Engineering : Engineering And Ethics

There are no engineers in my family to persuade me into becoming one. It was my own interest and curiosity that drove me into analyzing how things work. Over the years I have developed a passion for solving complex problems that involve technical challenges. I have learnt that an engineering problem does not have a standard solution to it and that an engineer has to choose the best from amongst the various options. The process of applying scientific methods to solve real-life problems continued to intrigue me throughout my years of study, initially in the context of my own behavior, and later to observe and investigate its impact on an increasing affinity towards Engineering.

1) Investigate the engineering profession using the sources below. In a few sentences and using your OWN words, what is engineering?

My education and work experience have been great preparation for a career in this field. Engineering, by nature, requires strong analytical and problem solving skills. Even outside the classroom, I have learned to look at a situation and break it down systematically. Sometimes when a direct solution is not possible, an optimal alternative or repurpose is appropriate. For example, I worked

Layton begins his essay describing what engineering is; that its work is in the marketplace rather than in a laboratory. He then states the “engineer’s dilemma” is based on bureaucracy, not capitalism. Engineers are called the “original organization man,” and are important to large businesses, but a social revolution amongst them would not end their terms of marginality. Moving on, Layton then goes over engineering and its history in America.

Engineering used to be a small, seemingly insignificant job. There were not many places and ways to successfully apply engineering, and even in the times where actual engineering was done, the engineer may not have been properly credited. There were people throughout history that accomplished things that would today be categorized as engineering, but at the time, all the fields of engineering had not yet been discovered. A good example of this is Dr. William Gorgas, who believed that mosquitoes were responsible for infecting thousands of workers with malaria during the building of the

With the constant discovery of scientific principles and new engineering designs, the responsibility often lies in the hands of engineers to decide what is in the best interest of the public. Millions of people around the world use products and structures developed by engineers, every day. Before accepting work from a client, it is important that engineers have a good understanding of their own personal limitations. If work is accepted that they are “not competent to perform by virtue of [their] training and experience” , there is a clear disregard for public welfare and potential for a serious safety hazard. It is again evident that the

When engineers design a product many things go in to the decision making process when it comes to selecting materials, design, and the manufacturing processes. One concern that has always been in the decision making process is trying to make sure the outcome will always be ethically good, although this isn’t always the case. Try as they might, no person is perfect, and accidents do happen. When engineering disasters happen there are many factors that may be involved, such as human factors, design flaws, extreme conditions, and materials failures. When these things do happen it is important to look at the ethical aspect of each part of the failure and

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.

Engineers are trusted individuals which the public has set high standards for. The public relies on engineers to efficiently, and accurately determine the safety of all products they create. Engineers are required to follow safety procedures in order to ensure the quality of the products they create. However, are these procedures enough to ensure the safety of the public? Or can additional actions be taken in order to improve the safety of a product? If so, to what extent should engineers be required to take matters into their own hands and ensure the safety of products, in return reducing the number of injuries and fatal accidents?

Engineering is an exciting field that I believe will be enjoyable, challenging, and above all, intuiting to undertake at university. I believe pursuing engineering means exceeding your expectations and making a

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

There are many ethical dilemmas that an industrial engineer may face throughout their career. One major dilemma would be having to lay someone off because of a change you may have made to a process to make it more efficient. Industrial engineers are always trying to find a more efficient way of doing something, whether it’s in a factory, in an office, or the route of a delivery driver. Sometimes these things aren’t always as simple as they may seem. There are often consequences to these seemingly simple changes. People can and do get laid off because of a change to a process.

This being the case it is important for the engineer to consider the application to which the design will be used as well as how and to what extent it will be handled. In the instance that risks and dangers are present they must immediately be brought to the attention of the consumer, and if effected as a whole, the public.

This guide is available as an abridged published document, and as a full set of case studies available online, including an in-depth discussion of the place of ethics in engineering. It is our intention to update and add to the case studies over time, reflecting the changes in technology and society that affect engineering ethics. Ethics, like engineering, is a practical subject, and its exercise is in debate and discussion. We hope that these case studies are used to stimulate discussion between engineers, to help individuals, and the profession as a whole, to advance their understanding of the ethical issues in engineering. How to use this guide The purpose of this guide is to supplement the SEP with discussions, clarifications and illustrative personal experiences that will bring the ethical issues in engineering to life. The guide is also intended 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)