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Engineering, Society and Sustainability

AERO2248
Topic 8: Report writing
(Engineers Writing Better)

Dr. Enda Crossin


School of Engineering
enda.crossin@rmit.edu.au
Feedback and admin items

RMIT University©2017 School of Engineering 2


What difficulties are you having with your work in
AERO2248?
PollEv.com/aero2248 or text AERO2248 to +61 427 541 357

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EWB project

• By now:
– Finalised group contract and selected design area.
– Explored existing solutions associated with design area.
– Developed multiple design ideas to address the design area.
• By the end of the week:
– Continue to develop different design ideas, ensuring that these ideas are
aligned with community needs.
– Develop ethics presentations (due next week)

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Outline – Topic 8. Report writing

• The importance of excellent report writing


• Typical structures
• Tables and figures
• Units

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Design process (more detailed)

Critical thinking Testing Testing

Problem Design Evaluation and


Idea generation Detailed design Prototyping Finalised design
statement requirements selection

Information
gathering

Design context

Quotes and invoices


Photos

Background documentation Communication


Reports Presentations Sketches & Drawings Test results

Calculations & spreadsheets Minuted meetings Emails Project schedules

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My experience

• Authored >200 consultancy reports, book chapters and academic journals


– Many reports were high risk
– Litigation cases involving deaths
– Major infrastructure decisions (implications in the order of $2M+ per
day)
– Implications of poor reporting
– Liability  Safety
– Being taken out of context
– Reputation
• No one is word-perfect!

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Technical reports – structure (typical)
Preliminaries
• Title page
• Executive summary / Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Glossary (e.g. for acronyms, technical words) Structure may vary

Body depending on needs


• Introduction
• Objectives/requirements
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

Supplements
• References
• Appendices

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Technical reports – structure (e.g. EWB final report)
Title page
Executive Summary
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Design Requirements
3. Design Ideas and Selection 6. Implementation Plan
4. Detailed Design 6.1 Work Breakdown Structure
e.g. 4.1, 4.1.1 etc. 6.2 Gantt Chart
6.3 Risk management
5. Prototyping
6.3.1 Identified risks
6. Implementation plan 6.3.2 Risk scores
7. Reflection 6.3.3 Risk mitigation strategies
8. Conclusion and recommendations
9. References
Take advantage of word processing
Appendices Use numbered headings for new content!
Useful for planning

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Technical reports – structure (e.g. EWB final report)

6. Implementation Plan Section plan


6.1 Work Breakdown Structure
6.2 Gantt Chart
6.3 Risk management Broad topic
6.3.1 Identified risks
6.3.2 Risk scores Breakdown of broad topic
6.3.3 Risk mitigation strategies

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Technical reports – Structure

• Use of white space


• Headers and footers
–Page numbers
• Figures and graphs
–Labelled, referenced and
mentioned in the text.
http://images.wisegeek.com/metal-gears.jpg

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Technical reports – Preliminaries

• Title page
–Include: title, authors,
affiliations, date
–University reports: School,
Course name and code,
Report title, Author(s) ,
student number(s), name of
tutor/supervisor, date of
submission
• Table of contents
http://www.theemployable.com/wp- –List of sections and page
content/uploads/2014/11/writing-
contents.jpg numbers
• List of abbreviations and
acronyms

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Technical reports – Abstract

• Concise summary of topic, question


being answered, approach, results
and implications
• Usually needed for shorter
communications or academic thesis,
e.g. article for final year projects
–Aim is to entice someone to read
https://d1nz104zbf64va.cloudfront.net/pv/a
it! /o/v1-squeezing-in-poker.jpeg.jpeg

• Very short; typically ~200 words, but


check the requirements
• Executive summary more common
• Written last

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Technical reports – Executive Summary

• A summary for executives


– Executives don’t have time to read all of
your report
• Limited to 1-2 pages
• Critical information:
– Background/Summary of Problem - Why?
– Approach - How?
– Results and discussion / chosen solution -
Findings
– Conclusions and recommendations –
Implications
• Write to your audience
https://pixabay.com/p-1439049/?no_redirect
– May be different to those reading the body
of the report
• Written after the body of the report is
complete
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Technical reports – Introduction

• Purpose of the report and aims


of the project
• Context of the project
• Definition of the problem
• Scope of the project
–What is included, what is
excluded

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/NZ
Provide only relevant _Landscape_from_the_van.jpg

background information.

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Technical reports – Methodology

• How were results produced?


