Electrical engineering as a discipline can be traced back to the late nineteenth century with the establishment of reliable and affordable power supplies.  It is difficult to imagine society without a reliable electrical power supply and electrical power provides the energy for many vehicles, including ships, submarines and electrically powered vehicles. 

At Flinders, we consider electrical and electronic engineering to be overlapping, but large enough to be separate disciplines in their own right with electrical engineering concerned with the problems associated with large-scale electrical systems such as power transmission, renewable power generation and motors, whereas electronic engineering is primarily concerned with the study of small-scale, often lower voltage, electronic systems including computer systems, communication networks and integrated circuits.

While the Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) produces well-rounded electrical engineers capable of working across the industry, as is the case at all Universities, Flinders' award has a particular focus and ours targets two specific niche areas:

• Renewable Energy Systems - including the development of renewable technologies such as windfarms,
• Electrical Drive Systems - including those used on marine vessels (including ships and submarines) and on emission-free vehicles.

Electrical engineering links directly with mechanical and electronics engineering in fields such as ship building, renewable energy systems, the mining industry and research in general.

Career information for electrical engineers

There is a substantial shortage of electrical engineers in South Australia and Australia and this demand for electrical engineers is increasing with the expansion of the mining and defence industries.  Indeed, it was industry demand for professional electrical engineers that contributed to the development of this new award at Flinders.

For more information about a career as a electrical engineer have a look at the following sites:

• The University's careers site for electrical engineering.
• To get a professional view have a look at the pages of the ITEE College of Engineers Australia.
• Finally, the Wikipedia electrical engineering entry may provide some useful information.

Courses offered: 

• Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) / Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) combined degree
• Other Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) combined degrees
• Master of Engineering [by research]
• Doctor of Philosophy