Telecommunications engineering is concerned with communicating information at a distance. It is strongly associated with data communications mostly because of the tendency to encode, compress and encrypt all information, and because of the growing importance of digital and wireless networks.
This diverse discipline of engineering allows you to design, build and manage systems that transmit broadband signals, switch data packets through networks, connect smart sensors monitoring our environment and more.
Telecommunications engineering will appeal to those who are interested in:
- Satellite communications
- Signal and image processing
- Optical fibres and photonic
- Mobile satellite communications
- Data networks
- Software systems including e-commerce
- Microelectronic devices and systems
- Data coding, compression, encryption and transmission
- Real-time embedded systems
- Quantum telecommunication
Career opportunities
The field of telecommunications engineering is developing rapidly and the demand for graduates is evolving as the technology advances and broadens its scope of applications. According to job outlook, the number of people working in the field has steadily grown in recent years, from 8,300 in 2014 to 11,200 in 2019.
As a graduate in this specialisation, you will be equipped to deal with a wide range of exciting modern technologies, including mobile and wireless communications, mobile social networking, fixed and mobile internet and data transmissions.
Potential careers include computer and communications network engineer, electronics design and manufacturing engineer, research and development engineer, telecommunications systems engineer or telecommunications sales engineer.
Graduates could find employment with large infrastructure projects like the National Broadband Network or major service providers such as Telstra, Optus and AAPT. Roles have also been secured in large private industrial groups such as Motorola, Alcatel, Skype, Ericsson, Cisco and Nokia, or a host of smaller, highly specialised service and technology providers.