–Do not introduce any results
–Avoid discussion
• Provide enough detail so that the
results can be repeated
• Referencing to other work is
acceptable

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/L
ifejacket_Instructions.jpg

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Technical reports – Results

• What happened?
–What was found?
–What was not found?
• No interpretation at this stage!
Just the facts!
• Units of measurement
• Results in tables and figures
should be described in the text https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Semantic
_MediaWiki_result_format.png

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Technical reports – Discussion

• State/identify the main research


findings/themes
• What are the reasons for the
results?
• Compare and contrast your
results with others (e.g. prior
research)
–How and why are they the
same/different?
https://pixabay.com/p-1874792/?no_redirect • Focus on the project objectives

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Technical reports – Conclusions

• What are the key messages?


• What does it all mean?
• Address the projects’ objectives
and scope
• Nothing new
–No new results
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3
–No new discussion /32/CONCLUSION.JPG

• Must be evidence based


–No Fake News
• Order can be important

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Technical reports – Recommendations

• Recommendations carry degrees


of risk
–“should”, “could”, and “may”.
• Must be evidence based
• Consider the consequences
–Financial, environmental and
social
• What should be done to achieve
recommendations?
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/170000/velka/medical-
supplies-paper-bag-1463469533xxV.jpg

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Technical reports – References and Appendices

• References
–Harvard style as per library
guidelines
–Reference list (don’t forget
you also need in-text citations)
–Sometimes included in a page https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
/ word limit commons/d/d2/Reflinks_screenshot_1
_bare_URL_reference.png

• Appendices
–Supporting material
–Not normally included in a
page / word limit

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Technical reports –Tables and Figures

• Used to communicate data


• Key principles:
–“Less is more”
–Reader should be able to interpret the data in a meaningful way,
with limited explanation
–Consistent formatting

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Technical reports –Tables

• Not just about presenting data


• Supports and highlights message through:
–Clarity
–Accessibility
–A visual “memory point”

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Technical reports –Tables

• Do I need one?
• Clean and simple, clear and brief
–Avoid presenting too much
–Remove unnecessary data
• Limit lines
–Start with no lines, then add to distinguish
• Define data in headings
–One line description best, with accurate and complete labels
• Order data meaningfully
• Significant figures
• Include a Caption above the table
“Less is more”
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Technical reports –Tables

Bad

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Technical reports –Tables

Better

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Technical reports –Tables

Even better

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

• Do you need a figure?


–Would a table suffice?
• Clear and informative labels
• Appropriate labels on X/Y
• Include a Figure caption below the figure
–Include a cross reference in the text!
• Reader should not have to guess or interpret abbreviations

“Less is more”
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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

• Units of measurement
• Use linearity
• Eliminate items which do not assist in communicating meaning
–e.g. “Series 1”
• Avoid distortions / perspective changes
–3D plots are excellent at distorting data!

“Less is more”
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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

http://www.hacaustralia.com/carbonsignal/wp-content/uploads/Australian-2020-MACC.jpg

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

Unreadable and distorted

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Projected_global_
primary_electricity_consumption_by_source,_over_the_21st_century,_
for_a_climate_change_mitigation_scenario.png

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)
Difficult to interpret

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

• What is the % of contribution from


–Agriculture?
–Commercial and residential?

Electricity

Transportation

Industry

Commercial and
residential
Agriculture

Figure 10. US. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector in


2012
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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

Electricity 32%

Transportation 28%

Industry 20%

Agriculture 10%

Commercial and residential 10%

Figure 10. US. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector in 2012. The
highest contributing sector is electricity generation (32%)

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Technical reports – Figures (Graphs)

• Use same font as your text


–Make sure the size matches
• Cross-reference the figure in the text
• Describe the key messages in the caption
• Avoid default styles in Excel
–Your style might be different to others

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Technical reports – Language

• Formal language

× 
Gone up Increased
Looked up Observed
Builds up Accumulates

• Avoid contractions
.
× 
Won’t Will not
Don’t Do not

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Technical reports – Language

• Colloquial terms and buzzwords


–A fresh pair of eyes, piece of cake, accident waiting to happen, up
in the air, keep an eye out, chicken before the egg etc. etc.
• Australian English
–No “...ize” or “…ise”
–Please use a dictionary (not just Microsoft’s) if you are unsure
–Macquarie Dictionary is Australia’s and RMIT’s official dictionary
• Use consistent terminology
–e.g. plastic vs. polymer

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Technical reports – Language

• Complete all comparisons


–The yield was higher in 2011. 
–The yield was higher in 2011 than in 2010. 

• Remove redundant verbs (particularly “Do”)


–The results do indicate… 
–The results indicate… 

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Check your spelling!

