The global pandemic has shaken everyone to their core, and frontline workers are under more stress than ever to keep on top of the COVID-19 crisis. But there are also a group of people who are helping you stay safe and cope with the new normal that you might not have considered at all. These people are electrical engineers.
Electrical engineers keep you interacting with the outside world, as well as helping those at risk stay safe and COVID-19-free. They already help society in so many ways, and now electrical engineers are helping you and your families even more.
Here are four things electrical engineers are doing that are helping pioneer the ‘new normal’.
1. Developing contactless thermometers
Contactless thermometers help schools and workplaces remain safe. By being able to take the temperatures of many people in a short amount of time, such as in a classroom or a workplace helps us move on with learning and working faster without needing to clean it repetitively and have a possible threat of infection. This helps schools and workplaces increase productivity in the chaos of what is the new normal.
2. Helping develop more sustainable energy
As we are staying at home more, we’re using more energy- we’re having cooked lunches when we’d normally have packed sandwiches, we’re needing the heating on more and more in the winter. This is having a massive effect on our environment and how quickly sustainable energy needs to be developed.
Electrical engineers have been doing their part, by building wind converters and devices that help us harness renewable energy sources. By doing this, they are helping preserve our environment and helping us with our electricity as well, keeping us well supplied and warm.
3. Designing laptops and other consumer technologies hardware to help us work from home easier
Up to 1 in 4 of working Americans work remotely. This means that getting good tech that will help improve our working experiences is essential. We need reliable hardware to work on and to help the software protect our data.
They also help us connect our laptops to larger screens and monitors, by the use of d-sub connectors. This helps us with Zoom calls and presentations, as well as other adages that keep our lives running smoothly when it comes to working. Things like this can be essential to working from home and can help us really get on with our jobs.
4. Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers
Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers make life so much easier. Not only are they more sanitary and safer to use, but they are also disability-friendly. Electrical engineers have worked on this through the development of the sensor which detects the hand and dispenses the hand sanitizer.
These are very similar to automatic soap dispensers you find in public restrooms. Engineers have also put an automatic locking mechanism on some of the fancier dispensers, to stop people stealing the sanitizer in public areas.
