The Role Of Engineering In Civil Engineering

The ASME created standards and codes for pressure vessels as well as initiating a precedent for analyzing engineering failures as to help prevent future disasters. Before, even when incidents were sometimes catastrophic, pressure vessels were simply deemed a dangerous line of work. The ASME, along with societies of other engineering disciplines, created a system to diagnose sources of error, which provided a basis from which engineers could innovate solutions. At its core, the method is just a few simple steps: contain the disaster, analyze the failure source, and determine who or what was at fault. With formal societies and rules in place, engineers were more accountable than ever for their projects. However the system for accountability was still incomplete. By 1919, engineering disasters were still catastrophic as a result of questionable practices and judgment. It was around this time that engineering licensure was developed as well as the adaptation of engineering ethics into the analysis of engineering catastrophes. Engineering ethics provided additional insight into why engineers make critical decisions as well as provide a platform for judging these engineers when things go wrong. Now the analysis gained an additional step: was the decision or action that led to failure made ethically or was it morally

The devised code of ethics plays a vital role in the deciding factor for the engineers. Thus, in the case of the Gee-Whiz Mark 2 (GWM2) having evidence that 25,000 units are not compliant with safety standards in North America or Europe shows that the public's security is in jeopardy. Complying to the first fundamental canon of the NSPE code of ethics for engineers states that, "engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public”. Sadly to say, the current products only put users at a much higher risk of electrocution and death. Thus, by the virtue of the fundamental canon, engineers at Gee-Whiz Mark 2 morally cannot distribute detrimental products to the public in any geographic location, even if the law permits. Taking Toyota Motors in 2009 as an example, where more than 680,000 vehicles were recalled in the United States alone, due to safety concerns of the airbags and the brake lights being defective (Valdes-Dapena, 2012 ). Even though this company could have disregarded the issue and continue to sell defective machines, they instead did what was morally right for the citizens and recalled the products. A product recall of thousands of units is not easy for any company, resulting in a multi-billion financial loss and the expenditure of sales time. Nonetheless, when someone’s life is at stake there is no choice but to resolve the emerged problem, no matter the loss that will be incurred by the

Multiple entities would be involved directly or indirectly in decision making process of the automated weapon – the programmer who developed the machine software, the manufacturer responsible for the production of the weapon, or the commander responsible for appropriate implementation of the machine during the operation, and the machine itself – and it would unjustified to hold anyone but the latter accountable for any mistakes or accidents. Since the robot liable of committing the crime would not be punishable, no retributive justice could be provided to the victims. Thus, any weapons likely to cause irresponsible damage shall not be deployed to prevent any such issues of accountability to

There is much that can be said of engineering in terms of Aristotle’s theory of virtue ethics. Engineers must strive to attain a high level of virtuosity in both the intellectual and moral categories, as engineers can make decisions that affect the welfare and the very lives of those that use the products of their labor. While Texas A&M University does present many relevant virtues to its students in their coursework, these are mostly intellectual virtues; moral virtues will have to come through practice in each of our individual

In the past, the role of engineer was to design, build and innovate. Engineers function as a technical experts who help the world advances. Nowadays, engineers are facing more problems regarding ethical issues. As technology grows more complex, human interactions become more problematic. There is a lot more social variables engineers need to consider aside from their technical projects. Before coming up with a design project, engineers need to question themselves whether the design, despite fulfilling their goal, can be harmful to or can upset

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated the usefulness of unmanned aerial vehicles, robots, and other cutting-edge military technology, sparking public awareness and interest. While these high-tech tools can reduce some of the threats to human life posed by warfare, there are drawbacks to these weapons that have prompted heated debate on the complex legal and moral issues raised by the use of these weapons.

The Construction industry in the United States is a well-known sector of the Country’s economy. This sector of the economy has made tremendous impact as a result of the seasoned professionals who have come together in their various set skills to carry out functions as it relates to them. These professions usually comprises of the Architect, Project Managers, Construction Managers, Estimators etc.