Eye halve a spelling chequer


it came with my pea sea
it planely marques four my revue
miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and tipe a werd
and weight four it two say
weather eye am wrong oar write
it shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
it nose bee fore two long
and eye can put the error rite

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For group reports

• Plan your report as a team, storyboard first and/or mind map!


–What is the objective of the report?
–Who is the audience?
–What do they know about the topic?
–Decide on roles. Who is:
–writing what section chapter?
–responsible for consistency in language & style?
–responsible for formatting?
–checking spelling and grammar?
• Check the assessment rubrics
• Read over the entire report before submission to ensure consistency
• Cohesive team report, not collection of individually contributed
sections!
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Tips for success
10 things to avoid…from a client’s perspective
1. No Executive Summary
2. Even worse…a badly written Executive Summary
– “A poorly written executive summary is utterly useless to me”
– “A lot of people …. write really bad executive summaries”
– “I may as well have written it myself!”
3. Too much detail in the body of the report
– Improve readability and move some of it to an Appendix
4. Copying and pasting from old reports
– Errors get carried over
– Cite your own work if you are going to do it
5. Lack of writing to the audience/purpose of the document

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Tips for success
10 things to avoid…from a client’s perspective
6. Writing really long, rambling backgrounds/introductions
– Make it punchy
7. Sloppy grammar and spelling
8. Inconsistent language & formatting
9. The report does not answer the question
10.The report deviates off the question to suit the expertise of the
author

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Unit prefixes…

• Peta (P)
• Tera (T)
• Giga (G)
• Mega (M)
• kilo (k)
-----------
• Milli (m)
• micro ()
• Nano (n)

Convert first

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SI Base Units

• What is the SI base unit for:


– Mass
– Amount of a substance
– Temperature
– Time
– Force
– Length
– Volume
– Luminous intensity
– Electrical current

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SI Base Units

• What is the SI base unit for: • The only SI units:


– Mass – kg
– Amount of a substance – mole
– Temperature –K
– Time –s
– Force
– Length –m
– Volume
– Luminous intensity – cd
– Electrical current –A

All other metric units are SI-derived

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Units

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Units

600

500

400

Temperature
300
(K)

200

100

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (ks)

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Units
250

200

150
Temperature
( C)
100

50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (mins)

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SI derived units

• Force
• Pressure
• Voltage
• Work
• Temperature

etc.

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SI derived units

• Units derived from standard international units…

Quantity Unit Formula As SI Units


Pressure and stress Pa N/m2 kg/m.s2
Energy J N.m kg.m2/s2
Power W J/s kg.m2/s3

http://www.spe.org/authors/docs/metric_standard.pdf

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Litre

SI or SI-derived?

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m3

SI or SI-derived?

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kph

SI or SI-derived?

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km/h

SI or SI-derived?

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m/s

SI or SI-derived?

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m
SI or SI-derived?

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Writing with units

• Use SI units or SI derived units, unless it is more common to use otherwise


– C, kWh, MJ, km/h 
– Degrees celsius, KWh, Mj, kph 
– Beware of auto correction of kK
• There should always be a space between a number and an SI-derived unit
– 10 kg 
– 10kg 
• No plurals
– 2 kg 
– 2 kgs 
• Percentage is not an SI nor SI derived unit  no space required
– 14% 
– 14 % 

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Resources – report writing

• Prescribed textbook
– McCahan et al., pp. 318-359
• Lynda.com (via RMIT library)
– Useful for tips on how to use MS Word & heaps more!
• http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/index.xml
• http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
• RMIT’s English Ready centre:
• RMIT’s Study KnowHow programs
• 'Elements of engineering analysis' 2013 in Kosky, Philip and Balmer, Robert
and Keat, William and Wise, George, Exploring engineering : an introduction to
engineering and design, 3rd edition, Academic Press/Elsevier, Burlington, Mass.,
pp. 21-49.
• https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/toolbox/Laboratory/laboratory/studynotes/SN-
SigniFigrsInCalcltns.htm

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Design process – for first stage of EWB Challenge

Critical thinking Testing Testing

Problem Design Evaluation and


Idea generation Detailed design Prototyping Finalised design
statement requirements selection

Information
gathering

• Executive summary
Design context
• Problem statement: a summary of
the information gathered, design
context, identification of unknown
and known information and selection
EWB Design Challenge of design area/project
- Progress presentation • Preliminary design ideas, including
- Draft report how these address the design
requirements
• Future work

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Take home messages – report writing

• Report writing
– Consistent and logical structure is critical
– Start drafting your EWB progress reports now!
• Units
– Critical to communicating data

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Engineering, Society and Sustainability
AERO2248

