THE PROFESSION OF ENGINEERING

Engineering is important. It is also challenging and exciting. Engineers use models provided
by science combined with innovative thinking to solve problems and create new designs that
benefit humanity...design and build safer, faster, quieter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Engineers create products and processes, to improve food production, shelter,
energy, communication, transportation, health, and protection against natural
calamities—and to enhance the convenience and beauty of our everyday lives.

Almost a century and a half ago in From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne imagined American
space travelers being launched from Florida, circling the moon, and returning to splash down in the
Pacific Ocean.
In December 1968, three astronauts aboard an Apollo spacecraft did exactly that.
Seven months later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took the first human steps on the moon. This
extraordinary event was shared with millions of earthbound people watching the live broadcast on
television.
• Born Jules Gabriel Verne
• 8 February 1828
• Nantes, France
• Died 24 March 1905 (aged 77)
• Amiens, France
• Resting place La Madeleine cemetery, Amiens,
France
• Occupation Novelist, poet, playwright
• Nationality French
• Period 1850–1905
• Notable works
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• From the Earth to the Moon
• Around the World in Eighty Days
• The Mysterious Island
• Five Weeks in a Balloon
• Michael Strogoff
• Off on a Comet
• Robur the Conqueror
• An Antarctic Mystery
• Master of the World
JULY 20, 1969 NEIL ARMSTRONG STEP ON THE
MOON
 THE PROFESSION OF ENGINEERING

Engineering had transformed our

sense of connection with the
cosmos and even fostered dreams of
routine space travel for ordinary
citizens.
 Introduction to Engineering Ethics

• Most technology, however, has double implications: As it

creates benefits, it raises new moral challenges.
• In doing so, however, we should avoid allowing technological
risks to overshadow technological benefits.
• Ethics involves appreciating the vast positive dimensions of
engineering that so deeply enrich our lives.
• Just as exploration of the moon and planets stand as
engineering triumphs, so the explosions of the space shuttles,
Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003, were tragedies
that could have been prevented had urgent warnings voice by
experienced engineers been heeded.
LAST FLIGHT OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA 2003
Explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger 1986
WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS? WHY
IS IT IMPORTANT?
 Engineering Ethics

• Engineering ethics is the study of moral issues and decisions

confronting individuals and organizations in engineering.
It is also the study of related questions about moral ideas,
character, policies and relationship of people and corporation
involved in technological activity.

• It is the rules and standards which govern the conduct of engineers in

their role as professionals.
1.1 ENGINEERING AND MORAL COMPLEXITY

Engineering from concept to product

• Moral values are embedded in engineering in the process itself, rather
than merely imposed on it by external rules and laws.
• Likewise, ethical issues arise as a product develops from a mental concept
to physical completion.
• Engineers encounter both moral and technical problems concerning
variability in the materials availabe on them, the quality of work by co-
workers at all levels, pressures imposed by time and and the whims of the
market place and the relationships of authority within corporations.

The manifold activities of engineers will be described with the help of figure 1-
2 which charts the sequences of task that lead from the concept of a product
to its design, manufacture, sale, use and ultimate disposal.
FIGURE 1-1
1. Seldome is the process carried out in such a smooth, continues fashion as
indicated by the heavy arrows progressing down.
2. Instead of these uninterrupted sequence,intermediate results during or at
the end of each stage frequently reqyire backtracking to make modifications in
the design developed. Errors need to be detected and corrected.
3. alterations may be needed to improve product performance or to meet cost
and time constraints.
4. An altogether different. alternative design might have to be considered.
“Design is usually the kind of problem solving we can ill-structured...you dont
start off with a well-defined goal. Nor do you start off with a clear set of
alternatives, or perhaps any alternatives at all. Goals and alternatives have to
energe through the design processitself: one of the first task is to clarify goals
and to begin to generate alternatives.”
5. This results in an iteratve process, with some of the recorsive steps
indicated by thin lines and arrows.
6. As shown,, engineers are usually forced to stop during an initial atempt at
a solution when they hit a snag or think of a better approached.
7. They will then return to an earlier stage with changes in mind.
8. Changes made during one stage will not only affect subsequent stages
but may also require an assesment of prior decision. Request for design
changes while manufacture or construction is in progress must be handled
with particular care otherwise tragic consequences may result.
HYATT REGENCY WALKWAY FAILURE

(d) Loads for case (e) Loads for case

(a) (b)
 Engineering from problem solving to decision
making
To repeat, engineering generally does not consist of completing designs or
processes one after another in a straightforward progression of isolated
tasks.
Instead, it involves a trial-and error process with backtracking based on
decisions made after examining results obtained along the way.

