Electrical engineering is an extremely diverse field ranging from the ultra-small devices inside our computer chips to global-scale communications systems. Electrical engineers design, develop, build, and test the electronic devices that are ever-present in the modern world. Everything ranging from autonomous electric vehicles to solar panels and smart phones depend on devices, circuits, signals and systems developed by electrical engineers. You will begin with a rigorous series of courses in mathematics, natural sciences and basic engineering to prepare yourself for more advanced study. At the upper-division level, you may choose to specialize in one of the following five areas: physical electronics, electromagnetics, analog electronics, digital electronics or signal processing and communication. You may also choose a broad program of study that allows you to distribute your coursework among two or more of these areas.
Physical Electronics area studies the physical phenomena basics of electronics and photonics, which is the foundation for the entire semiconductor industrial. It discusses the physics, manufacturing, characterization and applications of electronics and photonics devices and material. The electronic devices cover a wide range of semiconductor devices such as PN junctions, Schottky junctions, bipolar junction transistors, and field effect transistors. The photonic devices include solar cells, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers. A broad range of material will be discussed such as semiconductors, dielectrics, metals, optical materials, organic semiconductors and magnetic materials. Applications of physical electronics are broad, such as integrated circuits (ICs), optoelectronics, and microelectromechanical systems.