Professional Engineering Ethics Research Articles

Perceptions of Engineers' Environmental Responsibility and Professional Codes of Ethics

In Canada, provincial and territorial level Professional Engineering Codes of Ethics (PECoEs) derived from national guidelines presented by Engineers Canada, provide principles for engineers to aid in decision making and to evaluate the ethical correctness of professional behaviour [1]. Engineers Canada states that engineers must, “Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and the protection of the environment and promote health and safety within the workplace” [1]. This is frequently the only guideline directly related to the environment included in Canadian provincial and territorial PECoEs)[2-13]; Notably, Ontario’s PECoE currently does not explicitly mention the environment in any capacity [14]. Present professional engineering ethics guidelines for environmental responsibility are either missing or largely open to interpretation in Canada, and complex environmental issues may require more robust ethical frameworks to be effectively approached long-term within engineering industry.
 Developing PECoEs requires a better understanding of how engineers view their ethical responsibility with respect to the environment. This paper outlines a study to investigate the ethical beliefs and PECoE interpretations of participants through an online survey with ethical case studies, and interviews. The ultimate goal of this research is to aid the development of PECoEs and engineering ethics education to support sustainable practice.

Profesionalisme Keinsinyuran

The profession of a civil engineer or civil engineer in a project has a very broad impact on people's lives. A civil engineering graduate is required to have professional expertise and high dedication in carrying out his work so that he can produce quality products and serve the needs of the community, especially in the infrastructure sector. Written and Professional Engineering Ethics Based on the formulation of the problem, it is hoped that the following objectives can be achieved: Understanding what a profession is and what its characteristics are, knowing the code of ethics of the engineering profession in realizing the needs of society. Objectives Introduction and understanding of the ethics of the engineering profession needs to be done as early as possible, even some technical colleges have included it in the curriculum and special courses. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) itself specifically provides accreditation requirements which state that every engineering student must fully understand the ethical characteristics of the engineering profession and its application. in their field and must always think positively by upholding professional ethics and integrity. The civil engineering profession is a civil engineering job which in its implementation requires expertise to serve the needs of the community in the infrastructure sector. A profession usually has a professional association, a code of ethics, and a certification and licensing process that is specific to that profession. In the work of an engineering graduate (engineer) on a project, he must have the requirements as a competent and academically accountable professional in order to produce quality products, especially in the infrastructure sector so that it is expected to serve the needs of the community as well as possible. The existence of a code of ethics that regulates the actions of a civil engineer or engineering graduate to avoid all forms of action that will harm himself, society and the environment

Conceptual Tools to Inform Course Design and Teaching for Ethical Engineering Engagement for Diverse Student Populations.

Contemporary engineering education recognises the need for engineering ethics content in undergraduate programmes to extend beyond concepts that form the basis of professional codes to consider relationality and context of engineering practice. Yet there is debate on how this might be done, and we argue that the design and pedagogy for engineering ethics has to consider what and to whom ethics is taught in a particular context. Our interest is in the possibilities and challenges of pursuing the dual imperatives of socialization and critique. Socialization involves creating opportunities for all, in a diverse cohort of students, to access and engage with the dominant professional engineering ethics knowledge, while critique involves engaging with a range of ways of knowing, valuing, being and using language as relevant in contemporary engineering practice. We identify conceptual tools from engineering ethics and ethical pedagogy in education scholarship for our context. We illustrate how we use these tools systematically to strengthen our reflective practice in a first-year university engineering ethics module to a deeper form of reflexivity. Specifically, we explore the ways in which we attend to the dual imperatives and also highlight opportunities that we miss. We identify as key opportunities design choices such as how we formulated questions and prompts, and how we attended to content, context and language in selecting classroom texts. Other key opportunities were pedagogical choices of when and how to use student contributions in discussion, and what was made explicit in the classroom and assessment. We share our plans to take our learnings forward in our practice and consider the generative possibilities of these learnings and the concepts in other contexts.

