If you like finding out how things work and are good at maths, science and problem solving, you might be interested in a career as an Electronics Engineer, working in a business that develops new products or a company that does industrial electrical repairs.



What does an Industrial Electronics Engineer do?

Electronics engineers are involved in the development, design, assembly, testing and repair of all kinds of electronic devices such as computers, mobile phones and games machines and including all peripherals like monitors.

They also work with the whole range of circuits including memory chips and microprocessors and with any equipment that uses electronic systems and components.

They can be involved in a range of tasks from building the simplest printed circuit boards or computer drive repair to developing complex servo drives for satellites and top of the range sports cars.

Working in the Industrial Electronics Industry

Whether working for a small local firm or a huge multinational company, you will be working in a team at the forefront of changing technology with like-minded people who are also passionate about solving problems.

Each day you may be working on challenging projects - on a new invention, developing an existing product or carrying out servo repairs and other complex industrial electrical repairs.

You could find yourself working anywhere in the world with a choice of specialist areas including the development of medical equipment, computer applications, satellite tracking or domestic appliance control systems, in multimedia or telecommunications. In short all the complex systems that contribute to an improvement in the quality of life.

Thanks to the speed of technological innovation and because so many areas of work and life rely on technology, industrial electronics engineers are always in demand and so are also highly paid. There are career opportunities in both new developments and in the area of industrial electrical repairs.

The language of industrial electronics

The language of industrial electronics changes very rapidly in line with the speed of innovation but some things are relatively constant. This is just a sample of some of the terms you will hear or read about as you explore this area further. They give a flavour of some of the work you may encounter

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB): Used to mount and connect electronic components using circuits etched from copper sheets and laminated onto a substrate that is non-conductive. Electronic engineers design and build PCBs for all electronic applications from the simplest to the most complex

Encoders: Devices used to change signals or data into codes; they can be analogue or digital

PLC Controllers: A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a digital computer used in automating industrial processes like robotics and assembly line machinery.

PLC Modules: The PLC Controllers can have external modules attached to a computer network and each of these PLC Modules has different functions and can be customised for specific applications

PSU's: a power supply unit (PSU) is a device or system that provides a power supply to an output load or a group of loads ? it usually refers to electrical energy.

Process Controllers: Instruments that control aspects of performance including temperature, pressure, levels, counters etc.

What next?

To become an electronics engineer you'll need a good honours degree in physical, mathematical or applied science and engineering.

Experience isn't essential but it's a good idea to get a placement during college holiday periods to build up your practical technical skills and your understanding of the work.

Find out more

You can find out more about careers in industrial electronics by searching online and checking out what's available in the library. But it's much better to talk to someone who's already following an electronics career.

Take a look in your local Yellow Pages or search online to find local electronics companies that catch your interest and give them a call. There's a real lack of qualified electronic engineers in the industry so they should be happy to talk to you about what they do and how they got there.