One of the more recent branches of engineering, electrical engineering is concerned with the design, study and application of devices, equipment and systems that use electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.

Electrical engineering emerged as an occupation in the late 19th Century, following the commercialisation of the electric telegraph, telephone and electrical power generation and distribution. These developments came as a result of early experiments with primitive batteries and static charges, which in turn led to Michael Faraday’s Law of Induction that stated that the voltage in a circuit is proportional to the rate of change in the magnetic field through the circuit. The Law of Induction informed the basic principles used for the electric motor, electric generators and transformers.

Electrical engineering is now split into a variety of different fields such as computer engineering, electronics, instrumentation, optics, photonics, photovoltaics, power engineering, radio-frequency engineering, signal processing, systems engineering, and telecommunications. The different disciplines associated with electrical engineering may also overlap with other areas of engineering.