The Birth of Electrical Engineering

THOMAS A. EDISON (1847-1931) realized in 1878 that the development of an electric lighting device was of great importance.

In an interview, Edison stated:

"I have an idea that I can make the electric light available for all common uses, and supply it at a trifling cost, compared with that of gas. There is no difficulty about dividing up the electric currents and using small quantities at different points. The trouble is in finding a candle that will give a pleasant light, not too intense, which can be turned on or off as easily as gas."

Edison eventually found the ideal filament for his light bulb in the form of a carbonized thread in 1879.
That same year, Edison constructed the first electric motor ever made for a 110 to 120 volt line at Menlo Park, New Jersey.
With his early engineering insight, Edison saw that a complete lighting system was required.
By 1882, the system had been conceived, designed, patented, and tested at Menlo Park.
By 1882, his companies built a system with 12,843 light bulbs within a few blocks of Wall Street in New York.
From 1880-1887, Edison underwent his most strenuous years of invention as he extended and improved greatly upon his electric light, heat, and power systems.
He took out over three hundred patents, many of which were of extraordinary and fundamental importance.
The most were those related to dividing electric power and standardizing the three-wire system and improving its associated generation and feeder system.
The great Electrical Exhibition of 1884 provided the site for the first annual meeting of a new U.S. professional society, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Edison, among others, called for a college course of study in electrical engineering.
By the mid-1880s such course had begun at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University.
By 1890 electrical engineering as a profession and an academic discipline had begun with Edison as a role and leader.