Group 7 Ethics Presentation Group Members: Adam Burky Maxx Chancey John Dixon Chris Martinez Alex Pingley

Topics of Discussion  The Tacoma Bridge  The Ford Pinto  Chernobyl

Tacoma Bridge: Background  Date Collapsed: November 7 th, 1940  Location: Puget Sound Washington  Test Simulation Conductor: Prof. F.B. Farquharson  Project Engineer: Clark Eldridge  Original Cost estimate: $11 million  Revised Plan: $7 million

Tacoma Bridge: Circumstances of Disaster  Cuts in initial funding  “Creative techniques” used by construction workers  Dry ice to get piers to fit each other  Ignoring warnings from workers  Engineer notices oscillation from the start of the floor forms

Tacoma Bridge: Ethical Principles Involved  IEEE  1. Accept responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interest of public  3. Honesty in stating estimations based on available data  NSPE  1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of public

Tacoma Bridge: Tactics to Avoid Disaster  Use sufficient funding to promote safety of public rather than the bare minimum  Adhere to workers concerns and working conditions

Tacoma Bridge: Proper Actions  Raise concerns of safety to project engineer and Tacoma Chamber of Commerce  Report to superiors about problems at the time of occurrence  Run simulations at the absolute worst conditions for stress test

Ford Pinto: Background  Date Manufactured: 1971 to 1976  Ethics Concern: Knew there was a high potential for fire but decided to go ahead with production.  Put Money at higher priority than safety  Ended up with a tarnished reputation for many years

Ford Pinto: Circumstances for Disaster  Found problem during testing involving fuel tank rupturing during low speed rear end collisions  Performed cost analysis and predicted it would take $11 per car to fix the problem creating a total cost of $ 113 million  Predicted only $49 million to pay law suits  Decided to go ahead with production instead of fixing the problem

Ford Pinto: Ethical Issues  ACM  2.1 Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the process and products of professional work  IEEE  9. Avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;  NSPE  1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public

Ford Pinto: Disaster Avoidance  Could have easily been avoided by taking advice of engineers and fixing the problem instead of leaving a faulty design in production  Engineers came up with multiple solutions including moving the fuel tank or reinforcing the tank in the existing position  CEO should have been more concerned about the safety of the companies products instead of pushing to have the car built the cheapest and fastest no matter the safety concerns

Ford Pinto: Proper Actions  Fix the known problem instead of manufacturing a car with a high risk and faulty design  Prioritize safety over cost  Would not continue with production of the car after it was discovered that it was potentially very dangerous until CEO agreed to fix the problem

Chernobyl: Background  Occurred: April 26, 1986  Location: Pripyat, Soviet Union  Not all accounts of events are consistent

Chernobyl: Circumstances of Disaster  Failed backup power test  Test was carried out without proper exchange of information  Inadequate precautions taken  Flaws in reactor design

Chernobyl: Ethical Principles Involved  IEEE  1- to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment  5 - to improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;  6 - to maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;  10 - to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics

Chernobyl: Tactics to Avoid Disaster  Following established safety protocols  not operating outside of expertise  Better designed reactor

Chernobyl: Proper Actions  Not perform the test until everyone was properly educated on the process  Should have followed safety procedures in place

R2-D2: Ethical Issues  IEEE  4. Reject Bribery  6. Maintain and improve technical competence  7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;  9. Avoid injuring others, their property, reputation or employment by false or malicious action  ACM  1.5. Honor property rights including copyrights and patent.  1.6. Give proper credit for intellectual property.

R2-D2: Steps Taken to Avoid Issues  Acknowledge that we do not own any rights to Star Wars  Get permission from Disney to use R2-D2’s likeness (If necessary)  Use our project is for educational purposes only, not profit  “Childproof” R2-D2

Questions?