Power, control, and the systems that energize the built world.
Electrical engineering is the discipline concerned with the generation, distribution, control, and safe use of electrical power and signals — from utility substations down to the receptacle in a wall.
Electrical engineering designs the systems that produce, move, and use electricity. In the building and infrastructure context it spans power distribution (services, switchgear, panelboards, branch circuits), protection and grounding, lighting, motors and controls, and the low-voltage systems that ride alongside power — fire alarm, data, and security.
The field is governed heavily by safety codes, because electricity is invisible and unforgiving: an undersized conductor, a missing ground, or an uncoordinated breaker can cause fires, shock, or equipment damage. Much of an electrical engineer’s work is therefore calculation and code compliance — sizing conductors and overcurrent devices, computing voltage drop and fault current, and coordinating protection so faults clear safely.
Services, switchgear, transformers, panelboards, and feeders that deliver power throughout a facility.
Overcurrent protection, fault-current and coordination studies, arc-flash analysis, and grounding/bonding per NEC Article 250.
Illumination design, receptacle and lighting branch circuits, and energy-code compliance.
Motor branch-circuit sizing (NEC Article 430), starters, VFDs, and control wiring.
Generators, automatic transfer switches, and life-safety power per NEC Articles 700/701/702 and NFPA 110.
In the buildings and infrastructure context, electrical engineers design the systems that distribute and use electrical power safely — sizing services and conductors, designing panelboards and protection, calculating voltage drop and fault current, and producing single-line diagrams and construction documents that comply with the National Electrical Code.
Electrical engineers design systems and perform the calculations and documentation (often stamping drawings as a licensed PE); electricians install, maintain, and troubleshoot those systems in the field under a trade license. The engineer decides what to build and why; the electrician builds it to code.
The National Electrical Code (NFPA 70, the "NEC") is the primary standard for electrical installations in the U.S. It is adopted (sometimes with amendments) by states and local jurisdictions. Related standards include NFPA 70E for safety, NFPA 110 for emergency power, and IEEE standards for protection and arc-flash analysis.
Common building-electrical calculations include service and feeder load calcs (NEC Article 220), conductor ampacity with temperature and bundling derating, voltage drop, conduit fill, motor branch-circuit sizing, available fault current, and arc-flash incident energy. The Electrical Studio provides free calculators for each.