Projects can be an effective way to learn about electrical and electronics engineering. They not only reinforce engineering concepts but help to open career opportunities. The best electrical and electronics engineering projects for career advancement reinforce and challenge your knowledge.

Microcontroller projects will interest not only you but potential employers. Those projects require you to address all aspects of electrical and electronics engineering. Not only must you know the basics of digital and analog circuit design but how to program.

Electronic instruments that measure current, voltage and other physical behavior, such as temperature, air pressure and air flow, require that you have a good knowledge of sensors, linear integrated circuit operation and microcontroller design techniques. Electronic instrument projects require designing circuits with operational amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, pulse width modulators and filters. It's also necessary to interface the microcontroller and program the microcontroller to work with these electronic components. The projects also require use of sensors to convert measurements, such as temperature, to voltages and currents that your electronic circuits can process and display.

A light-emitting diode (LED) lighting control system is a fast and simple project that produces results you can see. A basic LED lighting control system requires just a few LEDs, a small battery, a switch and a few wires to connect items. Complex lighting systems incorporate microcontrollers. In a complex system, the microcontroller is often programmed to turn on and off lights at specific times. A mesmerizing light show machine is one project that will not only stretch your design imagination but your microcontroller design skills.

Solar power inverters convert the direct current (DC) voltage that a solar system produces to an alternating current (AC) voltage. A solar power inverter will let you connect your solar power system directly to your utility and sell the electricity you generate.

A marketable solar power inverter requires that you design the power electronic circuitry as well as program and interface the power electronics to a microcontroller.

The design and construction of battery chargers requires a good knowledge of battery operation and specifications. A well-designed battery charger includes undervoltage and overcurrent protection.

Circuit components used in a battery charger include a microcontroller, power transistors, operational amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters and a pulse width modulator. Designers often use a microcontroller that includes built-in electronic circuitry such as a pulse width modulator or analog-to-digital converter.

Bicycle computers for electric-powered bicycles and leg-powered bicycles can build the foundation you need to design control systems for other types of vehicles, such as airplanes, boats and even remote-controlled cars and planes.

A bicycle computer is microcontroller-centric. The microcontroller is used to read data from sensors and then show that data on an electronic display, such as an LED display. The microcontroller also uses information from sensors to control motor speed and the rotation rate of tires.