prototypes. To do this, you use engineering and design software to plan the circuitry and wiring of electrical components. Using your blueprints, prototypes are then manufactured so you can test and revise them, your goal being to make electric-powered products that can be produced easily and affordably, then used safely and effectively.

Although you often work in design, you’re just as often hired to work in construction or production. After all, you’re the ideal candidate to install and operate complex electrical equipment, since you know how electricity works.