The design iterations resemble feedback loops, and like any well-
functioning feedback control system, engineering takes into account
natural and social environments that affect the product and people using it.
Let us therefore revisit the engineering tasks, this time as listed in Table
1–1, along with examples of problems that might arise.
The problems in Table 1–1 can arise from short comings on the part of engineers,
their supervisors, vendors, or the operators of the product.
The underlying causes can have different forms:
1. Lack of vision, which in the form of tunnel vision biased toward traditional pursuits overlooks
suitable alternatives, and in the form of groupthink promotes acceptance at the expense of critical
thinking.7
2. Incompetence among engineers carrying out technical tasks.
3. Lack of time or lack of proper materials, both ascribable to poor management.
4. A silo mentality that keeps information compartmentalized rather than shared across different
departments.( a silo mentality is a reluctance to share information with employees of different divisions
in the same company.)
5. The notion that there are safety engineers somewhere down the line to catch potential problems.
6. Improper use or disposal of the product by an unwary owner or user.
7. Dishonesty in any activity shown in Figure 1–1

The list serves to hint at the range of problems that can generate moral difficulties for engineers.
As may be expected,the problems encountered depend very much on the type of product, the range of
task undertaken, the organizational structure, and market conditoons.
 INTERTWINED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ENGINEERS

• Engineers need foresight and caution. They need the ability to construct
scenarios to help them imagine who may be affected by their products and their
decisions, in good or harmful ways.

• Figure 1-3 indicates there are strands linking them personally or through their
work to clients,the communities, a host of organizations representing their
industry, their professions, the government and the natural environment
 GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENT, ENGINEERING FIRM
(SOCIETY AND FAMILY
Engineer
NATURE)
Managers Colleagues

ENGINEERING
INDUSRTY PROFESSION CLIENTS OR
CONSUMERS
(OTHER FIRMS)
(societies)

LAW, GOVERNMENT AND

PUBLIC AGENCIES
 Defining Engineering Ethics
• Engineering Ethics is the study of the moral values, issues and decisions
involved in engineering practice.

• The word ethics has several meanings, and hence so does engineering ethics.
In one sense, ethics is synonymous with morality.

• Ethics is the activity of understanding moral values, resolve moral issues,

and justifying moral judgements.

• Accordingly, engineering ethics consists of the responsibilities and rights

that ought to be endorsed by those engaged in engineering, and also of
desirable ideals and personal commitments in engineering.
 Why Study Engineering Ethics?

• Engineering ethics should be studied because it is important,

both in contributing to safe and useful technological
products and in giving meaning to engineers’ endeavors.
 Various practical skills that will help produce autonomous thought about
moral issues.
1. Moral awareness: Proficiency in recognizing moral problems and issues in engineering
2. Cogent moral reasoning: Comprehending, clarifying, and assessing arguments on opposing sides of
moral issues
3. Moral coherence: The ability to form consistent and comprehensive viewpoints based on
considerations of relevant facts.
4. Moral imagination: Discerning alternative responses to moral issues and finding creative solutions
for practical difficulties
5. Moral communication: Precision in the use of a common ethical language, a skill needed to express
and support one’s moral views adequately to others
6. Moral reasonableness: The willingness and ability to be morally reasonable.
7. Respect for persons: Genuine concern for the well-being of others as well as oneself
8. Tolerance of diversity: Within a broad range, respect for ethnic and religious differences and
acceptance of reasonable differences in moral perspectives
9. Moral hope: Enriched appreciation of the possibilities of using rational dialogue in resolving moral
conflicts
10. Integrity: Maintaining moral integrity and integrating one’s professional life and personal convictions
 WHAT IS MORALITY?
• Engineering ethics studies moral values in engineering, but what are
moral values? What is morality?

