As Cambodia continues to develop, good engineers will be in huge demand. One branch of the profession, Electrical Engineering, can be studied in Cambodia, but how much do prospective Electrical Engineer students know about this discipline?  Sitting in his office behind a laptop, the current chief of the Electrical & Energy Engineering Department at the Institute of Technology in Cambodia (ITC), Dr. Bun Long reveals to Youth Today the benefits of this discipline for those who may be interested to pursue this career.
 
YT: Could you explain the term Electrical Engineering? What is the study of this major about?
 
Dr. Long: Electrical engineering is a field of engineering which generally deals with the study of the principle and applications of electricity. These may include electronics, automation, power system, energy conversion and transformation, telecommunication, sensors, etc.
As I recalled during the time I majored in electrical engineering, there was no specific area of focus. All the students studied electrical engineering in general. Today, with diversified market sectors, students are offered more specialized majors. They can choose among electrical energy, electronic & automation or electronic & telecommunication.
 
YT: Could you elaborate about the study in electrical energy, electronic automation and electronic telecommunication?
 
Dr. Long: For electrical energy, students will concentrate more on electrical energy from its generation, transmission, distribution to its utilization at final destinations, which include a simple household, building, factories, or even a district in rural areas. Students will also learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency.
As for the electronic & automation, students will study the technologies for automated processes and device control. They will be exposed to different sensing technologies, data processing, control theories, robots as well as the operation of different electrical and mechanical apparatus.
Meanwhile, electronic & telecommunication is the study about different technologies for data communication and also its applications. These may include telephone systems, satellite communication, multimedia networks, computer networking, and extra-low voltage systems in high-rise building. Students will be required to have a very strong background in electronics if they would like to concentrate on this specialization.
 
 
YT: How long does it take if students choose to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at ITC?
 
Dr. Long: For the Bachelor’s Degree, students will have to spend five years to complete their study in Electrical Engineering and they will receive a certificate entitled “Electrical Engineering Diploma” once they graduate.
 
 
YT: What choices do students have after they graduate?
 
 
Dr. Long: Students will have several choices depending on their motivation and capability. They can choose to work for either domestic or foreign companies immediately after graduation. Otherwise, they can choose to pursue their studies abroad if they have high academic performance. Last but not least, students also can choose to be an entrepreneur since it is indeed an attractive option in the era of economic booming.
 
 
YT: If students choose to work, what would be their prospective careers?
 
 
Dr. Long: They can be an engineer in the different functions such as Planning Engineer, Production Engineer, Quality Control Engineer, Procurement Engineer, Safety Engineer, Design Engineer, Site Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, or Sales Engineer. 
 
 
Besides being an engineer, they could also become a consultant, a researcher or an assistant lecturer at any Research & Development and academic institutions.
 
 
YT: What are some of the challenges for those who work as engineers?
 
 
Dr. Long: The lack of “soft skills” is their first challenge since as an engineer, they will need to deal with customers, which requires them to come up with appropriate technical solutions within an optimum cost plus time constraints. Sometimes they need to work as a team to solve one specific problem. Hence, soft skills including organizational skill, ability to work as a team or under pressure, or having innovative ideas are necessary to complement their technical expertise.
 
 
Secondly, most of the work for some engineers such as Production or Safety Engineers in factories or industries located far away from the city require them to move to where the workplace is, for either a short or long period.
 
 
YT: What would be your recommendation to students who would like to pursue Electrical Engineering?
 
 
Dr. Long: For those who would like to pursue their study in this field, especially high school students, I would recommend them to gather as much information as they can related to the career path after graduation and decide whether they are satisfied with the working environment and conditions or not. Next, they need to step back and see if they are qualified enough to major in this field. 
 
 
Am I good at math, physics and chemistry? Since the engineer is a problem solver, am I good at logical thinking? Do I like the job I will be offered after graduation? These are the questions they should ask themselves.
 
 
For those who are pursuing their degree, I would advise them, first, not to fully concentrate on building up their technical skill and forget about the soft skill. They really need to learn how to balance both skills at the same time.
 
 
Second, learning to improve their language, especially English, is also important when they get to work for foreign companies, and I also encourage them to think out of the box about their own potential and start to build up their network by getting involved with some extra-curriculum activities such as volunteerism, exhibition, workshop or conference, which expose them to different people.
 
 
Finally, being a dynamic, self-disciplined, hard-working, curious and honest person with good attitude at their workplace would be my last suggestion to them. I accept that it is not easy to change one’s attitude, but it is not impossible either.