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Electrical Engineering

Also Known As EE Standard academic/industry abbreviation.
Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism, spanning power generation and distribution, communications and the control systems that depend on them. It emerged as a distinct discipline in the second half of the nineteenth century as telegraphy, electric lighting and electric power moved from laboratory demonstration to widespread infrastructure. The first professional electrical engineering institutions were founded in the United Kingdom and the United States in the later nineteenth century, once practitioners had built a global electric telegraph network, giving the emerging discipline its first professional bodies.

Facts
Disputed
Origin Year
1871 2
The Society of Telegraph Engineers, founded in Britain in 1871 and later renamed the Institution of Electrical Engineers, is generally credited as the first dedicated professional body for the discipline; the American Institute of Electrical Engineers followed in 1884.
Core Concern
Electricity, electronics and electromagnetism, from power to communications. 1
Core Principle
Model and control the flow of electric charge and electromagnetic energy through a circuit or system precisely enough to make it do useful, predictable work. 1
Connections

Associated With

Acoustical Engineering, Fields
Agricultural Engineering, Fields
Source Agricultural Engineering (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Alexander Graham Bell, Engineers

Credited with the first practical telephone, an electrical engineering landmark.

Alexander Popov, Engineers

Built early radio-wave receiving apparatus alongside the founding generation of radio engineers.

Amorphous Metal, Materials

Amorphous metal is used in electrical engineering applications (transformer cores, magnetic shielding), a second field beyond its primary materials-engineering field.

Antonio Meucci, Engineers

Developed early voice-transmitting apparatus in the same period as the telephone invention.

Architectural Engineering, Fields
Camera, Inventions

Modern electronic cameras are an electrical and optical engineering product.

Charles K. Kao, Engineers

Pioneered the use of optical fiber for long-distance telecommunications.

Charles Wheatstone, Engineers

Co-developed the electric telegraph.

Christian Hulsmeyer, Engineers

Built and patented an early ship-detection radar apparatus.

Computer Engineering, Fields

Computer engineering grew out of electrical engineering as digital logic and processors became a distinct specialty.

Copper, Materials
Electric Generator, Inventions

Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section

Electric Motor, Inventions

Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section

Electroplating, Methods
Elisha Gray, Engineers

Filed a competing telephone patent caveat on the same day as Bell.

Energy Engineering, Fields
Fax, Inventions
Gallium Arsenide, Materials

A semiconductor material used in high-frequency and optoelectronic devices.

Gordon Gould, Engineers

Coined the term laser and developed early laser design concepts.

Graphene, Materials
Source Graphene (Wikipedia)
Guglielmo Marconi, Engineers
Hans Christian Orsted, Engineers

Discovered electromagnetism, the physical basis of electrical engineering.

Hedy Lamarr, Engineers

Co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology, a basis of secure radio communication.

Incandescent Light Bulb, Inventions
Jack Kilby, Engineers

Co-invented the integrated circuit.

John Ambrose Fleming, Engineers

Invented the thermionic valve, the first vacuum tube.

John Bardeen, Engineers

Co-invented the transistor.

John Logie Baird, Engineers

Demonstrated the first working mechanical television system.

Marine Engineering, Fields

Marine engineering draws on electrical and electronic engineering for shipboard power and control systems.

Source Marine Engineering (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Mechatronics Engineering, Fields
Microphone, Inventions
Microwave Oven, Inventions
Moritz von Jacobi, Engineers

Built one of the first practical electric motors and pioneered electroplating.

Nikola Tesla, Engineers
Percy Spencer, Engineers

Invented the microwave oven after observing microwave radiations heating effect.

Philo Farnsworth, Engineers

Invented the first fully electronic television system.

Phonograph, Inventions
PTFE, Materials
Source Polytetrafluoroethylene (Wikipedia)
Radar, Inventions
Radio, Inventions
Radio, Inventions
Ray Holt, Engineers

Designed one of the earliest microprocessors, the MP944, for military avionics.

Robert Noyce, Engineers

Co-invented the integrated circuit and co-founded Intel.

Robert Watson-Watt, Engineers

Led development of practical radar for aircraft detection.

Samuel Morse, Engineers

Developed the electric telegraph and Morse code.

Semiconductor Doping, Methods
Television, Inventions
The Electric Motor, Inventions
The Electric Motor, Inventions
The Laser, Inventions
The Lithium-Ion Battery, Inventions
The Microprocessor, Inventions
The Optical Fiber, Inventions
The Telegraph, Inventions
The Telephone, Inventions
The Transistor, Inventions
Theodore Maiman, Engineers

Built the first working laser.

Thomas Davenport, Engineers

Built one of the first practical DC electric motors.

Transformer, Inventions

Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section

Vacuum Tube, Inventions
Vladimir Zworykin, Engineers

Developed the iconoscope, a key component of electronic television.

Walter Brattain, Engineers

Co-invented the transistor.