Topic 9: Ethics, standards and


professional liability
Dr. Enda Crossin
School of Engineering
enda.crossin@rmit.edu.au
Outline
Topic 9. Ethics, standards and professional liability
• Ethical and non-ethical behaviour
• Whistleblowing
• Standards
• Liability

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Differences between legal and ethical acts

• Legal and illegal acts


– Underpinned by law
– In Australia: common law and legislation

http://pixabay.com/p-295109/?no_redirect

• Ethical and unethical acts


– less well defined
– varies according to personal perceptions, morals
and values
– What is perceived as “right” for you could be
perceived as “wrong” for someone else http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
5/59/Plastic-compass.jpg

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What do we mean by ethics?

• Better choices by considering


– the rights and well-being of others
– effects of our decisions.

As engineers, why do we need codes of ethics?

• Position of trust
• Duty of care above a typical person
• Helps define what could be considered as ethical / non-ethical conduct

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Codes of Conduct and Ethics

• Engineers Australia Code of Ethics establishes the standards that all


members are expected to adopt in work habits and relationships.

1.Demonstrate Integrity
2.Practise Competently
3.Exercise Leadership
4.Promote Sustainability

http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ethics

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Codes of Conduct and Ethics

2. Practise Competently
• practise within areas of competence
• neither falsify nor misrepresent qualifications, grades of membership,
experience or prior responsibilities
• practise in accordance with legal and statutory requirements, and with the
commonly accepted standards of the day
• inform employers or clients if a task requires qualifications and experience
outside your areas of competence

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Ethics case studies – molasses tank

• Steel tank ~ 9,000 m3


– Used to store molasses (for
ethanol production)
– Subject to thermal cycling
– Develops fatigue cracks
– Molasses leaking out between
the cracks

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Blackstrapmolasses.JPG

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Ethics case studies – molasses tank

What should you do?

1.Leave the cracks as they are, but only fill the tank a little bit
– Reduces the hoop stress, so slower crack growth
2.Paint over the cracks with brown paint (the same colour as the molasses)
3.Drain the tanks immediately, repair the cracks, recommission
4.Drain the tanks, work out why they cracked, then decide what to do next

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Ethical dilemma

• Ford Pinto
• Design flaw
– Rear-end collisions:
– Fuel tank rupture
– Death/injury to occupants
Options:
• Recall all cars and fix the problem
• Continue with known design flaw, https://upload.wikimedia.or
g/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/
Ford_Pinto.jpg
and then pay the costs

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Ethical dilemma – “Crocodile River”

• There was a person named Alex. Alex really loves Casey. Casey lives across the river
from Alex. Crocodile River, which separates Alex from Casey is teeming with man-
eating crocs. Alex wants to cross the river to be with Casey. Unable to make the
crossing without a boat, Alex asks Hayley (a friend) to provide transportation across the
river. Hayley agrees but tells Alex in exchange, they have to spend the night together.
Alex declines and goes to Jesse, a friend of Hayley’s for advise. Jesse does not want
to get involved. Alex, feeling that there is no option returns to Hayley, and they sleep
together. As promised Hayley takes Alex across the river.
• Alex is later reunited with Casey and both are very happy. Alex tells Casey how Hayley
helped with crossing the river. Casey remembers that Hayley does nothing for free.
When Casey asks how Alex convinced Hayley to provide the transportation, Alex tells
Casey about the agreement. Casey leaves Alex for good. Alex then befriends Kelly,
who learns about Casey. Kelly, feeling compassion for Alex, brutally assaults Casey.
Alex is overjoyed about seeing Casey being punished.

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Ethical dilemma – “Crocodile River”

• Who do you consider to be the least ethical person in this scenario?


• Why?

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Whistleblowing

• Reporting of wrongdoing
– Malpractice (e.g. someone acting
outside of an area of their
expertise)
– Corruption
– Fraud / falsification
• Typically involves disclosure of
privileged information
• Not limited to area of expertise

By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Ricardo


Reyes [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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Whistleblowing

• Internal complaints procedures (if any!)