Is there a place for ethics in science? Does one as a physicist have the moral right to work on the practical exploitation of atomic energy? Regardless of whether the outcome of such a diabolic weapon is morally defensible, the burning question remains if it is ethical to use theoretical knowledge of physics to destroy great masses of people, civilians to be more specific. As brought to light in the thought-provoking drama Copenhagen, the debate regarding usage of nuclear bombs continues to be an issue of modern civilization, an issue that still vexes the moral systems of all the world’s nations. Although the concept of morality is lacking a clear-cut definition and is fraught with uncertainty, I firmly believe ethics could potentially play a quantum role in science because you want your ethical position to be based on thought which is clear and logic that is correct (Zalta).

Ethical issues that revolve around computer/electrical engineers may seem subtle when glanced at. However, looking at these issues in a narrow scope there are inconsistencies where people may lose their lives because of our faults. I would like to analyze the issues caused by programming. To be specific, artificial intelligence is the core subject under programming that has a particular subcase that is affected. This subject is automation which includes, but not limited to, robotics and human machine interface. The specific topics can be interrelated when viewing it in a computer/electrical engineer’s perspective. They pose both good and bad situations for consumers which I will evaluate for each case. Keep in mind that automation is a

In this current day and age, science and technology are moving forward at a rapid pace. This can lead to great strides and benefits in the medical and biological fields but also gives rise to ethical and moral questioning. Scientist worry that their research will be stifled by new laws and restrictions, while society fears that these researchers will take advantage of them if not regulated properly. This is clearly seen in the debate over stem cell research and synthetic biology, like genetically modified organisms, on whether such topics are ethical or non ethical. The right education is needed in order to fully understand both sides of these issues and to debate what is ethical and what is not. This research paper will go into

The need to safeguard the practice of research ethics within all fields of sciences and engineering is

If a scientist ethically disagrees with the unintended applications of his or her research, the scientist should continue the work in order to effectuate the advantageous applications of the research. Cessation of research eliminates society’s opportunity to benefit from scientific progress. For instance, although some scientists may have been morally uncomfortable with creating atomic bombs during World War II, copious valuable developments of nuclear technology have emerged since the bombs’ creation. Examples of these

When you hear of the word engineering, what comes to mind? Do you think of a train engine rolling over the plains of South Dakota? Maybe you think of a bridge or a road? If you thought of either of those things, you are correct. Furthermore, Civil Engineering is all of these things and a little more. “Civil engineering is arguably the oldest engineering discipline. It deals with the built environment and can be dated to the first time someone placed a roof over his or her head or laid a tree trunk across a river to make it easier to get across (Civil Engineering).” Some of the first ever examples of the civil engineering was the roof and the bridge. Eventually, our knowledge and tools advanced to enhance the durability and aestheticism of roads, bridges, and buildings. In addition to roads and bridges, civil engineering also deals with planes, cars, and boats as well.

They were tasked to do something despicable or would probably have been laid off. It was a difficult decision made by the engineers to carry on with the design and implementation of the “defeat device”. The engineers of Volkswagen were just carrying out their duty to the company [4], doing anything they could to bring back the paycheck at the end of the month so that they could feed their families. For better or for worse, the engineers however should have voiced out their opinions about the implementation of such a device. The engineers knew how it would affect the health of the public and knew that in doing so, they would be breaching the Statement of Ethical

The American Society of Civil Engineers as previously mentioned recognizes around 16 kinds of infrastructure. This identification allows them the opportunity to grade each kind on condition, performance, capacity, funding and need (Petroski, 2016, pg. 21). What used to be determined every two years, now comes out every four with the most recent one being this year. “The release of the first ASCE report card [in 1998] attracted considerable media coverage nationally and regionally and the institution of infrastructure report card became solidly established” (Petroski, 2016, pg. 21). Oddly enough as much as we consider buildings a part of our infrastructure, they are not evaluated as a part of the process because they often serve many