Why Mixing Electrical and Computer Engineers is a Fascinating Field

Computing has become such an active field and so diverse that a Computer Science degree only takes you so far. The computer languages taught in a CS degree a few years ago might not even be in use today as newer languages like C Sharp, Java, and JavaScript libraries like React and Angular become more popular and older languages are less frequently used.

Similarly, it’s necessary to update your skills over time to keep current with the latest developments. Short courses are useful to keep updated on whether to stay current with the latest changes to PHP, new database capabilities of MySQL or Oracle or to understand mobile technologies better.

Another area growing in importance right now is autonomous vehicles and mobile robotics, which is being taught through courses like the masters in electrical and computer engineering online. In this article, we delve into this in more detail to see why it’s presently such an interesting career choice.

Automation is a Popular Timesaver

Anyone who has used the IFTTT app on their mobile phone can testify to its usefulness. If you’re unfamiliar, this app which stands for “if this, then that” and allows you to set up different responses to specific triggers. Therefore, when an email is received from a certain sender, it can trigger another action on your phone, such as automatically creating a new calendar entry.

Similarly, automated payments set up at your bank to transfer into a savings account or pay a monthly bill are also popular with people because they save time. It’s a few less things to think about or get done by hand. Increasingly, when something can be automated easily, people will want to learn how to do that, even if it takes them an hour to get used to it.

Is this surprising? Not really. People are just too busy to keep up with everything they must get done and their employer expects them to be focused on their job. Automation is stepping into the breach.

Robotics is Coming Down to the Consumer Level

Robotics was once thought of as a child’s toy, but it later developed into a significant participant in manufacturing to reduce labor costs, mistakes, and accidents. Costs fell with employers switching employees to managing the robots on the line rather than acting as the robot on the production line themselves.

FedEx is now using robots to complete deliveries to consumers. It became a hot news story in February, but their FedEx SameDay Bot is no joke. It uses the robot to make actual deliveries and is in talks with major retailers to take some of their assignments and deliver by robot. Indeed, the company confirmed that almost two-thirds of their deliveries from many retailers are within 3 miles; even if they are a congested three miles to move through.

Robots that can see a person and move out of their way are likely to come to a road near you fairly soon. Because they travel at slower speeds, they’re less of a concern rolling around on the sidewalk too.

Driverless Cars Seeing Many Companies Developing Technology for It

You might be surprised at the companies that are investing heavily in driverless technologies. It’s not just for making trips out on the roads either. Some are using them to move goods or people from point A to point B within their own business campus to save on drivers sitting around most of the day unused.

Google is heavily involved through its Waymo subsidiary by starting a Phoenix-based robo-taxi. This is being closely followed by other companies keen to not get left behind. The same goes for companies across the pond with the UK government believing they’ll see autonomous cars driving on British roads in 2021, or shortly thereafter barring no regulatory issues.

Car and Phone Manufacturers Teaming Up

It once was a fact that car manufacturers and phone makers made odd bedfellows. But that’s increasingly not the case as in-car systems and smartphones learned to play nice with one another.

Now Harman International, a Samsung subsidiary and Rinspeed, a car maker, are teaming up to creating their SNAP autonomous car. It’s planned to have no steering wheel, a passenger pod that is removable (easier for cleaning, perhaps?), and various entertainment options to suit passengers of all ages. The vehicle which first saw the light of day at the Geneva Int’l Motor Show last year looks more akin to something you’d expect to see in the Total Recall or Blade Runner movies than real life.

How with Robotics and Autonomous Cars Change the Future?

It only stands to reason that life in the future will be different.

How packages will arrive from companies like Amazon will likely change. While the largest online retailer is investing in a larger plane fleet to move their parcels around faster and more efficiently, they’re also looking into robots and flying drones too. It’s not surprising that FedEx is leading the way with different delivery options like a bot robot, but other startups that currently use human drivers and riders surely won’t be far behind adopting retail solutions they can buy and adopt. No company wants to get left behind.

For driverless cars, this is a developing field that’s fascinating to work inside and see develop. It’s clearly the wave of the near future with some companies already having autonomous vehicles being used in a few states and others working diligently towards the same goal.

To work in this field, studying a two-year master’s degree is usually needed to acquire the right knowledge to impress recruiters. The good news is that there are far too few people who are knowledgeable in this area, making it easier to get hired and obtain a market-leading salary compared to other IT jobs. It helps to have a passion for either robotics or driverless vehicles, but that’s not necessarily required if you have the right skill set to make a difference in their organization. For people who are willing to put the work in, there are great opportunities in this expanding field.