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ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS EGN 4034

ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS EGN 4034. FALL TERM 2008 DR. G.HASKINS. Ethics as Relating to Engineering. Engineering often is based on Preventative Ethics which is based on two dimensions:.

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ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS EGN 4034

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  1. ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICSEGN 4034 FALL TERM 2008 DR. G.HASKINS

  2. Ethics as Relating to Engineering Engineering often is based on Preventative Ethics which is based on two dimensions: 1. Engineers must be able to think ahead to anticipate possible consequences of their professional actions. 2. Engineers must be able to think effectively about those consequences and decide what is the ‘ethically’ correct manner to handle the situation.

  3. WHAT IS A PROFESSION? • No universally accepted definition, but one good working definition is: A number of individuals in the same occupation, voluntarily organized to earn a living by openly serving a moral ideal in a morally permissible way, beyond what law, market, morality, and public opinion would otherwise require.

  4. Profession (Cont.) • A number of individuals • Public element (profess) • Earn a living • Morally praiseworthy goal by morally permissible means • Higher ethical standards than others

  5. Standards of Proper Conduct Professional Ethics the set of standards adopted by professionals to govern their actions and their particular profession, often listed in a ‘code of ethics’ for that profession. Personal Values (Ethics) the set of one’s own ethical commitments, usually acquired and/or developed in early home, religious, or social training; often modified over time by later reflection or experience. Common Morality the set of moral ideals shared by most members of a culture or society.

  6. Ethical Conflict • What happens if one’s personal values conflict with common morality? • Stem cell research • What if one’s personal values conflict with professional ethics? • Contraceptives for unmarried women

  7. Case Studies in Engineering EthicsA320 Airbus - Fly by wire • The A320 is perhaps best known as the first airliner to introduce a fly-by-wire flight control system - where control inputs from the pilot are transmitted to the flying surfaces by electronic signals rather than mechanical means. Apart from a small weight saving, the advantage of Airbus' fly-by-wire is that as it is computer controlled, an inbuilt flight envelope protection makes it virtually impossible to exceed certain flight parameters such as G limits and the aircraft's maximum and minimum operating speeds and angle of attack limits.

  8. Case Studies in Engineering Ethics • If you Designed a system that required a gasketed connection and you did not have sufficient data to predict performance across a spectrum of conditions? • THE CHALLENGER DISASTER • Pressure from Management leads to: • Poor Engineering Judgment • Entire crew lost • Space program set back years • Lost public confidence Chapter 1

  9. Case Studies in Engineering Ethics • If you Designed an automobile component that later proved to fail under certain conditions and could be replaced for $11 under a recall? • THE FORD PINTO GAS TANK -corporate decision based on a Benefit/Cost analysis • BENEFIT ANALYSIS • 180 deaths, 180 serious injuries, 2,100 burned vehicles • At a cost of $49.15 million • COST ANALYSIS • $11 per vehicle to recall • Total cost of $137 million *How appropriate is it to use figures like this? *If not appropriate, what are other options? Case 27

  10. Case Studies in Engineering Ethics • If you were asked to sign off on a set of shop drawings that had come from a reliable vendor with whom you had a very good working relationship? • THE HYATT REGENCY WALKWAY (Kansas City, 1981) • Support system was changed in the shop drawings by the steel fabricator • Engineer failed to review the shop drawings and therefore did not discover the change • The change doubled the load on the supports • 32 ton walkways collapsed • 114 deaths • 200 injuries • Engineers prosecuted Case 17

  11. Case Studies in Engineering EthicsEveryday Occurrences • If you knew that a co-worker was drinking on the job? • If you were given a set of drawings designed by junior engineers and asked to put your seal on them without a thorough review? • If you were asked to submit a design for a new school building and your spouse was on the school board? • If you had to recommend the location for a new sanitary land fill?

  12. Becoming a Professional Engineer • Understand that Engineering is a Profession. • Become familiar w/the Code of Ethics of your Discipline. • Join Student Engineering Societies. • Join other Professional Organizations. • Always think of how you would like to be treated under similar circumstances. **There’s more to being an engineer than technical competence.**

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