Engineering

Ethics
Ethics: The rules or standards
governing the conduct of a person
or the members of a profession.

(American Heritage Dictionary)

 Attributes of a Profession
• Involves work requiring sophisticated skill, judgment
and discretion.

• Membership requires extensive formal education

rather than work experience or apprenticeships.

• Members set standards of admission, conduct, and

quality –– and enforce these standards.
 Some Professional Organizations
and Societies with Codes of Ethics

• ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and

Technology)
• NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers)
• IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
• ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)
• SME (society of manufacturing engineers)
 ABET Code of Ethics of Engineers
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor
and dignity of the engineering profession by:
I. using their knowledge and skill for the
enhancement of human welfare;
II. being honest and impartial, and serving with
fidelity the public, their employers and clients;
III. striving to increase the competence and prestige
of the engineering profession; and
IV. supporting the professional and technical societies
of their disciplines.
 ABET Code of Ethics of Engineers
THE FUNDAMENTAL CANONS
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health
and welfare of the public in the performance of their
professional duties.
2. Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of
their competence.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an
objective and truthful manner.
4. Engineers shall act in professional matters for each
employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and
shall avoid conflicts of interest.
 ABET Code of Ethics of Engineers
THE FUNDAMENTAL CANONS
5. Engineers shall build their professional reputation on
the merit of their services and shall not compete
unfairly with others.
6. Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold
and enhance the honor, integrity and dignity of the
profession.
7. Engineers shall continue their professional
development throughout their careers and shall
provide opportunities for the professional
development of those engineers under their
supervision.
 IEEE Code of Ethics
We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the
importance of our technologies in affecting the
quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting
a personal obligation to our profession, its members
and the communities we serve, do hereby commit
ourselves to the highest ethical and professional
conduct and agree:
1. to accept responsibility in making engineering
decisions consistent with the safety, health and
welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors
that might endanger the public or the environment;
 IEEE Code of Ethics
2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest
whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected
parties when they do exist;
3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or
estimates based on available data;
4. to reject bribery in all its forms;
5. to improve the understanding of technology, its
appropriate application, and potential
consequences;
6. to maintain and improve our technical
competence and to undertake technological tasks
for others only if qualified by training or experience, or
after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;
 IEEE Code of Ethics
7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of
technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors,
and to credit properly the contributions of others;
8. to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors
as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or
national origin;
9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or
employment by false or malicious action;
10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their
professional development and to support them in
following this code of ethics.
 Ethical, Moral and Legal
• Ethical: Conforming to accepted standards of
conduct, usually of an organization or profession.
• Moral: relating to right and wrong; considered right
and good by most people.
• Legal: permitted by law.

Where there is a conflict between an

ethical and legal decision, the ethical
decision should always prevail.
 7 Steps to Ethical Decision Making
1. Recognize the problem
Example: Is there a conflict of interest or are we
misrepresenting our capabilities?

2. Check the facts

Verify information. It may be the problem is more
perceived than real.

3. Identify relevant factors

What policy, professional code or law applies? Are
there practical considerations?

4. List the options

 7 Steps to Ethical Decision Making
5. Analyze the options
- Utility: does one option provide more “utility” to
people, that is to say more benefit and less harm?
- Rights: which option(s), if any, violate a person’s
rights?
- Reversibility: would an option be good if I were
the one adversely affected by it?
- Defensibility: which option(s) could I defend in
court, in congress or before my profession’s ethics
committee?
- Publicity: Would any option be perceived as
dishonest or unethical if publicized?
 7 Steps to Ethical Decision Making
6. Make a choice
- In some cases there is no clear option. You have
to use your best judgment.
7. Reconsider Policy
- Try to structure your [organization’s] policies and
procedures to avoid this kind of conflict in the
future.
 Scenario #1
You have found employment at a good company,
and you like your colleagues. One day your supervisor
announces that your team needs to recommend a
voltage regulator circuit for an upcoming product
and the design freeze is in one week. At your
company, linear regulators are well known and
tested, but at school you used a switching regulator
that costs about the same but is far more efficient.
Problem is that it would take a month of analysis to
know if the noise from the switching regulator is within
acceptable limits. Your supervisor asks you to write
the recommendation and leave out any mention of
the switching regulator. What do you do?
 Scenario #2
Your company is considering two off-road vehicle
designs, one with three wheels and one with four.
Research has shown that the four-wheeled vehicle is
significantly more stable, but both meet safety
standards and either could be sold without legal
ramifications. The three-wheeled vehicle would be
easier to design and cheaper to produce. The lower
price would result in substantially more sales and a
higher profit margin. Is it ethically acceptable to
recommend the three-wheeled version in spite of its
greater potential for safety risks?
 Scenario #3
An automotive safety device has been patented by
another company, but their licensing fees are so high
that using it in your company’s automotive product
will significantly increase the price to the consumer
(and decrease sales). You are asked to examine the
patent and design a similar device that does the
same thing but does not technically infringe. You read
the patent and find a loophole that makes such a
design possible. You run your idea past the patent
attorney who says that he can get a patent issued but
it will probably not hold up in court. He encourages
you to patent the design anyway so the company will
have leverage negotiating for lower licensing fees.
What do you do?