William Fothergill Cooke, Engineers

Co-developed the electric telegraph.

William Shockley, Engineers

Co-invented the transistor.

Includes

Alexander Graham Bell, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Alexander Popov, Engineers
Antonio Meucci, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Charles K. Kao, Engineers
Christian Hulsmeyer, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Copper, Materials
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Elisha Gray, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Gallium Arsenide, Materials
Gallium Nitride, Materials
Gordon Gould, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Hedy Lamarr, Engineers

Self-taught and without formal engineering training or credentials; linked here for a real, patented technical contribution rather than professional standing in the field.

Source Hedys Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the WorldRichard Rhodes
Jack Kilby, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
John Bardeen, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Moritz von Jacobi, Engineers
Neodymium Magnet, Materials
Nikola Tesla, Engineers
Source Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical AgeW. Bernard Carlson
Photolithography, Methods
Radar, Inventions
Radio, Inventions
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Rare Earth Elements, Materials
Robert Noyce, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Robert Watson-Watt, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Samuel Morse, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Semiconductor Doping, Methods
Silicon, Materials
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
Silicon Carbide, Materials
Television, Inventions
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
The Integrated Circuit, Inventions
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
The Laser, Inventions
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
The Telegraph, Inventions
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
The Telephone, Inventions
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
The Transistor, Inventions
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
Theodore Maiman, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Thomas Davenport, Engineers
Walter Brattain, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
William Shockley, Engineers
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors

Open Questions

Who should be credited as inventor of the integrated circuit: Jack Kilby (hybrid IC, Texas Instruments, 1958) or Robert Noyce (monolithic IC, Fairchild Semiconductor, 1959)?, Open Questions
Source Electrical Engineering (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Technology: A World History
Daniel R. Headrick, Oxford University Press, 2009View the Source
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source
Electrical Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section, opening definition of electrical engineering
    Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism.
  • Lead section, emergence paragraph
    It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the latter half of the 19th century after the commercialization of the electric telegraph, the telephone, and electrical power generation, distribution, and use.
  • History section, 19th century, professional institutions paragraph
    Practitioners had created a global electric telegraph network, and the first professional electrical engineering institutions were founded in the UK and the US to support the new discipline.
View the Source
Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age
W. Bernard Carlson, Princeton University Press, 2013Includes: Nikola Tesla
Hedys Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Richard Rhodes, Doubleday, 2011Includes: Hedy Lamarr
A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954
  • Includes: Alexander Graham Bell
  • Includes: Elisha Gray
  • Includes: Antonio Meucci
  • Includes: John Bardeen
  • Includes: Walter Brattain
  • Includes: William Shockley
  • Includes: Samuel Morse
  • Includes: Jack Kilby
  • Includes: Robert Noyce
  • Includes: Theodore Maiman
  • Includes: Gordon Gould
  • Includes: Robert Watson-Watt
  • Includes: Christian Hulsmeyer
View the Source
Marine Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Marine EngineeringView the Source
Agricultural Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Agricultural Engineering, Lead sectionView the Source
Graphene (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Graphene, Wikipedia: Graphene, lead section, third paragraph
Quote, Associated With: Graphene, Wikipedia: Graphene, lead section, third paragraph
Graphene is known for its exceptionally high tensile strength, electrical conductivity, transparency, and being the thinnest two-dimensional material in the world.
View the Source
Polytetrafluoroethylene (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: PTFE, Applications and uses, Wire insulation, electronics section
Quote, Associated With: PTFE, Applications and uses, Wire insulation, electronics section
The most common use of PTFE, consuming about 50% of production, is for the insulation of wiring in aerospace and computer applications (e.g. hookup wire, coaxial cables).
View the Source
Open Questions (1 open question)
Who should be credited as inventor of the integrated circuit: Jack Kilby (hybrid IC, Texas Instruments, 1958) or Robert Noyce (monolithic IC, Fairchild Semiconductor, 1959)?

Wikipedia's electrical engineering article states plainly that "the first integrated circuits were the hybrid integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby...in 1958 and the monolithic integrated circuit chip invented by Robert Noyce...in 1959," naming two independent inventors and two designs rather than one. Kilby received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics partly for this work; Noyce, who died in 1990, could not share it. This is exactly the kind of priority dispute the technology atlas records as the field's character.

What would resolve this Historians of technology generally treat this as a case of near-simultaneous independent invention rather than a resolvable priority question; what would resolve it is a family-wide decision on how to record dual/independent invention rather than forcing a single credited inventor.
Wikipedia contributors, Electrical Engineering (Wikipedia)
Frequently Asked Questions

When did electrical engineering emerge as its own recognized occupation?

Electrical engineering became an identifiable occupation in the second half of the nineteenth century, after the electric telegraph, the telephone, and electrical power generation, distribution and use were all commercialized, giving the underlying science an industry large enough to need engineers of its own.
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