Electrical Engineering Technology

How does electricity get from a Manitoba dam to the switch on your wall, and who designs the protection that keeps it safe? RRC Polytech’s Electrical Engineering Technology diploma answers that over 28 months, and this entry point begins at the Roblin Centre on the Exchange District Campus downtown, with the Electrical specialisation years then taught at the Notre Dame Campus.

Your downtown first year mixes theory and tools: Technical Communications, PC Application Software, Computer Systems, DC Circuits, Physics 1, Mathematics and Drafting, followed by AC Circuits, Digital Logic, Semiconductor Devices, Physics 2 and Introduction to Microcontrollers and C Programming. Moving into the specialisation, Digital Communications, Electrical Measurements and Applied Sciences sit beside Electrical Machines, PLCs, Transformers and Power Systems 1. The closing term pairs Power Systems 2 and Power Electronics 3 with Project Management, Introduction to Quality and a Final Project written up as a Technical Thesis.

Co-op is flexible on this route: the work term after first year is optional, and the second-year elective lets you pick a co-op term or the Engineering Technology Report instead. Lab courses programme Allen Bradley Micrologix 1200 controllers, use Visual Basic, and model power harmonics and protection schemes. The diploma is nationally accredited, recognised by the Certified Technicians and Technologists Association of Manitoba, and graduates can bridge into third-year engineering at Lakehead University or the University of Victoria.

Graduates who start at the Roblin Centre go on to work as utility electrical technologists, industrial automation technologists, electrical estimators, commissioning technologists, power quality analysts and electrical drafting technologists. This route suits a student who wants a city-centre start, likes computing and communications as much as motors and transformers, and prefers deciding on a co-op term once they have seen the field.