WHAT DOES AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS ENGINEER DO?
Published: Dec 30, 2024 – The Electrical Systems Engineer designs and develops electrical components and systems for new and existing products, including PC boards, power distribution, and motion control devices. This position codes firmware for embedded systems, performs reliability testing, and troubleshoots designs during integration and testing. The engineer also prepares technical documentation, ensures compliance with standards, and coordinates with cross-functional teams to support product development and release.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Electrical Systems Engineer
1. Electrical Systems Engineer Job Description
- Electrical System Design: Responsible for the electrical system and component design, development, modification, and evaluation.
- Design Analysis: Determine design approaches and parameters, analyze equipment to establish operating data, conduct experimental tests, and evaluate results.
- Engine Electrical System Knowledge: Develop conceptual knowledge of engine electrical system design.
- Specialized Expertise: Support roles with specialized expertise or technical knowledge in broad areas.
- Business Knowledge: Apply general knowledge of business developed through education or experience.
- Team Contribution Understanding: Understand how the work of the team contributes to the area.
- Problem Resolution: Resolve issues using established design procedures.
- Consultation: Consult the supervisor or more senior team members for issues outside of defined instructions/parameters.
- Collaboration: Collaborate with others to solve issues.
- Customer and Supplier Relationships: Develop strong customer and supplier relationships and serve as the interface between customers, suppliers, and GE.
- Technical Communication: Exchange technical information, ask questions, and check for understanding.
2. Electrical Systems Engineer Overview
- Embedded Control System Design: Design and develop embedded control systems for brake, suspension, and chassis products.
- Customer Requirement Review: Review customer requirements to ensure appropriate flow down to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU).
- ECU Requirements Generation: Generate ECU requirements for hardware and basic software.
- ECU Architecture Design: Develop architecture design for ECU electronics and basic software.
- Verification Methodology Creation: Create verification methodologies that ensure ECU hardware and basic SW designs meet requirements.
- Development and Verification Testing: Perform development and verification testing of the ECU electrical and basic SW design.
- Team Interface: Interface with the electrical hardware design team and basic SW team to address/resolve issues.
- ECU and Subsystem Validation Testing: Support ECU and subsystem validation testing.
- Product Issue Resolution: Investigate and resolve product issues found during development and validation testing.
- ECU Design Compliance Assessment: Support ECU design compliance assessment based on OEM application-specific requirements.
- DMEA and Safety Support: Support DMEA and system safety development activities.
3. Electrical Systems Engineer Essential Functions
- Long Range Product Planning: Support the development of Long Range Product Plans for product lines - aligning system needs with customer-facing requests and technology roadmaps.
- Architecture Development: Support the development of architectures for supporting feature solutions for all ORV product lines.
- Architecture Alignment: Review the architecture plan with supporting organizations to ensure alignment.
- System/Feature Requirements: Support the development of high-level system/feature needs (requirements) for proposed solutions.
- Attributes Identification: Identify attributes that should be calibratable.
- Pricing Direction: Determine directional pricing.
- HARA and DFMEA Support: Support HARA and/or DFMEA activities on new features.
- Solution Alignment: Ensure solution aligns with other platforming initiatives.
- Feature Roadmap Development: Develop Feature Roadmap.
- Predevelopment Planning: Determine what platform elements need predevelopment.
- System Build and Development: Support the build and development of physical and virtual systems that align with platform solutions.
- Detailed System Requirements: Support the development of detailed system requirements for features.
- CFTS Creation: Work directly with the Feature Development team to create the CFTS for a feature and identify calibratable parameters desired by the system.
- Diagnostic and Testing Strategy: Work directly with the System Architect to develop a feature diagnostic and testing strategy.
- Controller Development: Work directly with the Central Engineering team on the development of required controllers.
- Component Development: Work directly with the Component SME team to develop new components that support feature development.
4. Electrical Systems Engineer Role Purpose
- Requirements and Architecture Definition: Establish a set of requirements and architecture for electrical power distribution systems for the Xwing products.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Work with internal and external stakeholders to compose system safety documents and requirements.
- System Architecture Generation: Generate a system architecture that will meet all requirements.
- Certification and Documentation Coordination: Coordinate certification and design documentation and reviews.
- System Integration Management: Manage and oversee the integration of these systems into the aircraft.
- Test Plan Development: Develop test plans and oversee those efforts.
- In-Service Support: Provide in-service support to those systems as they get rolled out to the field.
- Risk and Safety Analysis: Generate and support the development of Particular Risk Analysis (PRA), Common Mode Analysis (CMA), Zonal Safety Assessments (ZSA), and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
- System and Component Requirements Development: Develop electrical system and component requirements leveraging product knowledge, competitive benchmarking, and input from stakeholders.
- Verification and Testing: Drive verification of requirements including coordination of test execution, analysis of test results, and root cause investigation and resolution of failed test cases.
5. Electrical Systems Engineer Key Accountabilities
- Electrical Component and System Design: Plans, designs, and develops electrical components and systems of existing and new products.
- Design Activities: Design activities include analog and digital design, PC board design and layout, sensor and support assemblies, power distribution, motion control devices, and system cabling.
- Firmware Coding: Codes firmware in support of embedded systems and programmable devices.
- Reliability Testing: Performs reliability testing and generates procedures for testing boards and related assemblies.
- Engineering Change Coordination: Coordinates engineering change order deliverables and completes per company procedures.
- Material Procurement Coordination: Coordinates material procurement for products in development, including internal and revenue tools.
- Hands-on Integration and Troubleshooting: Implements and troubleshoots designs via “hands-on” integration and test activity.
- System Integration Coordination: Coordinates with members of the Onto team to ensure requirements are understood and electrical designs are smoothly integrated into broader systems and products.
- Certification Support: Supports certification of designs to compliance standards like CE, and UL.
- Board Layout and Documentation: Generates board layout files, Gerbers, schematics, architecture drawings, and written procedures in support of the product release.
- Cross-functional Team Collaboration: Works collaboratively with Onto cross-functional teams to coordinate design activity.