Considering change course from Electronic Eng to Electrical or Electromechanical Eng

Hi everyone, I'm currently doing Electronic Engineering at Southampton and for the first semester here Electronic/Electrical/EEE and Electromechanical students do the same modules and then they're split up in Semester 2. However we need to pair up with a lab partner by the end of next week who has to do your course and you work with them for the rest of year. Therefore I'd need to change in these 2 weeks if I wanted to.

I just want to know whats the difference between the course. Even though I'm massively interested in Computer Hardware, Electronics just doesn't feel like its fitting my interests especially looking at the modules. I mean, we do advanced programming in C I believe during semester 2 and I'm not a great fan of programming, and we do modules such as communications and signal processing which doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I'd rather do the modules in Electrical or Electromechanical which include mechanics and electrical machines. But I fear that its just a "the grass is greener on the other side" thing, and I'd regret this decision as Electronics can lead me into companies that I want to work in such as ARM, Nvidia, Broadcom, Wolfson, Intel, AMD and Imagination. But the modules look much duller compared to Electrical or Electromechanical.

Ideally, I'd like to do Electromechanical as I was set to apply for Mechanical Engineering at first but it was much easier for me to write a personal statement for Electronics so I changed. Therefore Electromechanical would be great as it would be a combination of the two. But what are job prospects like? It seems to be a very niche subject. Also Electrical Engineering also seems more interesting as it involves bigger components, energy and power generation/transmission compared to working with low power circuits.

What do you think about this and what should I do?

Thanks,
Anthony

you should be able to still apply and work for those same companies with Electrical/ or electromechanical engineering. Depends on what you want at the end of the day (incl. your career goal).

If you want a mixture between electrical and mechanical then the electromechanical course would be the better choice, job prospects are pretty much similar for each of them in fact there's a demand for people with both electrical and mechanical knowledge (esp since most things that are mechanical are now being interfaced with electrical systems), the same is also true for electrical/or electronics engineers ie. there's a high demand for them

Having done Electronic Engineering at Southampton, you can always do what I did and specialise in Power Systems and do the electrical modules as options. The difference between Electrical and Electronic for the first 2 years is not great, but I'd personally say the quality of teaching is higher on the electronics side (mostly as Southampton has basically the richest electronics department in the world) and you don't really shut the door to electrical. I mean, at a fundamental level, its the study of the same thing, Electrical just do it at higher voltages.

Equally if the electrical/electromechanical side of things enthuses you more, then I wouldn't see any problem changing. I preferred electronics at uni (and now work in electrical/aerospace/marine, not a pcb in sight - hahaha), but none of the guys I did the EEE/EM/EE courses with were held back in any way, so sure, if you fancy changing, then go for it.

One thing I will say is apply for the IET power academy. You have 2 days before the deadline of October 31st, but you MUST MUST MUST apply for it if you're doing electrical at Southampton. Potential for a scholarship with NO tie in - it's basically several thousands pounds worth of free money with free summer placements and potentially a free job (which you can turn down) at the end of uni. You'd be insane not to apply. I am biased because I did that? you bet I am.

Stu Haynes, MEng