ETHICS IN ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS MEANT BY ETHICS?

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 System of moral principles
 Principles of right and wrong
 Principles
of conduct governing
behavior of an individual or a
group

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 CLICKER QUESTION

A person’s behavior is always ethical when one:

A. Does what is best for oneself

B. Has good intentions, no matter how
things turn out
C. Does what is best for everyone
D. Does what is legal
ETHICS IN AN ENGINEERING COURSE????
We have been studying engineering,
such as design, analysis, and
performance measurement.

Where does ethics fit in?

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HOW ETHICS FITS INTO ENGINEERING

 Engineers ...

 Build products such as cell phones, home

appliances, heart valves, bridges, & cars. In
general they advance society by building new
technology.

 Develop processes, such as the process to

convert salt water into fresh water or the
process to recycle bottles. These processes
change how we live and what we can
accomplish.
PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES HAVE
CONSEQUENCES FOR SOCIETY:

 If the bridge has an inadequate support, it will

fail.
 If the gas tank is positioned too close to the
bumper, it might explode from a small accident.
 If a medical instrument isn’t accurate, improper
doses of medication can be given.
 If the process for refining gas produces too
much toxins, it harms the local community.
Decisions made by
engineers usually have
serious consequences to
people -- often to multitudes
of people.

Ethics and ethical reasoning

guide decision-making.
 REASONING

The kind of reasoning that goes on

in such discussions involves certain
goals
such as, in this case, health, safety
and biodiversity.

The reasoning then focuses on

finding the best – or at least the
reasonably better --
means
for obtaining those goals.
This type of reasoning is often called
practical reasoning.

15
It uses different methods from mathematics
and the sciences.

Ethical reasoning is a type of practical

reasoning that concerns certain societal or
life-form goals, such as justice, equality,
freedom, health and safety.
THE ESSENCE OF YOUR ENGINEERING
CAREER
 Engineering is one of the most important
professions in society.

 As engineers we don’t just build things and

develop processes.

 We build things and make processes in order to

better society.

 In order to make society better we have to reflect

constantly on the products and processes that we
make.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 One main connection between ethics and
engineering comes from the impact that
engineered products and processes have on
society.

 Engineers have to think about designing,

building, and marketing products that benefit
society.

 Social Responsibility requires taking into

consideration the needs of society.
TYPICAL ETHICAL ISSUES THAT
ENGINEERS ENCOUNTER
 Safety
 Acceptable risk

 Compliance

 Confidentiality

 Environmental health

 Data integrity

 Conflict of interest

 Honesty/Dishonesty

 Societal impact

 Fairness

 Accounting for uncertainty, etc.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Ethics has a second connection with engineering.

 It comes from the way in which being socially

responsible puts duties and obligations on us
individually.

 Ethics fits into engineering is through

professional responsibility.
TWO DIMENSIONS OF ETHICS IN
ENGINEERING
 Ethics is part of engineering for two main
reasons.

a) Engineers need to be socially responsible

when building products and processes for
society.

b) Social responsibility requires professional

responsibility.
ABET SAYS . . .

By the time of graduation

students will have an
understanding of professional
and ethical responsibility

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WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS
 The code of ethics for engineers.

 Practicing ethics as an engineering student.

 How to identify and analyze ethical dilemmas

through case analysis.

 Specific examples of ethical situations you may

encounter.
ROLE-RESPONSIBILITIES
 We need to make a distinction between two ways
in which ethics can apply to one’s life.

 The two ways ethical issues can apply to one’s life

are based on role responsibilities. Role
responsibilities are responsibilities that attach to
us in virtue of a role that we have. Each of us has
different roles that we play in our life.
 Engineering Student
 Friend
 Citizen
 Employee
Role Responsibilities
Friend Look out for the interests of
your friend.

Athlete Play your sport in a

professional manner.

Employee Perform the duties of your

job.

Parent Look after your children and

their interests

Citizen Follow the laws of the

country in which you live.
ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
 There are many fields of engineering, such as
 Civil
 Mechanical
 Electrical
 Software
 Industrial

 However, there are many ethical issues that arise

across all of these fields of engineering.

 The code of ethics for engineers pertains to

engineers of all kinds.
 CLICKER QUESTION
Engineers should follow their professional code of
ethics because:
A. The public will trust engineers more if they
know engineers have a code of ethics.
B. It helps them avoid legal problems, such as
getting sued.
C. It provides a clear definition of what the
public has a right to expect from
responsible engineers.
D. It raises the image of the profession and
hence gets engineers more pay.
THE ENGINEERING CODE OF ETHICS
The Engineering Code of Ethics has three
components:

 The Fundamental Canons: which articulate

the basic components of ethical engineering.

 The Rules of Practice: which clarify and

specify in detail the fundamental canons of ethics
in engineering.

 Professional Obligations: which elaborate the

obligations that engineers have.
NSPE FUNDAMENTAL CANONS OF ETHICS
Engineers in the fulfillment of their professional
duties shall:
 Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the
public.
 Perform services only in areas of their competence.
 Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful
manner.
 Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees.
 Avoid deceptive acts.
 Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and
lawfully, so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and
usefulness of the profession.
TRY IT YOURSELF
 You are supervising a product with specifications
that only U.S.-made parts may be used.
 Late in the project you discover a sub-contractor
has supplied a part with foreign-made bolts.
 They aren’t very noticeable and would function
identically to U.S.-made bolts.
 Your customer urgently needs the finished
product.

What should you do?

 CLICKER QUESTION
Should you:
A. Say nothing and deliver the product with the
foreign bolts because the customer won’t notice.
B. Find some roughly equivalent violation of the
contract/specs for which the customer is
responsible and tell them you will ignore their
violation if they ignore yours.
C. Tell the customer about the problem, and let
them decide what you should do next.
D. Find loopholes in the original specifications so
that your company hasn’t legally violated the
specs.
 C (tell the customer) is the correct answer
because it lets the customer decide what is in
their best interest given new information.

 This may be tough, because your job may be on

the line and your company’s reputation may be at
stake.

Avoid deceptive acts

Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT THE CODE OF
ETHICS
 It is not a legally binding document.

 It is not something that we want (or need)

engineers to memorize.

 It is something we want engineers to understand

and be able to live by as engineers.

 However, in the beginning knowing the code is a

guide to understanding how to apply it.
ETHICS TAKES PRACTICE
KNOWLEDGE VS. BEHAVIOR
 Unlike robots, no one can just program you to be
an ethical engineer that follows the codes.

 It is possible to know the codes of ethics for

engineering (or being a student), yet fail to follow
them.

 Ethical behavior is about practice and virtue. It

is about going beyond the codes, and practicing
behavior that leads to an ethical life.
LAW VS. MORALITY:
DON’T CONFUSE THE TWO

Legal Legal
& &
Moral Immoral
Illegal Illegal
& &
Moral Immoral
EXAMPLES OF THE CATEGORIES

Legal & Moral Designing a system to be

safe.
Legal & Immoral Owning a slave pre-civil
war in the US.
Illegal & Moral Parking in a no parking
zone, to come to the aid
of an injured person
Illegal & Killing an innocent
Immoral person.
ETHICS – COURAGE & INTEGRITY
 As we will be seeing more and more being ethical
requires:

 Courage to do the right thing the situation

calls for.

&

 The integrity to withstand the pressures that

push you in the wrong direction.