DEFINING “DUTY TO THE PUBLIC” WITHIN CANADIAN ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL CODES OF ETHICS

What does is it mean for an engineer to uphold their “duty to the public” [1]? The reality is that each person may have a unique interpretation of the concept of an engineer’s responsibility to thepublic based upon their unique experiences, education, values, and beliefs. When considering the concept of an engineer’s “Duty to the Public” within the realm ofprofessional engineering ethics codes, there exists a need for a more universal understanding of this concept in order to ensure ethical practice [2]. This need is particularly critical in terms of environmental responsibility within engineering practice as currently there is minimal ethical framework within Canadian professional engineering ethics codes relating to how to act in the best interest of the public with respect to environmental ethical dilemmas [1] [3]. This paper provides a literature review and proposes a multi-perspective, mixed methods research study to learn more about how individuals interpret the concept of an engineer’s “Duty to the Public”, and the role of environmental responsibility within this concept. By gaining a better understanding of thesimilarities and variances of how stakeholders interpret engineers’ responsibility to the public, it will be possible to identify whether current professional engineering ethics codes are fulfilling their objectives, and if not, to suggest how such codes and Engineering Ethics Education (EEE) might be adapted in future to better address the needs of the public.

Innovation Management in Good Practice Context

Abstract The issue of innovation has also been pursued in social sciences and subsequently specifically in the field of application of socio-scientific knowledge. It is not just about professional engineering ethics but we perceive it in a complex and wider social context. Doing good as well as good practice are more than the professional code of ethics or an effort for technical or managerial excellence. Innovative changes should not be parameterized solely by economic efficiency or performance. With regard to new knowledge and technology development, their ethical aspects become more important and focus more on good life. In the context of social sciences with interdisciplinary trends, applied ethics and its subdisciplines (professional ethics, business ethics, ethics of science and research) can take over and play an important practical role. Innovative processes are increasingly becoming the focus of applied ethics, especially in terms of ethical risks. Our mission is to offer an interdisciplinary view of innovation as discussed in the ethics aspect. Based on these considerations, we conclude that ethics need to be integrated into individual innovation processes and adopted as an important condition for eliminating (mitigating) social risks. In our theoretical considerations we offer a view of the scientific risks and forms of prevention related to innovative change in important areas including engineering practice or health protection.

Ethics in Prognostics and Health Management

As we enter an era where intelligent systems are omnipresent and where they also permeate Prognostics and Health Management ( PHM ), the discussion of moral machines or ethics in engineering will inevitably engulf PHM as well. This article explores the topic of ethics within the PHM domain: how it is relevant, and how it may be addressed in a conscientious way. The paper provides a historical perspective on ethics-related developments that resulted in the formulation of engineering ethics codes, regulations, and policies. By virtue of these developments, ethics has already been encapsulated in PHM systems. The specific areas that have traditionally driven ethics considerations include safety and security, and they increasingly include privacy, proprietary considerations ( protection of intellectual property ), and environmental protection. During the course of future technology development, innovations will increasingly impact all of these topics. It is argued here that consciously embracing these issues will increase the competitive advantage of a PHM technology solution. As a guideline, specific ethics attributes are derived from professional engineering ethics codes, and a path towards insertion into a requirements flow down is suggested.

Special Issue on Professional Ethics in Engineering and Construction

Special Issue on Professional Ethics in Engineering and Construction

Call for Papers: Special Issue on Professional Ethics in Engineering and Construction

Call for Papers: Special Issue on Professional Ethics in Engineering and Construction

Convivial software: an end-user perspective on free and open source software

The free and open source software (Foss) movement deserves to be placed in an historico-ethical perspective that emphasizes the end user. Such an emphasis is able to enhance and support the Foss movement by arguing the ways it is heir to a tradition of professional ethical idealism and potentially related to important issues in the history of science, technology, and society relations. The focus on software from an end-user's perspective also leads to the concept of program conviviality. From a non-technical perspective, however, software is simply a new example of technology, and the effort to assure that technology is developed in a socially responsible manner has a significant history. The argument thus begins with observations about the history of technology. This leads to critical reflections on the development of professional engineering ethics, and to a discussion of the alternative technology movement. Finally, it concludes by indicating some criteria to consider when imagining the design of convivial software.

