Electronic engineering - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Printed circuit board

Electronic engineering is an engineering discipline that investigates the use of electricity and magnetism. Electronic engineers are concerned with such processes as: the use of radio waves, the design of electronic circuits, the design of computer systems, and the development of control systems such as aircraft autopilots and other embedded systems.

The term 'electronic engineering' started to emerge increasingly in the late 1950s. Before World War II, electronic engineering was most commonly known as a 'radio engineering'. At that time, studying radio engineering at a university was part of a physics degree. Later, as other electronic devices were developed, the field broadened to include radar, television, audio systems, Hi-Fi and later computers and microprocessors. In the mid to late 1950s, the term 'radio engineering' gradually gave way to the name 'electronic engineering', which then became a stand-alone university degree subject.

Engineers must study the sciences of physics and mathematics as these help to understand systems and make them better. Today most engineering work involves the use of computers and it is commonplace to use computer-aided technologies when designing electronics systems. Some electronic engineers work in robotics.