ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS EGN 4034 FALL TERM 2007 DR. CLAYTON J. CLARK II

Standards of Proper Conduct Professional Ethics Personal Ethics Common Morality 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. 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. the set of moral ideals shared by most members of a culture or society.

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.

WHAT IS A PROFESSION? No universally accepted account, therefore will base understanding on a set of 5 characteristics.No universally accepted account, therefore will base understanding on a set of 5 characteristics. 1.Entrance requires extensive period of training. 2.Professionals’ skills and knowledge vital to society. 5.Professionals claim to be regulated by standards, usually contained in a form of code of ethics. 3.Professions usually have monopoly (or near) of professional services. 4.Professionals have unusual autonomy in workplace.

n 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? n THE CHALLENGER DISASTER n Pressure from Management leads to: n Poor Engineering Judgment n Entire crew lost n Space program set back years n Lost public confidence Case Studies in Engineering Ethics Chapter 1

n If you Designed an automobile component that later proved to fail under certain conditions and could be replaced for $11 under a recall? n THE FORD PINTO GAS TANK -corporate decision based on a Benefit/Cost analysis n BENEFIT ANALYSIS n 180 deaths, 180 serious injuries, 2,100 burned vehicles n At a cost of $49.15 million n COST ANALYSIS n $11 per vehicle to recall n Total cost of $137 million *How appropriate is it to use figures like this? *If not appropriate, what are other options? Case Studies in Engineering Ethics Case 43

n 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? n THE HYATT REGENCY WALKWAY (Kansas City, 1981) n Support system was changed in the shop drawings by the steel fabricator n Engineer failed to review the shop drawings and therefore did not discover the change n The change doubled the load on the supports n 32 ton walkways collapsed n 114 deaths n 200 injuries n Engineers prosecuted Case Studies in Engineering Ethics Case 64

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

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