Time to wake up
Engineering has been one of the top demand professions of all time. Nevertheless, the awareness of an engineer’s responsibility is still vague in the society. In this concurrent era of technological revolutions, it has become highly relevant to give a definition to this. The question, ‘whether engineer should remain within the limitations/ guidelines of the organizations they work for or not’ finds high relevancy and importance. There are ongoing strong debates on this matter, with a large group arguing engineering is a profession, where one has to make his skills ready to be available for whosoever pays him, as far as that falls within law (Deborah G, 1989). I personally support the contrary to this version, i.e., the
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The default assumption in the discussion of morality is that, it is wrong to harm others (Kenneth, Andrew, & Samuel C, 1983). As we say each and every person has the same right to live, it readily generates a responsibility to not to disturb other’s lives. In depth, it automatically conveys the message, whose action influences the most- should be most responsible in their works. This demands engineers to hold high standards of responsibility and commitment towards the society.
The basic reason for my stance in this thesis is the importance and unique nature of engineering profession. There are two basic features which differentiates engineering profession. Engineers come across things and products mostly, rather than direct dealings with individual person. Furthermore, engineers work as a part of team or collective unlike most of the other profession (John, 1982). Even though, engineers act in groups, one should remember the fact that one is being governed doesn’t degrade his moral responsibilities. Hence an individual working in a collective can also be said to possess quantifiable amount of moral responsibility towards the society, extend of which depends on the position and role he plays in the collective (Albert & Deborah G, 1983). The relevance of this point can be established by exploring a case study of the deep water gulf oil disaster. Where, the reputed British
Katz next explains a term Jack Sammons, a legal scholar, uses to explain what a technical professional must do to be ethical. This term is known as rebellious ethics, which is when one rebels “against the expectations and practices of one’s profession” (56). The expectation for engineers being that one must solely focus on efficiency and not let moral interests interfere. Sammons continues to say that to be good at your profession you have to take into consideration the needs of the people your project is meant for. Katz used this to transition from the idea of doubling to the idea of Nazi ideology.
Through the progression of history the need for the principles articulated in Engineers’ Case was both necessary and appropriate. Callinan J in Workchoices’ Case made
Since the beginning of the science and technology era, the impact of technology on humanity and society has been growing. New technologies are also emerging, which means that we should be responsible for what we are developing. Therefore, when we develop a new technology, we should respect ethics and take care of all the damage caused.
Based on the events that lead to the devastating floods in Queensland and the eventual case that was brought against the engineers of the dam, there have been views from both sides of the divide as to whether or not the actions taken by the engineers were actually ethical or otherwise. We have explored this avenue and have found that both sides of the divide have good reasons to justify their actions. Firstly, we shall explore the avenue that the engineers decisions were appropriate and ethical. It can be said that the engineers did employ act utilitarianism in their decisions and actions, hence causing these decisions to be ethically correct. Act utilitarianism is essentially doing the right thing, which would benefit the majority of
Ontario’s Deadly Exception: An Argument for the Repeal of Section 12(3)(a) of the Professional Engineers Act
He then goes on to discuss professionalism. Many engineers have a concern for their social status, and seek to be on par with doctors and lawyers, and to do this, they must show more social responsibility. Layton quickly discusses autonomy, and then goes on to explain the pros of professionalism, and that it prevents engineers from becoming cogs in the industrial machine.
The defense industry is one of the largest recruiters of STEM graduates in the nation. Thousands of engineering students enter this industry and must justify the morality of their work. These engineers work on projects that affect themselves, the engineering profession, and the entire world population. This paper will look into some of the facts surrounding engineering in the defense industry, its intended and unintended consequences, and judge the work of these engineers by applying Egoism, Utilitarianism, and Kantian ethical theories.