• Confidant, Ombudsman, Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption
Commission (IBAC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission
• Professional bodies, including Engineers Australia
• Take dated notes & sign them  evidence
• No formal “rules”
• Use your judgement & gain advice

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Liability

• “An obligation to put right a problem”, can include:


–Repairing a product
–Compensation for loss arising from the problem (typically $$$)
–Settling a contract
• Professional liability
–Commercial liability
–Typically contractual disputes
–Tort liability
–Typically negligence  failing to provide adequate “duty of care”
–“….an obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others.”
–Criminal liability

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Liability

• Action through civil law / legislature


–sue
–Fines (Up to $1.1 million)/ bans
• Possible criminal action
• Could be held personally liable

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Australian Law and Liability

Civil dispute “Beyond reasonable doubt”


“Balance of probabilities”

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Standards

• A means of evaluating acceptability for use


–“to ensure products, services and systems are safe, reliable and
consistently perform the way they were intended to.” – Australian
Standards
• International Organisation for Standardization (ISO):
– e.g. ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems – Requirements
• Australian Standard:
– e.g. AS/NZS 2063:2008 Bicycle helmets
• American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Standards:
– e.g. Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
• Australian Design Rules
– e.g. ADR 79/02 – Emission control for light vehicles
• British Publically Available Specifications (PAS)
– e.g. PAS 754:2014 – Software trustworthiness

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Standards – there are many!

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Standards in action

• What do they look like?

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Standards in action

• What do they look like?

The
important
stuff!

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Standards in action

• What do they look like?

Is this
optional?

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Standards in action

• Test requirements often link to other standards

Need to understand interrelationships between all standards

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Standards in action - testing

• How?
–Depends on the standard;
–Can be in-house
–Often done by a testing body:
– e.g. ALS Industrial, Bureau Veritas etc.
– Testing body often certified to carry out certain tests by the
National Association of Testing Authorities

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Standards in action – integration into design

• Design constraint
–Must comply to standard (hard constraint)
–Should comply to standard (soft constraint)

• Australian Standards often adopt International (ISO) standards

• Multiple standards can effect one product


–e.g. ASME & AS standards compliance
–Often duplicate requirements  which one do you take?
–Typically the most conservative
–Companies often write their own standards, and have key suppliers
& customers agree to their implementation

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Professional standards – are they really needed?

• Some standards are mandated by law, others are not

From one of my former bosses…


“It’s just an Australian Standard. We don’t have to comply to it”

• Under civil law, failing to adhere to a standard could be viewed as


ignoring best practice
–i.e. a duty of care that a reasonable person would expect

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Resources - Ethics
• Dieter, G & Schmidt, L 2013, ‘Legal and Ethical Issues in Engineering
Design’, in G Dieter & L Schmidt (eds), Engineering Design, 5th edn,
McGraw-Hill, New York.
• Royal Academy of Engineers (UK) – Engineering Ethics

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Take home messages - Ethics

• Ethics
– What is considered “right” can change
– Guidelines allow for consistent application
• Liability
– Make sure you understand what is needed
• Standards
– Progress presentation, Progress report & Final report

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Week 4 tasks

• Tutorial:
– Referencing workshop
– Bring a laptop/tablet or printout the RMIT Harvard referencing guide
• Assessment task due:
– None

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Week 5 tasks
• Lecture
– I will be in Singapore, but Dr. Eva Cheng will run the lectures
– Topic 10. Risk management (Dr. Eva Cheng)
– Topic 11. Appropriateness of technology and adoption of designs (Dr. Nick
Brown, Engineers Without Borders)
• Tutorials
– Review a previous winning EWB report
– Prepare a short PowerPoint presentation:
– 2 good aspects of report
– 2 bad aspects of report
– Bring a laptop/tablet to complete this activity.
– Not assessed, but you will receive feedback to help you with your
presentation content & style
– You are welcome to complete this activity before the tutorial (but you still
need to present)

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Ethics presentations (5%)

• Due in Week 06 workshop


• Strictly 10 minutes, with warnings at 2 minutes and 1 minute to go
– Then 5 minutes for questions and discussion
• One group member must submit before the workshop
– Assessment is based on what is delivered, not submitted
– If your team does not submit, then you will be required to do this as part of
your allocated time
• At least two members must be present. The next presentation should use two
different presenters (if possible)
• A roll call will be used to mark attendance. If you do not attend, you will
receive zero.

RMIT University©2017 School of Engineering 91


Ethics presentations (5%)

• What should your group do to prepare?


– Download the PDF from Blackboard
– Read and understand the scenario designated for your group, as well as
the other scenarios
– Understand the rubrics
– Prepare your presentation
– Practice, practice, practice
• Your group will also be assessed on:
– Presentation structure and quality
– Identification and discussion of ethical issue
– Identification and discussion of different viewpoints
– The ability to answer and ask questions
• There is no right answer, your answer will depend on your “moral compass”

RMIT University©2017 School of Engineering 92


What difficulties are you having with your work in
AERO2248?
• Respond at PollEv.com/aero2248 or text AERO2248 to +61 427 541 357

RMIT University©2017 School of Engineering 93

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