ECE 3000: Engineering Seminar

1. ECE 3000: Engineering Seminar Engineering Ethics

2. Code of Ethics, National Society of Professional Engineers • https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics

3. Role of Ethics in Engineering • Engineers • Build Products • Develop Processes • These products and processes advance the society and living conditions. • Hence, engineers need to be socially responsible. • i.e. take into account the needs of the society and design and build products/processes that benefit the society.

4. Typical ethical issues engineers face [1] • Safety • Acceptable risk • Compliance • Confidentiality • Environmental health • Data integrity • Conflict of interest • Honesty/Dishonesty • Societal impact • Fairness • Accounting for uncertainty, etc.

5. The Example of Integrity [1] • A building has structural integrity when it is designed in way such that it appropriately responds to the stresses and loads that it is designed to act under. • Just as a building can have poor integrity or good integrity. A person can also. • A person has integrity when she/he can follow the codes he/she is supposed to follow under the stresses and loads of his/her role.

6. Different Approaches[1] • Rights Approach • Which option best respects the rights of all who have at stake? • Utilitarian Approach • Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? • Justice Approach • Which option treats people as I want to be treated? • Ethic of Care Approach • Which option is best for those most in need? • Virtue Approach • Which option leads me to act as a responsible person?

7. Ethical Cases: GM Car Crashes • GM 2005-2007 Faulty Ignition Switches • 13 Deaths and 31 crashes (Chevy Cobalt and Saturn Ion) • Air bags did not deploy because of faulty cylinder lock • GM was aware of the issue as early as 2001 • GM fired two engineers and but did not issue recall • GM rejected a proposal to fix the problem because it would be too costly and take too long • May 2005: A GM engineer advises the company to redesign its key head, but the proposal is ultimately rejected

8. Ethical Cases: Challenger Disaster • On Jan 28, 1986 Challenger Shuttle exploded 73 seconds after the launch • Morton Thiokol (Utah) engineers warned that the O-rings can be a problem if the ambient temperature is > 53 ˚F and recommended not to launch • When challenged, Thiokol engineers admitted they lacked statistical analysis to show the correlation of Temperature and O-ring damage • Thiokol engineers repeated their warning but a Thiokol VP said the data was inconclusive and the company recommended to launch • Al McDonald (director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project) refused to sign the launch authorization on behalf of Thiokol • NASA went ahead with the launch

9. Ethical Cases: VW Jetta Diesel • VW installed a “defeat device” in 11 mil Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles • The algorithm in the emissions-control - ran the engine cleanly during tests - switched off emissions control during normal driving conditions - This allowed 40 x NOX than allowed by EPA • The software engineers at VW overlooked and neglected their responsibility as professionals • “Professionals have a semi-regulatory responsibility to ensure environmental safety, even when this is less efficient or economical.” • Lurie’s recently published paper on Professional Ethics for Software Engineers touches on the heart of this matter. That Volkswagen chose a software device is not surprising because software lends itself to special adoptions and is more difficult to discover then hardware changes, Lurie says. He compares the software engineers to the accountants in the Enron case who collaborated with the organization to create accounting loopholes and failed to protect the public by not providing proper auditing. • But while the news is dismaying and shocking, “I wish I could say I was completely surprised,” says Shannon Vallor, chair of the department of philosophy at Santa Clara University in California. “The expectation of corporate wrong doing has become normal.” • This can’t be the act of a few rogue engineers, she says. The implications go all the way up the corporate ladder. “We see how widespread among the product line this device was. It would have had to be tested and updated. This is serious, massive coporatemaleficience that affects people’s health. There’s no question that everyone involved knew this was unethical.” • The case highlights the failures of a compliance mindset, Vallor adds. It shows that ethics are typically considered in terms of staying within certain externally enforced rules. Agencies like the EPA enforce rules and

10. Ethical Cases: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 • Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had exploding batteries • Samsung recalled the device after only few weeks • Samsung acted quickly: • When the fires began, Samsung’s efficient reporting system, got the bad news straight to the top of the firm fast. • Upper management didn't deny claims, announced the failures before social media • Samsung acted decisively: • Halted sales worldwide of the affected models. • Promised that anyone who has bought a new Galaxy 7 with the problem battery will get a new one in exchange • Costly measures—lost revenue and hassle of exchanging phones for new ones • Setup a massive recycling operation • Samsung told the truth: • Samsung was entirely transparent and forthcoming about the nature of the problem • 35 battery failures out of millions of units

11. Ethical Cases: Tesla Vehicles • Ethical Focus: What to blame: Engineering or Production or Public Relations? • Model 3: 500,000 pre-orders and only a few were actually delivered • Model 3: Production goal of 5,000 of the vehicles per week not achieved • Self-driving technology not thoroughly tested: Model X crash • 123,000 Model S Recall: five bolts responsible for holding the power-steering motor in place could corrode, break, or come loose, which could result in the loss of power steering • Aggressive production goals, unproven mega-battery technology • Angry customers, disgruntled employees, and uneasy shareholders

12. Assignment • Please do a case study on an engineering failure that was reported in the past 5 years. • Summarize the event (what happened) and how the organization responded to it. • Share your thoughts on what ethical dilemma(s), if any, do you think the situation caused. • Note down the code of ethics that were breached/followed. • Comment on how the situation could have been handled better or if you think it was handled well, please explain yourself.

13. References • Ethics in engineering, Lecture ¼, San Jose State University • https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics • http://engineeringethicsblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/vws-in-fix-with-their-fix.html