“I would rather be a good man than a great king” said the character Thor in Thor: The Dark World. In these words we find a frightening tension. Almost everyone agrees that it is good to be ethical; this is an easy affirmation. It is much more difficult, though, when ethics is in direct opposition to success. This dichotomy- between ethics and success- will no doubt confront an engineer during a professional career of any substantial length. Can you say that you would rather be a good man than rich? Or popular? Or a successful engineer? What should happen when an engineer faces this question? One real world example that can shed some light on this problem is what is known as bid shopping. This essay will provide a thorough definition of the problem of bid shopping and the ethical dilemma surrounding it. It will then apply the ethical theories of Duty Ethics and Virtue Ethics to the question. And seek to show that bid shopping is unethical according to both ethical theories.
In Canada, individual regulating bodies are in place to licence and regulate practitioners in their respective professions. It is in the public’s best interest that these professionals are knowledgeable and driven to progress society in a responsible manner. This includes acting in an ethical manner that aligns with the personal and corporate standards expected of members in a particular profession. The Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) is in place to regulate such behavior among engineers and protect the common interest of the Ontario community. At the end of this paper it will be evident that public welfare is paramount. This will be shown by how it ought to be enforced under the PEO, and how failure of the Ford Pinto was fueled by
Industrial Engineers often face the ethical dilemma of attempting to balance costs with quality and safety. Company management pressures Industrial systems engineers to design processes that are cost efficient, time constrained, and produce a high quality output. This puts the engineer in a tricky balancing act in which they are trying to make every stakeholder happy. Taking risks in order to create cost efficient solutions is not specific to only industrial engineers but applies to all disciplines of engineering, making this topic a relevant discussion. However, this conflict is especially true in a manufacturing setting where industrial engineers thrive, machine operators are often overworked, companies make products in high stakes, large batches, and the range of quality acceptance is growing ever smaller. A relevant example is the engineer who was designing a chemical plant in Mexico. In order to achieve the correct viscosity of the paint stripper, the engineer asked the plant operator to babysit the chemical mixture and manually release the valve when necessary. Engineering management’s decision puts the plant worker at a safety risk in order to achieve a tighter quality and standardization of the chemical stripper production process. Ultimately, this resulted in the catastrophic death of the plant worker and the destruction of the plant.
As mentioned above, it is very important for engineers to understand their own responsibilities. In 1960, the Conference of Engineering Societies of Western Europe and the United States of America defined "professional engineer" as follows:1 “A professional engineer is competent by virtue of his/her fundamental education and training to apply the scientific method and outlook to the analysis
Indeed, engineering can be enriched by paying more attention to ethics. This guide uses cases drawn from real engineering situations, in order to allow engineers to practice ethical reasoning as it applies to these situations. However, in terms of developing better ethical awareness and reasoning skills, there is no substitute for dealing with the dilemmas and decisions that each of us faces daily. The first step is recognising these when they arise. Analysing them and responding effectively goes to the heart of personal and professional identity.
Ethics by definition are defined as a set of moral rules of conduct that are accepted by general public and should be obeyed by everyone. Ethics are essential to the architecture of a modern dynamic society and play a vital part in engineering or any other businesses. Ethics provide guidance to humans to pursue a course of action correctively in specific situations, and prevent us from the ones that would have negative or drastic consequences. Ethics clarifies what is good and bad on the basis of moral principle or values. Regardless of which particular field the engineer is in (e.g. civil, electrical or mechanical), their main liability and responsibility are to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of the public are protected to the highest level possible. Since almost the work done by engineers can have great impact on almost all aspects of our daily life, any design schemes or implementations that are made by engineers must meet the highest standard to ensure that no damages or potential damages to any resource, people, organization or environment will exist. Many organizations, like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) have established a set of code of ethics to
Several cases have led to an awareness of the importance of ethics within the engineering profession as engineers realize how their technical work has far-reaching impacts on society. The work of engineers can affect public health and safety and can influence business practices and even politics.’’(Fledderman,2004)
To the ASME, improving the general welfare of society through the utilization of the specialized skills of engineers is highly stressed. One must consider the possible consequences of actions and decide the best course of action to benefit the safety and health of the public. The ASME