ECE plays a vital role in Technology Revolution

Dr. T.Satya Savithri Associate Professor, Dept. of ECE, JNTUH College of Engineering, Hyderabad. Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) is one of the largest and fastest growing fields of engineering. The present Global Technology revolution is changing the world and is offering challenging opportunities to specifically Engineers. Electronics and Communication Engineering has a vital position in this technology revolution. ECE is a subfield of core Electrical Engineering. Many IIT’s and Aboard Universities are considering ECE branch with in the name of Electrical Engineering. There are two streams in this branch i.e. Electronics field and Communication field at graduate level (B.Tech) and they are separated as specializations at post graduate level. The basic aim of Electronics and Communication Engineers is to produce products that are smaller, smarter and multi-functional. All electronic devices need software interface to run and come with one other or other device controlling programs architected and developed by electronics and communication engineering. It also gives great opportunities for research and development, as everyday consumer need new devices to support them in daily life. Electronics engineer must find new solutions to the practical problems affecting our daily lives. It covers a wide range of applications which make our life easier and enjoyable such as Television, Radio, computers, telecommunication etc. They help us to see, hear and communicate over vast distances and do things faster. Electronics has a major role in improving productivity in industries like oil, energy, agriculture and so many other important sectors of economy. In steel, petroleum and chemical industries it is the electronic devices that direct, control and test production processes. Health care industry depends on electronic instruments to perform chemical tests and to check body functions. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and Marconi developed the radio in 19th century, no one dreamt that these two distinct technologies together would create another wonderful product that is Cell Phone which is now part of everybody’s life. Philo Farnsworth made the first public demonstration of purely electronic television in 1928, since then many modern electronic TVs like Plasma are marketed. Finding electronic location of enemy target was introduced during World War II. In 1969, Ted Hoff conceived the commercial microprocessor at Intel and thus the development of the personal computer was made. Many electronics engineers today specialize in the development of programs for microprocessor based electronic systems, known as embedded systems. Due to the detailed knowledge of the hardware that is required for doing this, it is normally done by electronics engineers. Electronics engineers who exclusively carry out the role of programming embedded systems or microprocessors are referred to as "embedded systems engineers", or "firmware engineers". First year of Electronics and Communication Engineering B.Tech course contained basic engineering techniques such as engineering mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering drawing , English language, C- programming . From second year of studies student start to learn about core Electronics subjects like electronic devices and circuits, switching theory and logic design, pulse and digital circuits, integrated circuits, VLSI Design etc., In Communication side it stats from fundamentals of communication engineering, signals and systems, electromagnetic and transmission lines, Analog Communication, Digital Communication, Digital Signal Processing etc., are just few to mention. In final year they have to do a project work carrying a lot of credential and more marks. A lot of time has to spend on project work to ensure the proper form of documentation. For this strong written communication skills are therefore very important to prepare and present Project work. In the field of electronic engineering, engineers design and test circuits that use the electromagnetic properties of electrical components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors to achieve a particular functionality. The tuner circuit, which allows the user of a radio to filter out all but a single station, is just one example of such a circuit. In designing an integrated circuit, electronics engineers first construct circuit schematics that specify the electrical components and describe the interconnections between them. When completed, VLSI engineers convert the schematics into actual layouts, which map the layers of various conductor and semiconductor materials needed to construct the circuit. Once the layout is complete, it can be sent to a fabrication plant for manufacturing. Signal processing deals with the analysis and manipulation of signals. Signals can be either analog, in which case the signal varies continuously according to the information, or digital, in which case the signal varies according to a series of discrete values representing the information. For analog signals, signal processing may involve the amplification and filtering of audio signals for audio equipment or the modulation and demodulation of signals for telecommunications. For digital signals, signal processing may involve the compression, error checking and error detection of digital signals. Communications engineering deals with the transmission of information across a channel such as a co-axial cable, optical fiber or free space. Transmissions across free space require information to be encoded in a carrier wave in order to shift the information to a carrier frequency suitable for transmission. Once the transmission characteristics of a system are determined, communication engineers design the transmitters and receivers needed for such systems. Professional bodies for ECE Engineers are the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (IETE) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) (now renamed the Institution of Engineering and Technology or IET). The IEEE claims to produce 30 percent of the world's literature in electrical/electronic engineering, has over 370,000 members, and holds more than 450 IEEE sponsored or cosponsored conferences worldwide each year. Electronics and communication engineering course give enormous job opportunities in electronics and software companies. Electronics industry being a labor intensive industry provides many job opportunities for the skilled job seekers. Increased production and demand by government and businesses for communication equipment, computers and military electronics along with consumer demand and increased research and development on robots and other types of automation contributes to the growth of employment opportunities in the field. There is a good scope for ECE engineers. The Scope is very wide open because the world is moving in the field of technology and developments.   It has scope in almost every industry as every industry deal with electronics and computers. There is a huge scope for Radio and Television industry after B Tech (Electronics & Communication Engineering). They can also find jobs with both private and public Telecommunication companies. Software companies more interested to employ students with Electronics & Communication background. They can find job in power sector, steel plants petroleum and chemical industry also. They have scope in both public and private sector with regard to installation, operation and maintenance of electronics equipments and systems. Defense, space and other organizations, which undertake research on a large scale basis, employ electronics engineers in developing and designing systems and devices for telecommunication and signal processing. Their services are used in designing, fabrication and manufacturing of electronic equipments. They can also take up teaching and research in one of the many engineering colleges in India or abroad and opt for research work. They can go for PG Courses in IITs, M.S in Aboard with various Specializations like VLSI Design, Embedded System, Communication Engineering, Signals and System, Microwave Communications etc., Core companies offering jobs to Electronics and Communication Engineers: ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited), DERL (Defense Electronics and Research Laboratories, BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited), BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), ISRO (India Space Research Organization), NRSA (National Remote Sensing Agency) Intel, Samsung Electronics, Sony, Toshiba, Philips Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, LG Electronics, Nokia, AMD, CISCO, Nvdia, HP and IBM are just few to mention. Average salary: 3.5~6.5 Lakh INR per annum for fresh ECE Engineers. Candidates having a creative and inventive mind and also are good at physics and mathematics will probably find electronics engineering a challenging and lucrative career. Obsolescence of technical skills is a serious concern for electronics engineers. Membership and participation in technical societies, regular reviews of periodicals in the field and a habit of continued learning are therefore essential to maintaining proficiency. Ultimately every ECE student want to go Chip manufacturing plant and work there, but one need to go through a continuous study of core electronics subjects, their understanding and master their application. We have entered into a new period of tremendous global innovation and change. The Future Technologies offer the challenging careers to the ECE Engineers. Sky is the limit for one to growth in their interested area