Acclimating International Graduate Students to Professional Engineering Ethics

This article describes the education portion of an ongoing grant-sponsored education and research project designed to help graduate students in all engineering disciplines learn about the basic ethical principles, rules, and obligations associated with engineering practice in the United States. While the curriculum developed for this project is used for both domestic and international students, the educational materials were designed to be sensitive to the specific needs of international graduate students. In recent years, engineering programs in the United States have sought to develop a larger role for professional ethics education in the curriculum. Accreditation requirements, as well as pressures from the private sector, have helped facilitate this shift in focus. Almost half of all engineering graduate students in the U.S. are international students. Further, research indicates that the majority of these students will remain in the U.S. to work post-graduation. It is therefore in the interest of the profession that these students, coming from diverse backgrounds, receive some formal exposure to the professional and ethical expectations and norms of the engineering profession in the United States to help ensure that they have the knowledge and skills--non-technical as well as technical--required in today's engineering profession. In becoming acculturated to professional norms in a host country, international students face challenges that domestic students do not encounter; such as cultural competency, language proficiency, and acculturation stress. Mitigating these challenges must be a consideration in the development of any effective education materials. The present article discusses the project rationale and describes the development of on-line instructional materials aimed at helping international engineering graduate students acclimate to professional engineering ethics standards in the United States. Finally, a brief data summary of students' perceptions of the usefulness of the content and instructional interface is provided to demonstrate the initial effectiveness of the materials and to present a case for project sustainability.

An evaluation of streaming digital video resources in on- and off-campus engineering management education

A recent television documentary on the Columbia space shuttle disaster was converted to streaming digital video format for educational use by on- and off-campus students in an engineering management study unit examining issues in professional engineering ethics. An evaluation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of this new resource. Use of the video was optional, and about half of the class reported using the video, though usage was 90.0% for off-campus students. Most on-campus students accessed the video on-line, while all off-campus students accessed the video via CD-ROM. Off-campus students rated the educational value of the video higher than on-campus students, and were more likely to indicate that the video helped them understand the issues being studied. Most students were able to view the videos without any technical playback problems.

Professional Ethics in Engineering: The Challenger and Corporate Culture

Ethics in engineering is an important issue that affects the daily lives of almost everyone in the world. Because engineers and related scientists design, develop, and manufacture the many products that the public-at-large uses or consumes on a daily basis, it is in the best interest of all concerned that engineers be held to high ethical standards. This paper will reflect on the corporate culture issues involved in ethics in engineering, and specifically how corporate culture can affect ethical engineering and how it did in the case of the Challenger disaster.

Engineering ethics in France: a historical perspective

Until recently, there have been no engineering ethics courses, no research programs on the topic, nor a specific code of ethics for engineers in France. For cultural and historical reasons, the question of whether or not engineering is a profession has not been an issue. Therefore, professional ethics in engineering have not developed as they have in English-speaking countries. If a code of ethics is considered to be one way of studying engineering ethics, where should such an investigation begin? A historical investigation shows that the French engineering profession did not successfully organize itself into any kind of association, and the subsequent scattering of professionals led to an absence of discourse among engineers. Even if such a professional association had produced a code of ethics, in France more than in other countries, engineers' perceptions of ethical issues within their profession needs further study.

Using Academic Integrity to Teach Engineering Ethics

AbstractEthics can be taught by using case studies to which students can relate. Since all students appreciate and understand problems of academic dishonesty, the nature of ethical problems in academics can be used to illustrate ethical problems encountered in professional engineering. If students can be sensitized to the value of ethical behavior while in school, they will carry this understanding over to their profession. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that academic integrity can be used to introduce the basic concepts of professional engineering ethics. A videotape and instructor's manual using this pedagogical technique is described.

Practitioner Involvement with Engineering Ethics and Professionalism

Ethics depend, in general, on the personal or voluntary acceptance of established rules. In particular, professional engineering ethics has been defined as service of the public interest with integ...

Professional Ethics and the Transportation Engineer

Professional ethics in engineering, their relationship to transportation engineering or transportation planning, and the issues of transportation environmental impact and transprotation safety are presented and discussed in a panel discussion held at a joint meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, New York Metropolitan section, and the Polytechnic Institute of New York. The danger of trade offs between cost and effectiveness are emphasized. The role of the engineer in controlling and guiding technology is also considered. Other issues raised include the difference between a code of ethics and a legal code, the role of an engineer as an employee on a public works project and the professional engineer's role in the decision making process.