Engineering Ethics and Sustainability

1. Engineering Ethics and Sustainability "In practically every engineering design project there are fundamental trade-offs between the technical considerations and such obvious ethical considerations as human life, happiness, and well-being.” Billy Koen, electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas, Austin E4501 Prof. Matteucci

2. National Society of Professional Engineers: • Engineer’s Creed • Code of Ethics • Fundamental Canons • Sustainability Compare to: • Business Goals • Members of a Profession Share: • Specialized Body of Knowledge • Set of Skills • Group Mission • Standards of Behavior and Practice Introduction www.nspe.org/Ethics

3. Engineer’s Creed As a Professional Engineer, I dedicate my professional knowledge and skill to the advancement and betterment of human welfare. I pledge: • To give the utmost of performance; • To participate in none but honest enterprise; • To live and work according to the laws of man and the highest standards of professional conduct; • To place service before profit, the honor and standing of the profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare above all other considerations. • In humility and with need for Divine Guidance, I make this pledge. Adopted by National Society of Professional Engineers, June 1954 www.nspe.org/Ethics

4. Code of Ethics Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must bededicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. www.nspe.org/Ethics

5. Fundamental Canons Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall: • Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. • Perform services only in areas of their competence. • Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner. • Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees. • Avoid deceptive acts. • Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession. www.nspe.org/Ethics

6. Sustainability "Sustainable development" is the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter, and effective waste management while conserving and protecting environmental quality and the natural resource base essential for future development.—As Revised July 2007 www.nspe.org/Ethics

7. Goal of Business • In 1970 Milton Friedman wrote that "there is one and only one social responsibility of business--to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." www.nspe.org/Ethics

8. Additional Sites Website: E4501.weebly.com Email E4501.seas.wustl.edu 60 minutes http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4988079n Excerpt – Crude: the Price of Oil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXCcl2nATsg www.nspe.org/Ethics