Electrical devices are essential to modern society, and their invention and development requires the collaboration of physicists and engineers. The Department of Electrical Engineering trains electrical engineers to develop these devices, and students learn basic science and circuit theory to gain the knowledge needed to develop practical electrical devices.
The society we live in today is one that cannot survive without the help of electrical devices in every corner of our lives. From the computer I’m writing this on, to the smartphones you use without taking them off your body, to the refrigerators and washing machines in your home, there is no place that doesn’t use electricity. In order for these devices to be invented and used, physicists must first discover the basic physics behind them. Once physicists have done their job, it’s up to us engineers.
Physicists focus on studying and discovering the laws of nature. They explore various natural phenomena, such as electricity and magnetism, light and heat, to discover how they work. For example, the fundamental laws of electricity, such as Ohm’s law and the law of electromagnetic induction, were all discovered by physicists. These discoveries are the foundation of electrical engineering and are essential to the development of electrical devices.
Engineers are the people who think about how these physical phenomena can be applied to create something that benefits humans. Whereas physicists and mathematicians use physics and math as goals in and of themselves, engineers use physics and math as tools to create something practical. Electrical engineers are those who create something that utilizes electricity. We believe that electrical engineering is the place to develop such engineers.
Electrical engineering students follow the same sequence as described above. In the first year, students develop basic physical and mathematical knowledge, including Physics 1 and 2 and Calculus 1 and 2. These basic subjects provide an important foundation for the overall understanding of electrical engineering. In your sophomore year, you’ll learn more electrical engineering-specific physics and math, including electromagnetism and engineering math, and a course called Fundamental Circuit Theory. There are many majors in electrical engineering, including communications, circuits, and controls, but there’s a reason why circuit theory is taught in the second year.
Circuits are the foundation of all electrical engineering. Even if you study communications or controls, they will inevitably involve circuits: you can discover a new theory of communications, but you’ll need to build a circuit to implement it, and the same goes for controls. If physics and math are the common tools of many disciplines, then circuits are the fundamental tools of electrical engineering.
We’ve all built simple circuits in science class, connecting a battery and a light bulb with wires to make them light up. The cells and bulbs used in these circuits are called circuit elements, and there are many different types of circuit elements, including resistors, capacitors, diodes, and more. Each of these elements has unique properties, and the goal of the circuit family is to use them to design circuits that serve a desired purpose. In Circuit Theory, you’ll learn how to build these circuits and how to look at and interpret them.
I think that the math and electromagnetism knowledge that you learned before learning circuits are tools to understand how these circuits are interpreted and how they work, so circuits are important and are the foundation of electrical engineering.
Also, electrical engineering is not just about circuit design, it has a wide range of applications. For example, renewable energy systems, smart grids, electric vehicles, robotics, etc. are all applications of electrical engineering. These fields are attracting attention as important technologies for future society and are being actively researched and developed by electrical engineering students. Therefore, electrical engineering students should have an understanding and interest in these various fields.
Therefore, I plan to study circuits the most among the majors in order to become a young electrical engineer. Gaining knowledge of circuits, which is the foundation of all electrical engineering, will help me in whatever path I choose to take in the future. I hope to build a strong foundation through circuit theory and develop the ability to apply it to various fields of electrical engineering. By doing so, I hope to contribute to the development of electrical engineering and make human life more convenient and enriching.
