Electronic & Micro-electronic Engineering	Provided by Expert Group On Future Skills Needs and The Institution of Engineers of Ireland
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What is a Electronic & Micro-electronic Engineer?

An Electronic Engineer is involved in the design, development, manufacture and testing of electrical machines and devices such as radios, computer hardware and control systems, as well as household and telecommunications equipment. Micro-electronic engineers are concerned with the development of micro-chips.

Electronic engineers have brought us the mobile phone, digital cameras, security systems, improved weather forecasting and electronic medical devices. They are also concerned with our safety and work in such areas as auto electrics, radar and navigation systems.

Electronic engineers are concerned with the design of circuits and systems which offer greater performance than previous designs, but at the same time consume les space and power than before. Micro-electronic engineers are constantly challenged to invent more powerful microchips at lower cost.

Electronic engineering is concerned with transmitting and processing information.The information could be anything from a heartbeat to a signal from a satellite in outer space. Such information might need to be transmitted across a room from a computer to a screen or along an optical fibre stretching between continents.

For information about the electronic and micro-electronic industry in Ireland, visit www.midasireland.ie

In what areas do Electronic and Micro-electronic engineers work?

• Computer electronics - design and development
• Telecommunications and data communications
• Audio and visual products
• Avionics and auto industries
• Light electrical goods manufacturing e.g. microwaves, camcorders
• Scientific instruments

Employers of Electronic Engineers include

Analog Devices Ltd, IBM, Intel Ireland, Motorola SPS, Nortel Networks, Siemens, S3, Xilinx

The Work of an Electronic Engineer

Back in 1947, on opposite sides of America, two key events occurred. In California, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in his Bell X_-1.  In Bell Labs in New Jersey, Bardeen, Cooper and Shockley invented the transistor: electronics had begun.  electronic engineers design and build devices based on that 1947 invention, the transistor.  The ability to miniaturise transistors has led to computers appearing in everything from washing machines to mobile phones, and a profound change in our world.  Electronics is a very dynamic area, and persons considering it as a career must be prepared to learn and innovate in their own working lives.  To put the rate of change into context, what would a person in 1990 make of DVD players and mobile phones?