Looking back [on engineering education]

By the 1880\´s, leaders of the new electrical industry were aware of the need for specially trained professionals, as were the universities who started trying to meet this new technological demand. Emphasis for industry was primarily on improving electrical power and ways to transmit it. Power was the almost sole focus of electrical engineering (EE) until the 1930\´s. The schools creating these new electrical engineering programs realized some general engineering background, as well as math and physics was needed, but how much? Also, what totally new areas required attention? So a "let\´s make it up as we go along and see what happens" process resulted. Presented here are photos of EE labs from four different schools from the start-up stages until the 1930\´s.