Teaching Ethics to Chemical Engineers: Some Class Room Scenarios

Abstract

Three fictional scenarios are presented which pose ethical dilemmas set against industrial chemical engineering environments. These scenarios are designed for use in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum and present the participating students with a range of ethical dilemmas. The ethical situations considered include levels of professional honesty and integrity, whistle-blowing, loyalty to ones company and client, and conflict of interest. Their simple nature allows vigorous discussions between students working in groups and between the students and the class facilitator. The scenarios are designed to confront undergraduate chemical engineering students with the sort of challenging situations that they might be faced with as graduate engineers. The use of the scenarios has proven to be very popular with the students with nearly all being actively engaged in the discussions.