CHE 320 Homework #1

Due Thursday, October 6, 2016

1. What is the major difference between personal ethics and professional

ethics? From where do the tenets come (i.e. who says so?) in each case?
Personal ethics are an individuals personal rules or guidelines to outline what is
morally right behavior. Professional ethics incorporate personal ethics as well as a
companys ethics and/or a professions ethics (engineering). Personal ethics are for
an individual while professional ethics apply to a group of people. The tenets come
from the individual for personal ethics. The tenets for professional ethics can come
from different people. Some examples would be the head boss of a company or the
most experienced and qualified engineers of an engineering society.
2. We read and discussed the article titled Three Myths about Codes of Engineering
Ethics, by Michael Davis. In that article, Davis presents conflicting scholarly
arguments that such codes are simultaneously too vague and too restrictive
(hard and fast). How does Davis suggest that engineers resolve both of these
conflicts, and thus make the best use of Codes of Ethics?
The best way for engineers to resolve both of the conflicts is to use critical and
careful interpretation while considering the situation and use the best judgment to
find a solution that compromises. The codes are bested used if thought of not as
rules but more as guidelines. If the codes were rules, they would be too exact and
would not be able to be applied to multiple situations. Engineers are problem
solvers for their work and therefore can be expected to use the codes as guidelines
and solve a given ethical problem.
3. A large spill of flammable liquid occurred in a refinery, leading to a large fire (but
no loss of life). Inspection showed that the wrong type of metal was used in one
section of pipe. The leak was caused by corrosion, which was caused by a
change in the type of liquid being pumped through the pipe. This process
change was requested and authorized by Alice, a supervisor who had recently
been promoted from a management position in the plants accounting
department. The actual change in the liquid feedstock was made by a team led
by Bob, a recently-hired chemical engineer. Alice told Bob that the new liquid
feed was pretty similar to the old stuff flowing in the pipe, so no formal safety
analysis was done prior to the change. Considering the different types of
mistake described in Whitbecks article Basis and Scope of Professional
Responsibility, who (if anyone) should be held responsible for the incident?
Why?
I think that Alice and Bob should be held responsible for the incident but should not
have severe consequences. Bob is a chemical engineer and should have at least
checked the validity of the liquids being similar and if the difference in liquids would
cause safety problems. But Bob was newly hired and did not know the process or
chemicals well and probably still adjusting to the company dynamics and just
trusted the judgement of his boss, Alice, when she said they are similar chemicals.
In trusting the judgement of his boss, Bob committed negligence since he, as the
chemical engineer, did not investigate the potential problem. Alice made an

incompetence mistake when she said the new liquid was similar to the old with no
scientific background; she had to experience or experience, as she was from the
accounting department, to say the statement. But Alice also made a stupid mistake
thinking that it was her place to say the liquids were similar when she had
absolutely no background in chemistry.
4. Take Equilibrias free Personality Diversity Indicator (PDI) test, and determine
your E-color combination. The PDI takes ~ 15 minutes to complete and can be
found at the following link:
http://www.equilibria.com/ecolors.html
What are your E-colors? Read about the interpretation/meaning of each color.
Are you surprised by the results of the test? Why or why not?
My E-Colors are green and blue. The results are that I am a relating thinking. I am
not surprised that I a high percentage thinker. I have always been very methodical
and planning. I like to think about situations before making decisions. I also am not
surprised that relater was the next highest percentage. I am a very good listener for
friends and am able to see both sides of situations and can usually relate or
empathize with both sides. I am a very low percentage socializer which definitely
describes me. I do not like to interact with large groups of people and prefer one on
one when engaging with others. But I am not antisocial. I know how to speak with
strangers and communicate, I am just more comfortable with smaller interactions.
5. Take the free Jung/Myers-Briggs personality test at the following link:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
What is your four-letter personality type? Are you surprised by the results of the
test? Why or why not? If you have taken this test before, has your personality
type changed?
ISTJ, introverted intuitive thinking perceiving
I am not surprised as this result is consistent with the E-Color test. I am methodical
and can see both sides of an argument because I observe both sides. I also prefer to
be in a smaller group of people compared to a large group of people and I prefer to
not talk with random people. I also tend to see big picture instead of small details.
6. Complete at least three implicit attitude tests (IAT) at Harvards Project Implicit
site:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
Take at least one test about subjects or people in your in-group (those you
generally identify or agree with), and one about an out-group (people or beliefs
that may be different from yours).
Gender-Career IAT
Weapons IAT
Weight IAT
Gender-Science IAT

Asian IAT