Electrical Engineering vs Electronics Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Electronics Engineering are two branches in the Engineering field. If we look back, at one point of time, there was only electrical engineering as a field of study of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. However, with proliferation in gadgets, appliances and circuitry, slowly a new field of engineering emerged from electrical engineering that is today known as electronics engineering. The difference between electrical engineering and electronics engineering is still something that most people remain confused about. Technically speaking, electronics remains a subset of electrical engineering though electrical engineering stops short in fields where electronics begins to take over. In many countries though, no distinction is made and electrical engineering is used to refer to electronics engineering. In many Universities, electronics engineering is only a part of electrical engineering or it is concentrated and the candidate is said to have done electrical engineering in electronics.
For both electrical and electronics engineering, a candidate is required to have a solid foundation in math and physics, and these two subjects form a bulk of all the concepts that are taught in these two fields of engineering. He should also have a technical mind with ability to solve all the theories and resulting numerical problems.
Electronics Engineering
This is a field of engineering which deals with the behavior of electrons and their effect for development of devices, systems and equipments that are integrated chips, transistors and circuit boards. Basically any device that uses electricity as a driving force becomes a part of study in electronics engineering. A large portion of electronics engineering comes from course of electrical engineering as there are many similarities and also because the basis of the two courses remains electricity.
Electrical Engineering
With the advent of electricity, electrical engineering became the top most priority of students in the early part of 20th century. It deals with electricity, power generation and distribution and control of electricity. However, with passage of time, electrical engineering became broader and soon encompassed power, control systems, electronics and also telecommunications.
Difference between Electrical Engineering and Electronics Engineering
Students studying electronics engineering find themselves amidst low voltage applications and electrical components such as TV, computers and telecommunication equipment. Electrical engineers on the other hand specialize in production and distribution of high voltage electric power. Electrical engineers are trained and skilled in designing and development of electrical transmission systems, high power electronic converters, solar energy systems, wind turbines etc.
Electronics engineering focuses on computer hardware involving motherboards and IC’s, digital TV’s, mobile phones, MP3 players, DVD’s and countless other devices and gadgets.
The biggest difference between electrical and electronics engineering lies in the strength of current they study. While electrical engineering makes use of heavy currents, electronics engineering studies low strength electric current and its use in electric components, designing of integrated circuits, and control of hardware. In simple terms, while electrical engineering lays emphasis on power generation and distribution, electronics engineering focuses on communications and computer devices used in daily life.