• Morality is about reasons centered for other people as well as

for ourselves, reasons that involved caring for their good as
well as our own.
• Moral reasons involve respecting persons by being fair and
just with them, respecting their rights, keeping promises and
avoiding unnecessary offence and pain to them, and avoiding
cheating and dishonesty.
 ILLUSTRATIVE CASES
The following examples hint at a few types of moral issues in engineering:

1. An inspector discovered faulty construction equipment and applied a violation tag, preventing
its continued use. The inspector's supervisor, a construction manager viewed the case as a
minor infraction of safety regulations and ordered the tag removed so the project would not be
delayed. The inspector objected and was threatened with disciplinary action. The continued use
of the equipment led to the death of a worker on a tunnel project.

2. An electric utility company applied for a permit to operate a nuclear power plant. The licensing
agency was interested in knowing what emergency measures had been establshed for human
safety in case of reactor malfunction. The utility engineers described the alarm system and
arrangements with local hospitals for treatment. They did not emphasized that these measures
applied to plant personnel only and that they nhad no plans for the surrounding population.
“That is someones else's responsibility, but we don't know whose,” they answered upon being
questioned about this omission'
3. A chemical plant dumped wastes in a landfill. Hazardous substances found their way into
the water underground table. The plant's engineers were aware of the situation but did not
change the disposal method because their competitors did it the same cheap way, and no
law expilcitly forbade the practice. Plant supervisors told the engineers it was the
responsibility of the local government to identify any problems.

4. The ABC company begun selling its latest high-tech product before it had been fully
checked out in beta tests, that is, used on real applications by a group of knowledgeable. It
was not really ready for distribution, but clients were already lured to this product by glossy
advertising designed to win tyhe market by being first to capture client's attention.

• These examples show how ethical problems arise most often when there are differences
of judgement or expectations as to what constitutes the true state of affairs a proper
course of action.
• They also raise a number of moral questions. To what extent should the employer's or
supervisor's directives be the authoritative guide to an engineer's conduct?
• What does one do when there are differences of judgement?
• Is it fair to be expected to put one's job on the line?
• Should one always follow the law to the letter?
• Is an engineer to do no more than what the specifications say, even if there are problems more
serious than those initially anticipated?
• How far does an engineer's responsibility extend into the realm of anticipating and influencing the
social impact of the projects in which he or she participates?
STEPS IN CONFRONTING MORAL DILEMMAS

1. Identify the relevant moral factors and reasons. What are the conflicting responsibilities, competing
rights, clashing ides, and goods and bads involved?
2. Gather all available facts that are pertinent to the moral factors involved.
3. If possible, rank the moral considerations in order of importance as they apply to the situation.
Sometimes this is not possible, and the goal is to find a way to meet equally urgent responsibilities
and to promote important ideals.
4. Consider alternative courses of actions as ways of resolving the dilemma, tracing the full
implications of each. Typically this involves making factual inquiries.
5. Talk with colleagues(or friends or other students), seeking their suggestions and alternative
perspectives on the dilemmas.
6. Arrive at a carefully reasoned judgement by weighing all the relevant moral factors and reaons in
light of the facts.
 Moral Dilemmas and Related Issues
• Moral reasons are many and varied, and they frequently come into conlict,
creating moral dilemmas.
• Moral dilemmas are situations in which two or more moral obligations,
duties, rights, goods, or ideals come into conflict with one another.
• Resolving moral dilemmas involves good moral judgement in weighing
conflicting moral reasons, but frequently it involves sevaral related tasks;
a. Conceptual clarification is the elucidation (to give a clarifying explanation)
of moral ideas and moral relevant notions.
b. Factual inquiries are inquiries into the facts relevant to resolving
The top 20 engineering achievements of the twentieth
century, that benefited man as identified by the National
Academy of Engineering:

1. Electrification
2. Automobiles
3. Airplanes
4. Water supply and distribution
5. Electronics
6. Radio and television
7. Agricultural mechanization
8. Computers
9. Telephones
10. Air-conditioning and refrigeration
11. Highways
12. Spacecrafts
13. Internet
14. Imaging technologies in medicine
15. Household appliances
16. Health technologies
17. Petrochemical technologies
18. Laser and fiber optics
19. Nuclear technologies
20. High-performance materials