An electrical design engineer develops electrical systems using the knowledge and principles of physics, material sciences and electrical & electronics engineering. They create solutions for new electrical systems and provide maintenance or installation services to current electrical systems.
But before that let’s see What the electrical design industry is?
When we talk about the electrical design industry, product design and system design come into picture.
Product design industry
These industries deal with certain electrical products like motors, transformers, etc. Here companies deal with no. of turns required in primary of a transformer, cable insulation required in cable design, etc. all related to the same product. Talking about the scope and opportunities in these industries, it’s less as very few companies are there in the market who deal in a single product.
Electrical system design
An Electrical system is a combination of Electrical components deployed to supply, transfer and utilise electric power.
Wherever there is power consumption there is an Electrical System. Power plants (Thermal, Hydro, Wind, Solar, Nuclear), industries(Steel, Oil and gas, Cement, Sugar), facilities (IT companies, Hi rise buildings, Hospitals, Shopping malls, metro stations), etc consisting of electrical systems.
Electrical system design means selection of components and their arrangement to achieve a desired output. This includes equipment selection and sizing, subsystems selection, system studies, preparation of deliverables, etc.. As per survey if we talk about the number of electrical system design companies then it is approximately 100 times the number of product design companies.
So always opt for system design until and unless you are not very passionate about any product with respect to scope and opportunities in the market.
Ultimately what is the duty of a design engineer??
The design engineer has to perform all the calculation and system studies, prepare datasheet, specification sheets and all layout they have to trace in autoCAD and show it to the client.
They formulate the ideas, draw the schematic and datasheet of the components. They perform various analytical analysis and simulation studies for result verification. Once satisfied they move on to the development part. After development of the product/system, they have to prepare all the specification sheets and schematics for the clients.
Following are the few major responsibilities of an Electrical design engineer:
- Equipment selection and sizing
- Subsystems selection
- System Studies
- Preparation of Deliverables
- Perform detailed calculations to establish standards and specifications
- Inspect installations and observe operations to ensure compliance with design and equipment specifications and safety standards
- Use computer-assisted engineering software (AutoCAD) to perform engineering tasks
- Support manufacturing department with product development and testing
- Provide quality assurance for ongoing projects
- Keep updated with the latest technical innovations in electrical engineering, etc.
Qualifications & Skills of a sound Electrical design engineer:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering
- Competent in the use of electrical engineering software
- Strong understanding of electrical manufacturing processes
- Able to problem solve and troubleshoot as the need arises
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- Strong analytical and computational skills
- Sound academic knowledge along with hands on expertise